The "Bigfoot" of Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion's

Long before Jeep arrived on the scene with their first four-wheel-drive utility vehicle, Marmon-Herrington Incorporated was formed in 1931 in Indianapolis, Indiana, by Walter C. Marmon and Colonel Arthur W. Herrington. Taking over the old Duesenberg assembly plant, the pair started building 4X4 and 6X6 trucks for the army.

In 1937, they began converting light-duty Ford passenger cars and trucks to all-wheel-drive before halting production when World War II arrived to focus again on military trucks and tanks.

Marmon-Herrington then resumed all-wheel-drive production for Ford and Mercury customers in 1946, ending Mercury passenger car production with the 89M series by April 1948. Anxious to get the retooling completed prior to the launch of the all new 1949 Models, the '48 Mercury's were basically warmed-over 47's with very few discernible changes. The steering column lock was no longer present and some changes to the gauge dials among them but other than that it would take a very discerning eye to know the difference between the two years.

The exact number of 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington models is not publicly documented but a total of 24,283 Mercury 89M Fordor Town Sedan's were built in what ended up being a very short 4 month production year. When adding limited production together with the exclusivity of an all-wheel-drive conversion, the 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD instantly became one of the rarest American Sedans ever produced.

The exact number of Marmon-Herrington all-wheel-drive conversions is presently unknown, with no factory production records having survived from this period. However, Marmon-Herrington aficionados report that only a dozen or so total Ford examples of ALL body styles of each year are known, with far fewer Mercury versions in existence due to their premium price and lower production numbers.

With the popularity of the Woodie Station Wagons as a driving force, many have searched the world over for information as to the whereabouts of any and all Marmon-Herrington AWD conversions. As a result, only five such Mercury Marmon-Herrington Station Wagons are presently known to have survived - one example from 1946, two from 1947, and two from 1948. That being said, this '48 Mercury Fordor Sedan featured here, while not by any means declared as being the only such example ever produced, we have yet to find any documentation of another sighting of a similar Sedan in the past 30-40 years, making this Sedan quite possibly the last surviving example of a very rare breed indeed.

Essentially hand-built, the assembly rate of all Marmon-Herrington AWD conversions was necessarily slow and the output small. When this premium four-wheel-drive conversion was ordered from the Lincoln-Mercury Dealer, a complete Mercury was delivered to Marmon-Herrington’s plant, where the factory body and power train were removed. From there the original chassis was then heavily modified to include new cross members, full inner bracing of the frame rails, complete front suspension replacement, switching from its factory original independent suspension to a parallel leaf spring setup. A 1.5 Ton four-speed truck transmission was installed with an 11-inch clutch, and a heavy-duty transfer case was then mounted behind it.

A 1939 rear axle that had been heavily modified, with its differential placed off to the passenger side of the vehicle in order to align with the transfer case, as well as having steering "knuckles" installed, was then mounted to the newly installed front suspension. This also included an extra "lever" next to the new floor mounted shifter, allowing on-demand engagement of the front axle. The rear suspension was "raised" quite a bit to allow for more ground clearance, thereby matching the height of the new front axle.

The body was once again reunited with its heavily modified chassis, transformed into its new AWD configuration. With the base price of a new Mercury Sedan hovering around the $1650(plus options) mark, combined with the $1025 cost of the Marmon-Herrington AWD conversion itself, the new owner was then presented with their "new & improved" Mercury AWD Sedan at a cost hovering right around $2700, give or take a few other options. This at a time when the average cost of a home was right around $7700. Easy to see why so few of these Marmon-Herrington AWD conversions were ever ordered, as well as why so few are known to exist to this day.

Marmon-Herrington all-wheel-drive conversions, especially those of the Mercury brand, are some of the most desirable vehicles in the Collector car hobby due to their engineering, rarity, and impressive visual stance. However, the significance of this particular Mercury Sedan cannot be overstated, offering collectors an unrepeatable opportunity to acquire that unique "crown jewel, one of one" for their collection. The exact number of 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Models is not publicly documented but a total of 24,283 Mercury 89M Fordor Town Sedan's were built in what ended up being a very short 4 month production year.

