Then and Now

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 added to the cost of the new Sedan itself, 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 please feel free to share it with us. We’re more than eager to discover anything and everything we possibly can.