Climb on the bandwagon with us and check out the 1950 Mercury, boasting superior ride comfort and a 255 cubic-inch flathead V8 under the hood.
You’ll recognize the sales pitch in this 1950 Mercury campaign instantly. Why, it’s the good old Bandwagon, just as they taught us in high school civics in the lessons on propaganda techniques. But here they’re not selling us a political candidate; they merely want us to try the new Mercury. Everyone’s buying one, so why not you? In this pitch, Mercury is ahead of the field in economy, performance, roadability, and riding comfort. It’s “ahead in all the things that make a wonderful ride and a wonderful car,” the announcer declares.
In truth, the sales numbers at Mercury for 1950 were simply respectable: nearly 294,000 cars, slipping a bit from 301,000 in 1949 when the product line was totally overhauled. (See our feature on the ’49-’51 Mercury here.) With prices ranging from $1,875 for the new three-passenger coupe to $2,412 for a convertible, Mercury went head-to-head with Oldsmobile, Dodge, and the rest of the mid-priced field. Under the hood was the familiar 255.4 CIC flathead V8 with 110 hp—not really competitive with the Olds Rocket, but more than a match for the Dodge’s L-head six.
One neat moment in this spot: footage from the 1950 Indianapolis 500, where Mercury served as the official pace car. Behind the wheel was Benson Ford (1919-1978), the second of Edsel Ford’s three sons. Among his many duties at Ford Motor Company, he was a vice president and the head of the Lincoln-Mercury division from 1948 to 1956. Video below.
I would guess that these days there are as many customized as stock versions around. One of, if not the most, customized cars of all time.
I love these 1949-51 Mercurys and owned several, some being Monarchs. I had both a Merc and a Monarch in high school. Later in life in the bid to restore my 1949 Monarch I was offered and acquired exceptionally good parts cars and running originals. I missed out on a coupe, a woody, and a convertible over the years as I could not afford them at the time. Had to let the Monarch go when we moved and still mourn the loss.
You can hear laughter in the background (from Ed Sullivan’s studio audience laughing at the warmup comic while the commercial plays?) which makes it sound like they’re laughing at L-M’s claims for the car.