Combine that with the extremely low number of 1948 Marmon-Herrington All-Wheel-Drive conversions makes this example even rarer. While the exact total is unknown, sources suggest only a dozen or so of these rare conversions existed for the Ford line, with even fewer Mercury versions due to their higher cost. 

Disclaimer: In the pursuit of attempting to find out anything and everything pertaining to this particular '48 Mercury Marmon-Herrington Sedan, as well as any known history, we have done our best to research the history of all things Marmon-Herrington. Having said that, with the lack of any verifiable records being available none of this information should be relied upon as the undeniable truth. Please do your own research and we are always more than happy to learn anything we can in our search for the facts.

Thar She Be!

In our effort to not only update our '48 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan to its original(or close to it) driving standards we're also hoping to "see" another such specimen along the way. Not that we need any confirmation as to what it is we're dealing with. We've already done tons of research in that area and we're more than convinced of what it is we're working with. It's just that it would be nice to know there's another one out there somewhere, perhaps still in hiding or even better yet, one that is undergoing the same "refreshing" treatment ours is here. Somewhat of a "Brother from another Mother" type of scenario if you will.

By no means are we saying this was the only 1948 Mercury Sedan to have originally been ordered from the Dealer with the Marmon-Herrington AWD conversion. That we have no way of knowing. Yet, based on our most current research, there hasn't been any other "sightings" of any such vehicles in the past 30 or so years. If there's one thing we've learned, it's to never say never. This Mercury is a perfect example of that. Just when you think it doesn't, it does exist.

While there have been a few sightings of similar post war Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan conversions, they've been Fords. Such as this red 1946 Ford Fordor Sedan pictured below.

As the story goes this 1946 Ford M-H was reportedly an ex Fire Chief's car. Last seen in So. Cal. back in the 90's, current whereabouts unknown. Was it robbed of its Marmon-Herrington AWD chassis, after which it was conveniently slid under a Woodie Station Wagon? Hmmm... tough to say. Seems odd to me that in all these years it has yet to resurface but again, never say never. That's why we're here, to dig deeper to get to the Unknown Zone as it were.

This black Ford reportedly began its life as a Woodie Station Wagon which was then at some point converted into a pickup. It has since been "reimagined" into a Fordor Sedan. Has that perfect patina, giving the appearance that it's always been what it is. This a perfect example of what we're hoping to achieve with ours, only in a more polished Mercury flavor.

Upon walking into your local Ford Dealership in 1940 so as to inquire about a new Ford passenger car with the "rumored" Marmon-Herrington AWD conversion and the Salesman might have handed you something along these lines. A fold out brochure detailing all of the upgrades to your soon to be passenger car. We can only imagine what an amazingly cool experience that would have been.

There were also a number of Marmon-Herrington AWD converted passenger cars created for the war effort, both pre-war as well as post-war models. Not to mention these were put into action globally for use in Mining and other such demanding areas. Once again, mainly Ford's. At least of those that are known to exist. But who's to say there isn't a Mercury or two floating around out there among 'em. If there is, we're gonna find it!

These are just a few examples of the possibilities that are still out there, either hiding in a private collection somewhere or perhaps awaiting discovery, soon to be the next "Barn Find" to hit the internet. If you personally know of any such Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan's, especially those of the Mercury variety, please don't hesitate to contact us. We'd truly enjoy sharing them with the world.

Based on our research this is what we've learned up until now about our 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan

So far we've only been able to obtain information going back approx. 25-30 years. And when we say "only", it's not that we take all that we've learned so far lightly. Not at all. It's just that that's only one third of its 77 year long existence. That was the first "known" sighting. There has to be more info out there. We're still searching as the history of the car, the stories it could tell, are a huge motivating factor in why we're on a mission to bring this very special car back to its former self.

