Your Order Is ready
While we weren't there in person, we very well could imagine how that first conversation went.
Likely something like this.
Somewhere's out there in the rural midwest...
James: "Dang it Martha, I'm gettin' awful tired of havin' to spend all my Saturday's out there, week after week, month after month, breakin' my back, sweatin' my brains out in all this humidity, pushin' that gawdawful lawnmower back and forth across the lawn. I need one of them new motorized models that I saw the other day down at Drucker's General Store."
Martha: "Well, how much is it gonna cost?"
James: "Actually it's on sale right now for $79.95."
Martha: "OH HELL NO! That's enough for us to buy food for the next 6 months. You're the one that wanted a big front yard. Now, you're gonna get out there and you're gonna push that dang lawnmower we already got. The one you said you had to have because you said the sheep weren't doin' a good enough job. The one that cost $18.95. Now, you're gonna get your exercise in and you're gonna love every dang minute of it."
James: "Oh, okay. I was afraid you were gonna say that. I just thought that maybe for once my dream would come true. I can't help it, I'm a Dreamer. You knew that about me when your Pappy forced me to... I mean forced you to marry me."
Martha: "Well, you can put that dream of yours right straight outta your mind right here and now. That's not gonna happen while I'm still in charge of the budget. Now get back out there and get to work!"
Okay, so some of that can't be proven but you get the point. Big purchases of any kind just didn't happen back in the late 1940's. Think about it. WW2 had recently ended, the entire Country was in recovery and rebuilding mode, factories of all kinds were in the process of switching back from "war" mode to "regular" mode, all our troops had returned home and jobs were few and far between. Needless to say a gas powered lawnmower was near the bottom on the list of priorities.
Multiply that by a couple thousand and you can well imagine how the dinner time conversation went when bringing up the subject of buying a new car. Not a used, new to us, new car. We're talkin' about walking into the Ford, or in this particular case, the even more expensive Lincoln-Mercury Dealership, sitting down across the table from a Salesman as he opened up the colorful sales brochure and began to rattle off all of the reasons you and the little lady needed to own a new car. Let's just say it more than likely wasn't an easy sell. On either side of the table.
As if that wasn't crazy enough, we can only imagine how the name Marmon-Herrington even came up in that conversation. Sure, there were still some instances where an all-wheel-drive Station Wagon would do nicely for those well to do types that could afford it. Extremely nicely at that. Be it transporting guests and their luggage to a high end Hotel or rural Hunting Lodge. That type of thing.
When "status" and "keeping up with(or driving right over the top of) the Joneses" was a big reason you're purchasing a new vehicle you couldn't do much better than a brand new Mercury Station Wagon with the Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion. We get it.
But that right there is what makes our Mercury Sedan situation even that much more intriguing. Why choose a Sedan. There had to be a reason. Not that it was any less of a car. Not even. Had nearly as much room inside as the wagon. Especially if the wagon had a third seat. Although that "extra" seat would have meant more passenger room.
It surely wasn't the cost. With a Sedan costing approx. $50 less than a Station Wagon, not to mention when you take into consideration the cost of the Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion itself, adding on an extra $1025 to what was already a $1650 purchase price, what's an extra $50 in the grand scheme of things. A radio? A heater? A side mirror? You get the point. Not much difference.
Sure, long term as well as short term maintenance could have very well played a big part in the decision making. The amount of upkeep required to keep a wood bodied Station Wagon on the road could have definitely played a large role. Not to mention location could have as well. There are a number of factors involved here for sure. Without a doubt all of which were given careful consideration prior to signing on the dotted line.
What we wouldn't give to have more insight into what went on that fateful day. The day our '48 Mercury Sedan, with its oh so special Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion option, was ordered. Because it was right then, the moment everything changed for someone. Not simply for the salesman who's commission just instantly skyrocketed to the Moon, but for the buyer as well. We only wish we knew whom and what their thinking was at the time.
While people have ventured to mention a Governmental type of role for our Mercury, we remain unconvinced of such a scenario. With its fully chrome grill and dash appointments, not to mention being the higher priced "luxury" Mercury version as opposed to the regular Ford version, it doesn't strike us as being anything "war related", let alone Government related. No, this speaks to a high end buyer being at the wheel the day this one of a kind beauty was ordered.
