1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington Fordor Sedan "One of One" Woodie Wagon Woody

1948 Mercury Sedan Model 89 Original Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion Additional Info:

1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan ~ EXTREMELY RARE!
What you're looking at is like the "Bigfoot" of 1940's Mercury's. Both literally and figuratively. The only one known to exist and the only one that has been discovered in at least the past 30 - 40 years. In fact there have been numerously more Bigfoot sightings than there have been Mercury's with the factory Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion.
Not saying there isn't another one out there hiding somewhere(no way of knowing that) but considering the rarity(rumored to have been less than two dozen Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversions ever produced, in both Ford and Mercury passenger car versions from 1938 thru 1948) as well as the amount of desire out there in the car world to hopefully discover such an animal in the wild, you'd have to imagine that the odds of finding another at this stage are extremely thin.
For those unfamiliar with the Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversions here's a quick synopsis. These 4X4 conversions were offered as a factory approved option from 1938 thru 1948 on either Ford or Mercury passenger cars. Neither Ford nor their higher end sibling Mercury were offering a 4X4 of their own at the time so if you wanted all-wheel-drive, this was your only option.
They were usually built for remote Lodges, Guest Ranches, Mining Co.'s, Forest Service use, other Government entities, that sort of thing. Considering their high cost(read the following paragraphs), it immediately becomes apparent as to why so few exist to this day.
While Marmon-Herrington was mostly known for their building of AWD (4X4 - 6X6, etc.) large scale Army vehicles they also made their AWD 4X4 Conversions available on passenger cars as well. See the photo of the four Ford Models to get an idea of the passenger car lineup for 1940. That same lineup carried thru to the 1948 Models
Basically what would happen is a customer would walk into their local Ford or Lincoln-Mercury Dealership and begin to order the car of their dreams. Essentially hand-built, the assembly rate of all Marmon-Herrington AWD conversions was necessarily slow and the output small.
When this premium four-wheel-drive conversion was ordered from the Lincoln-Mercury Dealer, a complete Mercury Sedan was delivered to Marmon-Herrington’s plant in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the factory body and power train were removed. From there the original chassis was then heavily modified to include new cross members, full inner bracing of the frame rails, complete front suspension replacement, switching from its factory original independent suspension to a parallel leaf spring setup. A 1.5 Ton four-speed truck transmission was then added along with an 11-inch clutch. A heavy-duty transfer case was then mounted behind it.

A 1939 rear axle that had been heavily modified, with its differential placed off to the passenger side of the vehicle in order to align with the transfer case, as well as having steering "knuckles" installed, was then mounted to the newly installed front suspension system. This also included an extra "lever" next to the new floor mounted shifter, allowing on-demand AWD engagement of the front axle. The rear suspension was "raised" quite a bit as well as receiving extra "helper" springs. Not only to allow for more ground clearance, but thereby matching the height of the newly configured front axle.

The body was once again reunited with its heavily modified chassis, thereby transformed into its new AWD configuration. With the base price of a new 1948 Mercury Sedan hovering around the $1650(plus options) mark, combined with the $1025 cost of the Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversion itself, the new owner was then presented with their "new & improved" Mercury AWD Sedan at a cost hovering right around $2700, give or take a few other options. This at a time when the average cost of a home was right around $7700. Easy to see why so few of these Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversions were ever ordered, as well as why so few are known to exist some 78 years later.

The Marmon-Herrington All-Wheel-Drive conversions, especially those of the Mercury brand, are some of the most desirable vehicles in the Collector car hobby due to their engineering, rarity, and impressive visual stance. However, the significance of this particular Mercury Sedan cannot be overstated, offering collectors an unrepeatable opportunity to acquire that unique "crown jewel, one of one" for their collection.