As the story goes the Mercury was at that time owned by two brothers in Kansas. The two photos with the pickup bed installed demonstrate the condition it was in at the time of the listing. The third photo in the gallery shows the Ebay listing at that time. It was advertised as being a "Woodie" Station Wagon that had been rebodied into a Sedan.

We have no information that supports that theory and are of the belief(based on the condition of all the bolts under the hood appearing to never having been "unbolted" since day one) that that was simply a "guess" as the Woodies were extremely popular at that time, just as they are now.

Not to mention the only known Marmon-Herrington AWD conversions known to exist were Station Wagons and were valued in the multiple hundreds of thousands at that time. Come to think of it, that is also the case as we speak. As far as we are aware this is the only "known" M-H Sedan. Not that there weren't others built that might very well be out there hiding somewhere but for now, according to many of the "long term" Marmon-Herrington aficionados out there, this is it. One of one.

Just as it was advertised as a 1947 Model. That turned out to be false as well, simply based on the serial number which can be found on the frame as well as on the original Marmon-Herrington data tags that accompanied the vehicle.

Rumor has it that while one brother wanted to sell it, the other brother, not so much. So the listing was pulled from the Ebay site, never having been sold. Back again, into the ether, not to be seen again for another 20 years or so.

Click on photos for a better look.

Next "sighting" was approx. 10 years ago. As you can see in photos four, five, and six the pickup "bed" had been removed and the repair to the rear of the frame had been initiated. Why was the rear section of the body removed and the Sedan converted into a pickup? We aren't exactly sure.

We've been told that many pickup "conversions" were performed way back when as it was much less expensive to take what you already have and repurpose that into something that works for you as opposed to going out and buying something new. So rather than go new car shopping they chose to simply remove the rear section of the car, add the pickup bed and off to work they went.

And when you think about it being AWD, how much better could it get than to have a 4X4 pickup on the farm.

We'd definitely enjoy learning more about its beginnings and chances are we won't stop searching anytime soon. Where the Sedan was originally purchased. By whom and for what purpose. There had to be a reason other than "we just wanted to look cool cruisin' through town in our 4X4".

Keep in mind with a cost of approx. $1025 for the Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion alone added to the cost of the new Sedan itself(somewhere in the neighborhood of $1700), when the average price of a home at that time was around $7700, there had to be something serious in mind.

If you happen to know anything at all pertaining to this uniquely one of a kind '48 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan please feel free to share it with us. We're more than eager to discover anything and everything about it we possibly can.

Where To Repair

Every "project" of any sort has to start somewhere. And in the case of this '48 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan pictured here, that starting point is indeed focused on the chassis as that is the heart of the beast. More specifically, the rear section of the frame, behind the crossmember that holds the rear suspension. Apparently at some point in its life it suffered a small bit of damage to the rear of the frame rail (where the bumper brackets mount) and while a repair has been initiated on the passenger side(see photo), for some unknown reason it was never completed.

And without that area being completely repaired, the "new to the car" donor body can not be installed. Therefore that is definitely priority one. Fortunately we are in So. Cal., the land of custom cars. And where there are custom cars, there are Repair Shops dedicated to performing such tasks. It's their bread and butter, it's what they eat for lunch. Therefore we feel extremely confident in that happening without much fanfare.

Of course both cost as well as timeline will play a large role in "who" we decide to have take care of the repair. Not to mention we would really like to, if at all possible, coordinate things so as the same shop that performs the "frame fix" will also be the same shop that is tasked with doing the body-swap. Basically hoping for an all-in-one, "one stop shop" type of situation, in an effort to eliminate all of the transportation as well as scheduling issues involved in going from shop to shop... to shop. Hopefully there won't be any hop-skotching around or at the very least, keep it to an absolute minimum.