Yes, this required some serious planning as well as lots of patience. You had to have your ducks in a row and then some prior to even walking into the Dealership. Lots of planning involved before you ever signed on the dotted line. You didn't just walk in there, no plans in mind, and at the last second say "Yeah, while you're at it might as well make it a 4X4 too. Why not, what's an extra grand." And the patience part came into play while you waited the extra few months for your new 1948 Mercury to even arrive.
That's simply a guess on our part as to how long it would've taken for the conversion itself to take place but word has it, with all of the post war rebuilding going on, switching from "war effort" mode back into "John Q. Public" mode, combined with shortages in steel and other materials, the waiting game was seriously real. Rumored to already be anywhere from 6 months up to a year before you'd actually get that phone call saying your new Mercury had arrived and come on down and take delivery. That's just for the "regular" car itself.
The conversion process itself, which required complete disassembly of the entire car itself. Yes, the brand new Mercury that you just finished ordering from the Dealership had to be completely disassembled. Removing, reinforcing, and replacing of the crossmembers. Strengthening the frame rails. Converting the entire front suspension from independent to dual leaf spring to accommodate the newly created front differential.
Once that part of the process had been completed, then the removal of the "three on the tree" 3spd transmission and replacing it with a "four on the floor" 4spd 1.5 ton truck transmission geared especially for the conversion could take place. Adding to that a special transfer case to supply AWD "power" to the newly created front differential. Then putting the engine back in to the totally revamped chassis.
It was at that point that the body itself could go back on the newly rebuilt brand new chassis and everything could be reassembled form there.In other words your brand new from the factory, zero mile car had to come completely apart, nearly everything underneath altered, then all of it was to be reassembled again, and all done without doing any harm to the brand new body itself. Holy redo! Without a doubt the entire M-H Team had some serious stress to deal with themselves. No wonder the conversion cost an extra $1025 when the price of a house at the time was $7700. That was no small feat to say the least.
When you add in the fact that the 1948 Mercury production run was shorter than normal, only running from Nov. 1947 through until April of 1948, as the retooling began for the 1949 Models, talk about a stress test. Especially for all of those overthinkers among us. And to add to the craziness, during the time your new 1948 Mercury was still being converted, the 1949 Models were already being released and on the road.
Can you say "stress test to the max". Talk about Buyer's remorse. Watching people drive down the road, enjoying their new cars, while you were still waiting for your "new" car to arrive. That must've really set some Buyer's to wondering if they did indeed make the right call.
Fortunately, at least in the case of our '48 Mercury, thanks to the addition of the Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion, not only was the wait well worth it, but buyer's remorse wasn't even an option. We say wasn't an option because this was it. Done. Finito. The end of the road so to speak. All you could be was eternally grateful that you got in line before they slammed the door shut.
Yep, while the so called "new & improved" 1949 Mercury's were beginning to fill up the Dealer showrooms and lots, none of them would ever have the M-H AWD option. Marmon-Herrington had officially pulled the plug on the passenger car version of their AWD Conversions.
While M-H continued to build their "truck" conversions until 1959, when Ford went rogue and first began to offer a 4X4 truck under their own brand, the decade between 1938 and 1948(minus the war years of '43-'45) was it. The 1948 Model year was truly the end of a uniquely one of a kind era. And what makes our car even better(for us anyway) is the fact that it's a long wheelbase Mercury and not just a Ford.
No disrespect intended and no doubt we'd be more than happy if our M-H was a Ford but the fact that it's a Mercury means more to us than words can really express. The culmination of 30+ years of a dream that we never even imagined could actually come true. Never knew even existed, let alone could or would ever happen.
We only wish we could've been sitting right there at that table at the Dealership, signing the paperwork on what would turn out to be one of the rarest, most iconic vehicles to ever exist.
Disclaimer: In the pursuit of attempting to find out anything and everything pertaining to this particular '48 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan, as well as any known history, we have done our best to research the history of all things Marmon-Herrington AWD. 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.