There are a number of paths we are considering moving forward with in this Carventure. One being the outright sale of the Mercury as we admittedly don't have access to all of the funds necessary to bring it back to its former glory. And that would be our intended goal, to rebody it again as a 1948 Mercury Fordor Sedan and have it cross the block at a high end Barrett Jackson, RM Sotheby's, Gooding Christie's level auction and into a high end Collector's hands.
The first ten photos are of the Mercury as it exists today. The others have a desciption along with them to assist in describing the what & when of them.
The photo of the "lifted" black 4X4 Fordor Sedan, while not a photo of an actual Sedan(since ours is the only one known to exist there simply aren't any photos of another one available), that photo represents the "reality" we hope to manifest.
Another option might be to start off by selling 1/2 ownership in the Mercury itself, thereby combining forces to reach our end goal. Then we can both weigh in on how best to move forward with the project.
We are also very open to an outside Investor taking part in this endeavor. Someone that is simply interested in the possible ROI at the end of the journey. For us it's not as much about the ROI as it is about making the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity. Knowing full well another opportunity such as this will likely never come again, we'd like to make the most of it if at all possible.
Yet another option is to bring in multiple partners, thereby splitting the costs among the three or four of us, all with a common desired goal in mind. As much as we hate to do that, we have to keep all of our options open. Basically someone to supply the base Mercury itself(that being "us"). Another to fund/supply the necessary donor car. Perhaps another to fund the refresh of the chassis as well as the "body swap" itself.
Which brings up another possible option. We're very open to the possibility of a Collector purchasing the 48 Mercury outright and us acting as the "restoration/rebody" Managers as it were. We'd enjoy being along for the ride back to its former glory.
Speaking of body-swap, there are a couple options there as well. One is to bring it back to its original self, that being a 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Fordor Sedan. Another would be to bring it back as a Woodie Station Wagon. We're torn on that decision. One reason being of the five other Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversions known to exist, all of which are based on the same exact chassis as ours, all are Woodie Station Wagons. Which has its good, as well as its not quite as good side.
One being the current purchase price of a stock donor '46-'48 Mercury Woodie Wagon is definitely much higher than a typical same year Mercury Fordor Sedan. As an example, you can find a very nice(doesn't require restoration) '46-'48 Mercury Fordor Sedan for somewhere in the neighborhood of $15k - $20K whereas a Woodie Station Wagon in basically the same condition would be about $50K - $55K. An extremely nice example could add an extra $10K. In fact we're aware of one such Woodie that is currently for sale and it would take this project over the top to say the least. Talk about the ultimate. Phew!
Considering those few that have sold are generally in the $200K+ range, one even reaching a staggering $346K, the end result, at least monetarily speaking, money wi$e it does make quite a bit of sense to go that route. However the downside to that is not only are there already five other Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversions known, it removes the originality of ours. It's strange to think that five "others" is a lot but in this context, it actually is.
To be honest we'd much prefer to see this ultra rare diamond in the rough brought back as an original Fordor Sedan. Not only to keep it as original as possible but more importantly, to us anyway, is to keep its "one of one, only one known to exist" status fully intact.
Included are all of the special Marmon-Herrington badges(data, lubrication, shift pattern, transfer case operation, hood side badges, etc.) and tags that were installed on it when first delivered back in 1948.
Phew, if you've made it this far in the description then you obviously are fully aware of what you're looking at. Yes, as evidenced in a couple of the extra-grainy photos from some 30+ years ago, the body was at one point "cut off" in order to install a pickup bed. While that's not ideal for us, it makes sense to want a 4X4 pickup to use around the farm as opposed to a Sedan. That pickup bed is long gone, not sure when or where along the way. We are also aware of a Ford Marmon Herrington AWD Conversion that met the very same fate. It has since been rebodied.
So basically what we have here is a blank slate leading to a number of possibilities to move forward with. No, it doesn't run and hasn't run in decades. The engine appears to be original to the car but we haven't verified that as of yet. Also not sure if it turns over freely or not. The spark plugs were removed a number of years ago and fogging lubrication was sprayed inside the cylinders but nothing has been attempted since then. It may or may not run. But again, at this stage that really isn't an issue.
As you can see the engine appears to be all original (we also have a carburetor and air cleaner for it. See photo) but that as well wouldn't really matter as the donor car will have a running engine and will likely be swapped at the same time as the body. Speaking of the body, that really matters not as well since it will all be replaced by the donor car. This is ALL about the ultra rare Marmon-Herrington AWD chassis. That's where it all begins.
We firmly believe that if one crunches the numbers, based on the previous sale prices of the five other Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Conversions known to exist, while granted they are Woodie Wagons, not to mention there are no guarantees in life, this is about as close as you'll get to a sure thing.
Anyway, as much as we aren't fans of a long read, we believe more in full transparency in all of our dealings. Please feel free to ask any and all questions.
It has a current clear Montana Title. We are planning on titling the Mercury in California but out of state vehicle transfers require a certified VIN verification which we are in the process of waiting for that now. We know that won't be an issue since the same process had to be done to acquire the current Montana Title.
Car is located in San Diego, CA.
We can be reached at MercuryM.HSedan@yahoo.com
Check out this website for more detailed information.
1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington AWD Sedan – History Of The 1948 Mercury Marmon-Herrington Sedan