Hence all of this pre-scheduling going on. It is our hope that the Sedan can be moved from its current location straight to the shop that will be performing the necessary frame repairs. While the frame repair itself should be a rather small "job" for any qualified shop, we're hoping that the body-swap, as well as the rarity of the project itself, will be enough of an incentive for the right shop to want to get involved. Great way for a Shop to get their name out there.

While our Dream Shop of choice would of course be the fine folks at Coachcraft Ltd., that may or may not be an option. We're exploring that possibility as we speak. When it comes to "knowin' your stuff", you can hardly do much better than those guys. They've been "in the biz" as long as anyone, if not longer. In our search for the right shop to perform the tasks ahead we're more than open to hearing any suggestions regarding who would be best suited for such a situation.

There are a number of ways to move forward with this project. We will attempt to list five four overall possibilities and then branch out from there.

Option #1

This was our original plan from the start. We had planned on purchasing a "donor" 47-48 Mercury Sedan, one such as this one pictured, with gobs of well aged patine oozing out of every crevice and using that car as the "new" body for the Marmon-Herrington AWD chassis. Unfortunately that might not be as easy as first thought. The location where we'd originally planned on performing the body swap was not made available. So the search for a work location continues on, as well as the search for a donor body.

Option #2

Our second option is to simply locate a donor body and present the pair as a viable option for someone else to take on the next steps themselves. This holds both good and not so good sides. While it eliminates the need for a "work" location, at the same time neither does it get us to where we were originally headed which was a rebodied 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington chassis. Even if only running & driving well enough for a trip around the block. A dream for the past 30 years has been to drive a Marmon-Herrington of our own, even if only for a short time.

It does however eliminate the need to either perform the "body swap" ourselves or having to pay someone else to perform the task. That could well end up being a huge savings right there.

Option #3

This is where it begins to get interesting. And by interesting we mean that at this stage it might be time to include a fellow adventurer or two or three. Let's say we handled the M-H chassis side of things. We have ours refreshed, transmission, front & rear ends resealed, prepped/painted, renewed braking system, all new fluids, etc. and ready for a new donor body to be installed.

Keep in mind this has a number of ways in which to move forward. For example Option #3A could include a "partner(s)" supplying not simply a "base" donor body(one needing lots of work) but instead what if it were an already restored '47-'48 Mercury Sedan. One that didn't require a paint job or any restoration to speak of. At that point "we're" only a body swap away from an amazing 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan. Or combine the pair "as is" and sell them as a cool combo. Both pieces of the puzzle already there, some assembly required. The potential there would be undeniable and easy to see.

On a side note, the big question here is where and how to come up with the funding for the labor to perform the body swap once a fine "no restoration necessary" example has been secured. Do partners "split" the load. Do we bring in a third partner to fund the body swap. That's another path to the as yet unknown. At least it's a distinct possibility.

Option #4

This is where it's all leading to and perhaps the best way to work this entire endeavor. Start at the desired end result and work backwards from there. Our end goal in this entire Carventure is to move this Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan into a Collector's hands. As much as we'd enjoy hanging onto it forever, I'm afraid it's simply out of our league. At least the "finished" version is anyway.

To see it on stage, under the lights, crossing the block at a big name public auction such as Barrett Jackson, Mecum, RM, Gooding Christies, just to name a few would be more than exciting. That's where it needs as well as deserves to be seen. An opportunity such as this rarely, if ever, comes along and someone with the means to make the most of it would more than benefit from having such an amazing vehicle occupying a place in their collection.

So with that in mind perhaps we should present this opportunity to a potential Buyer while the project is in its earliest stages. Let the Buyer decide how he/she would like to proceed. Chances are they would prefer more of a "restored" appearance as opposed to a "needs everything, could take a while to restore" patina version. And who could blame them. We would likely want the same thing if we were on the other side of this. Instant gratification. Which means the previous rebody(if we were to have gone that route) would have been a complete waste of both money and time.

