Mercury M-Series

Mercury M-series trucks
Mercury M-series trucks
	Unrestored 1949 Mercury M47 half ton
Overview
Manufacturer	Mercury (Ford)
Production	1946–1968
Body and chassis
Class	Full-size pickup truck
Layout	Front engine, rear-wheel drive ; Front engine, four-wheel drive
Chronology
Successor	Ford F series (1967–1972)

The Mercury M series is a series of pickup trucks that was marketed by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company. Produced from 1946 to 1968, the Mercury M series was sold primarily in Canada, as a rebadged version of the Ford F series.

Background

In 1946, Ford of Canada split its Ford and Lincoln/Mercury divisions into separate sales networks. Alongside the creation of the Monarch and Meteor sub-brands, Ford of Canada introduced trucks to the Mercury division. At the time, few rural communities offered both the Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealership networks, miniminizing model overlap and allowing for greater coverage for potential truck buyers. To differentiate Ford and Mercury trucks, Mercury added a brand-specific grille and slightly different exterior and interior trim.

Nomenclature

In 1948, following the introduction of the Ford F series, Mercury adopted the use of the "M" prefix, for Mercury. From 1948 to 1950, nominal tonnage ratings were replaced by a series designation in which the numbers indicate the GVWR when equipped with tires of appropriate capacity. Each code number is arrived at by dividing the GVWR of the series by 100. Thus an F-47 (M-47) indicates a GVWR of 4700 lbs., F-135 (M-135) indicates 13500 lbs., etc.

In 1951–52, Ford of Canada got back in step with Ford USA with F-1 (M-1), F-2 (M-2) etc.

Pickup trucks

From 1948 to 1968, the Mercury M series followed the development of its Ford F-series counterparts, differing largely in exterior trim.

For 1961 to 1966, Mercury trucks had a gear/lightning bolt symbol on their horn button and no other interior Mercury nameplates.

For 1967 and 1968, trucks used Ford interior trim only, such as the horn button, dash cluster bezel and radio block-off plate.

Other Mercury trucks

Alongside the M-Series pickup trucks, Mercury dealerships in Canada rebadged other versions of the Ford truck range.

Along with an M-series counterpart of medium-duty F-series trucks (F-500 and above), Mercury sold its own versions of the Ford B-series bus chassis and Ford C-series tilt-cab truck. In a similar fashion, the Ford Econoline van and pickup truck was sold as a Mercury from 1961 to 1967.

While not specifically sold as a Mercury, the 1957–1959 Ford Ranchero was rebadged and sold by the Meteor division in Canada (through the Lincoln-Mercury dealership network)

Discontinuation

When the Auto-Pact was signed in 1965, opening the border to tariff-free movement of vehicles produced on both sides of the border, Mercury truck production was split between the Oakville, Ontario, plant and the San Jose, California, plant. This enabled Oakville to ramp up production to supply the eastern US and Canada with Ford trucks. No Mercury trucks were sold in the US.

Ford wound down production of the Mercury trucks in the late spring of 1968; documented Mercury trucks have been found built as late as May 15, 1968. Employees of Ford in this time period have reported leftover Mercury M series being converted to Ford trucks. However, no paperwork or confirmation has yet surfaced regarding the final disposition of these, nor of an official end date to production.

Following the discontinuation of the Mercury M-series pickup, the M-series tilt-cab version of the C series survived until 1972. After its discontinuation, the next Mercury light truck would be the 1993 Mercury Villager minivan.