1947 Mercury Series 79M

Edsel Ford was the only son of Henry Ford, the automotive legend who created the Ford Motor Company and 'put the country on wheels' with their Model T. At the age of 21, Edsel joined his father's business as secretary. Four years later, he was president, though Henry never yielded control. Edsel was given projects that were of no interest to his father, such as growing the Lincoln marque and creating the elegant bodies for which they would become legendary. In 1929, Edsel hired E.T. 'Bob' Gregorie and together they oversaw all the company's esthetic creations of the 1930s, including several one-off designs and the Lincoln Zephyr. Among these styling phenomenons lay the Mercury marque, which served as a gap-filler between Ford and the Lincoln-Zephyr. Introduced in October of 1938, it was initially considered to be a prestige Ford model. But when production commenced, it was its own separate marque. The designs drew their inspiration from the Fords but were treated to several styling cues courtesy of Gergorie.

During the first 17 years of Mercury's production, the wheelbase was exactly four inches longer than its Sibling - Ford. This extra length allowed more interior room for the occupants and additional luxury.

For 1947, having just emerged from the grasp of the Second World War, the styling changes were only minor. One of the more visible changes was new hubcaps adorning all four wheels. There was also new trunk trim, the border around the grille was chrome plated, and the Mercury name could now be found on the side of the hood. The interior featured redesigned dial faces and the convertible and station wagons had leather upholstery.

The Town Sedan with seating for six was the most popular Mercury in 1947, with over 42,000 examples sold. The 2-door Sedan was the least popular, having the lowest sticker price, and only 34 examples were ordered. 3,558 examples of the Station Wagon were created, which was about for the next few years to come.

The Series 79M had a three-speed manual gearbox and an L-head V8 engine that displaces 239 cubic inches and produced 100 horsepower. The five body style options each had a wheelbase that measured 116 inches and a length of 201.8 inches. In total, around 85,000 Mercury Series 79M were created in 1947.

by Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2008