We also wouldn't have a problem approaching this from more of a Project Manager's standpoint. Being there to help facilitate its forward progress until completion. At least we would get to be along for the ride as it were, journaling every step of the way, and that's most of the fun in this. Well, a large part anyway. The most fun would actually be in the owning, driving, and adding this to our own collection.

Option #5

There is always Option #5 and that is to simply admit defeat, declare it to be just too much of a project to even begin to take on, sell the '48 Marmon-Herrington Sedan "as is" and walk away. But what fun would that be. Not to mention the huge regret we would feel knowing just how close we were to driving our own M-H and rather than get tough and make it happen, we walked away, head slumped in defeat fueled regret.

So no, that's actually not an option after all. Scratch #5 from the list. From the start of this endeavor giving up has always been last on the list, if even on the list at all. We have to improve this situation in one way or another and as time goes on we have a distinct feeling the "path" will begin to show itself more and more. We've already met people and made unexpected connections. People we never would've met had it not been for taking this Carventure on. Who knows what the future holds. All we know is we're anxious to find out.

Even better yet it now appears that we may very well be reconnecting with long time friends. People we'd lost contact with decades ago. It's almost as if this entire "project" was meant to be. Set up by the Universe from the very start. A way of not only allowing us to live our dream of owning a post war late '40's Marmon-Herrington AWD conversion, but also to reconnect with old friends from our past. Something we should've done anyway. Isn't it funny how the Universe works. Perhaps they were right when they said "Everything happens for a reason."

More than likely we will need to source a Shop not only capable, but willing and eager to take on the body swap side of this Carventure.

With the recent loss of availability of our much preferred "work area" we've been forced to do a bit more digging and the deeper we dive into this Carventure one thing has become abundantly clear. While we have a few ideas on ways we'd like to move forward, with each decision we think we've made, we're immediately faced with yet another last minute obstacle(in this case a "swapsacle") positioning itself smack dab in the middle of our path. Never fails. A Shop we once had in mind either no longer exists, is far too busy, doesn't do that type of "thing", or a combination of all of the above. The list of excuses is seemingly endless.

We knew right from the start that this would be anything but easy. Without a doubt this isn't a "cookie cutter" refresh in any sense of the word. No Siree. This is anything but that and constantly proves itself to be that "one of one" endeavor in every sense of the word. Daunting? Yes. Disappointing? Yes again on that. Will that stop us? NO! Not even. It only makes our desire to conquer this situation even greater.

As the challenge grows, we continue to grow right along with it. Had this been a simple aftermarket chassis and LS swap, the list of places to take that on are seemingly endless. Almost as if every shop out there lives on the modernized "plug-n-play" drivetrain craze. Nor is this your Grandpa's everyday run of the mill standard Mercury Sedan refresh. Pretty sure we could have found someone to take that on no sweat. Come to think of it, neither of those options eve appeals to us. We're fueled solely by the ability to own the "one of one" version, not your "everyone at every Car Show you go to has one" version.

But the minute you mention Marmon-Herrington AWD, the phone goes silent on the other end. Even the background noise seems to cease. It's as if they have their hand over the mic goin' "Hey, has anybody ever heard of somethin' called a Marmon-Herringsomethinorother 4X4 before?" Then it's two minutes of crickets as everyone in the shop scratches their collective heads, followed by a "No, we're too busy right now, sorry" and a dial tone. Wait a second, two minutes ago you were more than hungry to fill the schedule and all of a sudden you're too busy. Yeah, it's like that.

However, that's not all that unusual in a situation such as this. After all, we're pretty much dealing with a 78 year old unknown to most folks one of one situation. A "one size fits almost none" rarified air type of thing. So a certain amount of that is to be expected as we continue to keep our eyes peeled for the right Shop to take this project on. We want the end result of all this effort to be as close to what the original owner ordered when he first sat down at the Mercury Dealership back in 1948 and began to lay out the plan for his dream Mercury Sedan.

