1952 Mercury Custom Series Station Wagon

For 1952, All Ford Motor Company cars were given new bodies, resting on top of stronger chassis frames and given advanced features such as suspended pedals and curved single-pane windshields. The engine in the Mercury Custom had the same displacement as the 1951 model but was more powerful thanks to higher compression. A Merc-O-Matic transmission was optional and proved to be a very popular feature, however, nearly half the production run of 1952 was equipped with a manual transmission, with about a third of those having optional overdrive.

The Mercury Custom series had frenched headlights, a fake hood scoop, a one-piece curved windshield with a wraparound rear window, and a large integrated bumper and grille.

Mercury offered two versions of the station wagon on the Custom line - a 6-passenger and an 8-passenger version. They had decorative maple side and DI-NOC wood grain side trim, and stainless steel trim on the rear wheelhouse. All wagon bodies were assembled at the Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, and then shipped to their respective assembly plants.

For 1952, Mercury built 2,478 station wagon body styles. This example was assembled in Los Angeles and completed on October 20th of 1951. It has been meticulously restored at a documented cost of $190,000. It is finished in Hillcrest Green with exceptional bright work and excellent ***** glass. Inside, there is a tan and brown vinyl interior, with brown carpet on the floor. Options include a pushbutton AM radio, a fresh-air heater, and Borg electric clock. The car is also equipped with an overdrive transmission.

The present owner acquired it from the Ford collection of Michael Dingman. Under the hood is an L-head V8 engine displacing 255.4 cubic inches and offering 125 horsepower. At all four corners are hydraulic drum brakes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2013