1948 Mercury 8 Convertible
This car was purchased out of California about 5 years ago, where it had spent it's entire life.
The current thinks he may be the 4th owner of this car.
The last owner had the car restored roughly 12 years before he sold it he told the current owner the engine had been rebuilt.
The gorgeous red metallic paint is very close to the original Pheasant Red and is in beautiful condition. There are a few small spots that have been touched up, but overall paint is excellent.
The interior is a combination of tan leather and tan vinyl; leather on the seating surfaces (seat and back). The interior is also in excellent condition.
The speedometer works, but the other gauges do not, (the fuel gauge is temperamental) so the current owner installed an oil pressure gauge and water temp gauge under the dash. The original radio does power up but doesn't seem to actually work, so a 12V modern radio was installed under the dash. To power it, a small 12V tractor battery was tucked in in front of the radiator. The headlights, blinkers, under dash "map" lights and fog lights all work, the flood light currently does not. This has a power top and it works as it should and is in as beautiful condition as the rest of the car.
The optional heater works as it should as do the horn and wipers.
Under the hood the 239 flat head V8 fires right up and has the distinct flat head rumble, accentuated by dual exhaust and glass pack mufflers. The exhaust was alumi-coated and looks great against the black underbody. The current owner installed a 6V Powermaster alternator, disguised as a generator and also changed out the stock coil with a Pertronix Flame Thrower.
He also installed Super Slide teflon lined new springs, which gives the car a much nicer ride and allows it to sit about 1.5" lower than stock and he had the clutch done.
The stock 3 on the Tree manual transmission routes the roughly 100 HP to the rear wheels. Drum brakes slow the car and do so quite well.
Th odometer reads almost 28,000 miles but true mileage is unknown, the current owner saying he's put maybe 2000 miles on it in his ownership.
Turn the key, adjust the choke and press the starter button and it fires immediately to life (there is an electric fuel pump operated by a switch under the dash). Coker American Classic white walls (215/75R15) and the new springs really give this a beautiful, stable ride that feels secure up to the 60 MPH that I had it. I didn't go any faster on the secondary road I was on, but it certainly felt as though it has enough to maintain highway speeds.
The under side is again just as nice as the rest of the car, showing no rust/rot.
If someone wanted to go a hair further with this car, they could go detail crazy and super detail under the hood and the chassis. All is clean but could be brought up a notch by a solid weekend of deep detailing.
As she sits, she's a show winner and will bring the ooohs, aaahs and thumbs up at cruise nights, cars n coffees, etc.
There is also an additional flat head V8 and 3 speed trans that can come with the car for an agreed price.
This car is ready to go, the owner has several classics and he's not driving this one enough so it's time for it to find a new home.
It can be yours for an asking price of $40,000.
Any questions, to see several hundred additional photos and video, to schedule a time to see her in person, or to simply make an offer, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for the interest!