So the search continues on, Goldilocks style. We know the perfect shop exists out there. How do we know this. Because Coachcraft Ltd. still exists and they're plenty busy. Therefore, there's more than likely a similar shop out there somewhere, with similar goals just waiting for a breakthrough car that will get their name out and bring big time attention to their Shop as well as their high quality work. If you happen to know of any shops out there, preferably in the So. Cal. area(but we're open to hearing about any others as well), please feel free to contact us at the address below. We very much appreciate it.

While they(whomever they may be) suggest that you should surround yourself with five of your peers, or people you aspire to emulate, in our case we're still unsure if that is or isn't an option.

Reason being it's unclear as to whether there are four or possibly five other Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion's known to exist. Therefore, we are either No.5 or No.6 in the mix.

Now, I will say that as far as "competition" goes, in no way are we thinking we're is the same ballpark with these other four examples. Not only are they of the Woodie Station Wagon variety, but each of them have been "over the top" restored. That combination alone sets them in a world of their own.

However that's not to say we're unable to hold a seat of our own at the Grownup's table. No Sir. We do just fine on our own. Well, let's just say at some point in the future we will anyway. We're destined for greatness, it's simply a matter of time.

Our first example is one that many in the Woodie World consider to be THE BEST Woodie on the planet. Be it Mercury or otherwise, nothing else compares to this "one of one, rarest of the rare" slice of Heaven. And how anyone can say otherwise is beyond imagination.

As far as its value goes, it's basically pricele$$. There really isn't any way to assign a value to something that hasn't sold in recent memory. Nor will it ever be for sale. To add to it, there isn't anything else available that would be in any shape or form considered to be in the same category. Therefore pricele$$ is about as close of a guesstimate as we'll be able to muster up. And to make it even better, he drives it. Quite often as a matter fact.

Which brings us to Mercury Marmon- Herrington No. 2. Now this fine specimen is much easier to assign a value to. Reason being is it sold back in January of 2021 for a record breaking price of $346,000! Yes, you read that right. Without a doubt this has to be considered at the very least to be the second best example of a 1940's Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Station Wagon known to exist.

Don't quote us but it is our belief that it was restored by Nick Alexander's crew. Top to bottom and side to side, every wooden panel, every nut & bolt, every square inch brought back to day one perfection. And then some.

Next up on our list of Wooden Wonders is this fine 1947 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion.

While not much is known about this rare beast, we do know it sits among some extremely fine machines in a relatively well known Collection. Matter of fact the Collection also holds an extremely nice Ford Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion as well.

Which brings us to No. 4 on this list of amazingness. Honestly, we've only added it in this position for one reason. We simply aren't fans of the tires. For us they kill the whole "off-road ready, 4X4 equipped" vibe. Not to in any way take points away from the restoration. It's top notch over the top in every other aspect but whomever was in charge of choosing the tires really blew it on this one.

It's known to have sold for just a bit over $207,000 so obviously the tires weren't an issue for the new owner. What's an extra thousand dollars at that stage of the game.

Which brings us once again to the "Unknown Zone". In the midst of our Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion research we've uncovered yet another possible Brother from another Mother in this yellow example you see here.

Not much is known other than it's reported to have been part of the Boyd Collection. Said to have a "newer" 255cu in engine and a 3 speed transmission(the Marmon-Herrington AWD conversions are known for having 1.5 Ton four speed transmissions), we're still on the fence as to whether this is/was an original or perhaps assembled from parts & pieces. But for now let's give it the benefit of the doubt and consider it to be a legit Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion.

So there ya have it. That's basically five of our closest "friends", distant cousins if you will, people Mercury's we aspire to be. While they may look a bit different on the outside, one thing's for certain. The chassis, the heart of these beasts, is all the same. They all received their Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversions at close to the same time and in the exact same facility. Just as ours did at nearly the same time. Let that sink in for a second. Mind blown to say the least.

While they may have different Dad's, they're in essence all Brothers from the same Mother. All "born" under the same roof at very close to the same time. Somehow they survived 78 years of neglect and abuse to once again shine as if they were new.

