1939 Mercury 5 window coupe

J

Jayce

Member
While I was sitting here looking at projects progress through winter I got curious and decided to do some research about the 39' Mercury Coupe, but I didn't find much information about them, just that they were modeled after the Lincoln Zephyr.

Question: Does anybody know how many 1939 Mercury 5 window coupes were produced?

Thanks.
-Jayce
 
The first year of the Mercury shared a lot of chassis parts with the ford cars but is was a longer 116" wheel base in front of the firewall. The bodies differ a lot and are not interchangeable. The quarter windows in the Ford coupes are just fixed port windows but the windows in the Mercury coupe have the chrome trim and appear to be similar to hard top windows. The rear fenders have smaller openings for the wheel so they look different than the Fords. The new 99A 239 CID 95 HP engine was introduced and was fitted in all Mercury cars. The first Mercs also had a driveshaft that was part of the pinion in the rear axle in similar fashion to the Model A cars but they shared most of the other parts internal to the axle with the Ford cars & light commercials.

They have some similarities to both the Ford and Lincoln cars in design but are markedly different than both.
 
Similar to the 40' Merc - they are kind of a mix of a Ford and a Lincoln. This is probably why I can't stand the bulky non-flowing back of the tops on them - they are all in need of a chop and serious metal rework in my mind.

But, once they've been reworked, what a nice car . . . one of the true defining autos for the customization world. I know that not everybody is into customs, but you should see the newly completed 40 Merc that Rob Ida and crew just finished - I've seen them working on it for a few years now.

CCC-ida-40-merc-finished-feature.jpg

http://www.customcarchronicle.com/news-flash/ida-1940-merc-finished/
 
Bored&Stroked said:
Similar to the 40' Merc - they are kind of a mix of a Ford and a Lincoln. This is probably why I can't stand the bulky non-flowing back of the tops on them - they are all in need of a chop and serious metal rework in my mind.

But, once they've been reworked, what a nice car . . . one of the true defining autos for the customization world. I know that not everybody is into customs, but you should see the newly completed 40 Merc that Rob Ida and crew just finished - I've seen them working on it for a few years now.

View attachment 255107

http://www.customcarchronicle.com/news-flash/ida-1940-merc-finished/
Click to expand...

Love those front fender skirts.
 
"Love those front fender skirts"

They have their own steering rack, so they turn as the front wheels do . . . amazing work. This car will probably "run the field" this year as far as accolades at the various high-end shows it is going to. I've probably not seen a better custom . . . period.
 
Thanks for all the information, I really appreciate it! I like my cars original, good-looking or not, it brings a smile to my face when I see something is still original. My grandpa got his 39' Mercury 2-Door Coupe through my uncle who gave it to him in exchange for my grandpa to restore two Model T's that my Uncle had to find. My Uncle wanted to bring attention to his business he owned at the time. My uncle never got the Model T's and my grandpa was able to keep the Merc'. It's in rough condition but I love it.
 
A 39 mercury coupe owner told me they were originally made as a convertible and did not sell well so ford put a roof on them . May explain the pregnant football style roof line..
Fact or fallacy??
 
I'll have some pictures of the interior in a while, the light in the shop's going out.

I know it has a 48-49 Mercury engine in it, but that's about all I know mechanical-wise.
 
It looks to be in pretty fair shape. The 1948 59A type engine would still have the coolant ports in the center of the heads. The 1949 would be the 8CM version of the 8BA series with the coolant ports at the front of the heads. Either one is still OK. The 8CM would have a bit more CID & horse power but not a lot more.
 
I guess now that I really think about it, this car could be a whole lot worse. I say it's in "rough" shape only because I've never got to enjoy it, and actually look under the hood, or under the car. It's been parked in that very spot since late 70's-early 80s. It's by-far my favorite "Early V8" that we own... Now that I think of it, it's the only Early V8 we have left that my grandpa touched. Kinda sad actually.
 
I had one that I drove from Atlanta to Coeur D'Alene Idaho in 92 for the Western National Meet, EFV8CA. I liked the back seat and extra passenger room. Took Long distance Award. I'm proud of that "Cross Country" bar. 2,857 mile trip. One way.
 
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