1951 Mercury Eight.
Thanks to members of the site forum, I've discovered that the photographs featured below are of a 1951 Mercury Eight, a model beloved of hot-rodders and increasingly hard to find in good, original (ie stock) condition.
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The first two pictures were taken from a high-up vantage point, the gleaming Mercury parked some distance away from the kerb - the owner obviously didn't want to risk scuffing his/her car's whitewall tyres. Both pictures were taken, I suspect, in 1952, so the flathead V8 Merc' was almost new at the time of these photographs.
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Photo #3 shows the same Mercury, but parked in a different high street location, just down from a "No Parking Here To Corner" sign. Is that a pair of Austin A40 Devons just visible in the distance, beyond the lady's right elbow?
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If anything, the background to this image is more interesting even than the car itself. An Odeon / Paramount cinema can be seen in the background, with an illuminated sign outside advertising the latest Tony Curtis movie - Flash and Fury, released in 1952. Alongside the cinema is a huge retail building belonging to the J.J. Turner Company. Signs on the front of the building advertise their range of flags, sails, tarpaulins, blankets, and other products, including oil paints.
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Austin cars sold well in Canada, so they could well be Austin A40s parked in the distance behind the lady. A ferret around online brings up reference to the building of an Odeon cinema alongside the shop of J.J. Turner Compy, of George Street, Peterborough, Canada. The builder was A. Davidson, of Ontario. J.J. Turner & Sons re-located to Peterborough from Port Hope in 1887, and went on to become what could have been the largest manufacturer of tents and awnings in Canada. Various workshops, including a blacksmith shop and carpentry shop, were located on site.
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In both the photographs, the Mercury Eight is positively gleaming. A radio aerial can just be seen, fitted to the scuttle below the windscreen, just ahead of the passenger. Instead of a four-door sedan, the owner(s) of the Mercury could instead have opted for a two-door coupe version of the Mercury Eight, or a convertible, from the 1951 model-year catalogue. Photos of the 1949-model-year two-door "Woody Wagon" can be found on this page.
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Return to Page 14 in the classic & vintage vehicle photo gallery.
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