Mercury
Brief History
Since the introduction of the Mercury in 1939, it's identity has been intertwined with the Ford automobile. Mercurys were considered to be Fords with longer wheel bases, larger engines and richer appointments. Even today, many models of the Ford and Mercury line are virtually the same car aside from for their different names.
Along with the rest of the Ford Motor Company’s production, Mercury output was halted during Word war 2, although a few of the cars were converted for use as ambulances and multi-passenger vehicles. The postwar years saw the division branching out into other models and styles, such as station wagons. In the 1940s and ‘50s Ford Motor Company’s merged and separated Mercury and Lincoln several times over while trying to determine how best to handle the two related yet distinctive brands. Though all the back and forth, the Mercury balance of luxury and affordability met with success, and by 1948 it had become the sixt-largest automaker in the US, producing its three million car in 1957.
Introduced at a pivotal moment in Ford Motor Company’s evolution to a multi-brand automaker, Mercury has proved an especially adaptable vehicle line over the years. In the ‘50s in response to America’s high standard of living, its cars were bigger and offered luxurious options like air-condition and power steering and brakes.
In the ‘60s, when the economic tides had turned, Mercury responded with smaller, more modest vehicles. The ‘70s saw the brand successfully entering the new subcompact arena with cars like Bobcat and Lynx.
Ever since 1939, there have been only three years that Mercury and Ford did not shared the same basic body design. Between 1949 and 1951, Lincoln was the “Big” brother to the Mercury with the “Baby” Lincoln having the same body from the firewall back. The difference between them was in front of the firewall with the Lincoln having a 122 inch wheel base compared to Mercury's 118 inch. That made extra room for the “Big” Lincoln flathead motor.