And then there's us. Yeah, don't forget about us. While we might not currently be in the same league "eye candy" wise, we still hold the very same bones. The same structure. The same skeleton. The same Marmon-Herrington DNA. Which in our eyes means we still hold the same potential. The same shot at fame. To once again stand proudly among the rest, as few as there are. Without a doubt an extremely exclusive club. Secret handshake required to enter the Clubhouse.

This also brings us to decision time. Which path do we take from here. We know the current "cut-off" pickup version simply ain't gonna cut it(pun intended). Not a chance. So a "rebody" is mandatory. This is the tricky part. Do we stray from originality and go with the tried and true Woodie Wagon version, thereby making us "one of the Fab Five Six" as it were. Come to think of it, in actuality that makes us "one of three" due to the fact there's only two other 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion's known to exist.

Or do we go with originality, staying true to its roots and rebody this rig as a Fordor Sedan. Choosing to blaze our own trail rather than being simply another sheep in the flock. On one hand, while it might not have the same "bling" factor as all that beautiful wood, it would hold its own as a "one of one, last year of production(as 1948 was the last year that Marmon-Herrington offered their AWD Conversions on either Ford or Mercury passenger cars), super special Sedan. Especially if it were to be redone in a shiny black version. From Chicago Mafia to high end Montana Mining Co., and who knows where else in between, it could hold one's imagination in many different versions. Add a period correct logo to the doors and the illusion is complete.

That choice is upcoming and believe me, we're just as eager to make that decision as well. As mentioned above this is looking more and more like a partnership in the making. A collective collaboration of sorts, all parties involved having the same goal in mind. To bring this far too long neglected piece of high end Mercury history back to its former glory. Stay tuned, it's gonna be a stiff, bumpy, not all that fast, yet wildly exciting ride.

Let's do a bit of numbers crunching, shall we.

While there are a number of factors involved in choosing a path forward, they all revolve around a similar theme. That being our 1948 Mercury Sedan must be rebodied in some form or fashion in order to reach the next level. Whatever that level may end up being. So at this stage perhaps it's numbers crunching time. Leaving all emotion out of the equation, if that's possible, we know that Math doesn't lie. So let's take a closer look at the numbers.

This is what we view as our end goal.

Once rebodied, to bring this truly unique one of a kind specimen to the high end market, where it will surely receive the attention it deserves.

If you're even the least bit interested in cars of any sort then there's no doubt you're heard the name Barrett Jackson passed around at one time or another.

Heck, even if you're not a Car Guy there's still a 99% chance you've heard of it. While it's not the only big name game in town auction wise, it's more than likely high up on the list of big name auctions. There are certainly a number of others, Mecum, Gooding Christie's, Worldwide, just to name a few of the many. While Hershey and Amelia Island are big time as well, since we're on the West coast we'll be wanting to stay closer to home, with So. Cal. being the "hub" of all things car related.

From early in the year and pretty much all throughout the year it seems there are big time auctions being held all across the Country at one time or another. And with many receiving hours of live TV coverage, it would be difficult to miss 'em.

And while we're on the subject of crazy "out of the box" thinking there's always the SEMA show each November in Las Vegas. While that event is geared mainly towards the aftermarket crowd and our build will be as close to original as possible, who's to say we couldn't be persuaded to throw a little aftermarket somethin' somethin' on it(just for the show). We're willing to bet there's a number of Companies that would be more than happy to display the finished product in their display. Hey, every little bit of exposure can only help the end re$ult.

But again, our main objective in all of this will be to bring it to the high end market where it will receive all the attention it deserves.

We're Just A Click Away

We can easily be reached by emailing us at MercuryM.HSedan@yahoo.com.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions, concerns, information, desire to "partner" with us on this amazing Carventure, anything at all and we'll be more than happy to discuss any and all options moving forward towards our goal. That being to create a running, driving, 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan worthy of crossing the block at a high end auction somewhere in the Southwest.