One Solid Truck: 1949 Mercury M68 Survivor
The guys up in Sweet Grass, Montana just keep finding more great old Canadian trucks! I’m honestly not sure how they do it, but I hope they can keep finding ones like this Mercury! Of all the late ’40s trucks we’ve featured, this has to be one of the more solid examples we’ve seen. There’s some surface rust, but the cab corners look perfect and the rest of the body is incredibly straight. You can find this survivor here on eBay with a current bid of $4,050.
The M68 was Mercury of Canada’s version of the F series 3/4 ton. For the most part, they were identical, but there were some interesting cosmetic differences that really make these stand out. Just look at that awesome Mercury badge!
The inside of the truck features a few other cosmetic tweaks such as the Mercury branded steering wheel and slightly different dash center trim. The rest of the interior is identical to a US Ford F-series, so finding replacement parts should be quite simple. It’s going to need new seat upholstery and a good detailing to be a comfortable driver. You can get just about every nut, bolt and piece of rubber to make this truck like new if that’s the route you decided to take it. Personally, I’d find a nice leather seat cover, clean the inside and otherwise leave it as is.
Under the hood is the original flathead V8 and it is believed that it has covered just 38k miles. It’s said to turn over freely, but the seller hasn’t attempted to start it. This 239 cui V8 is good for about 100 horsepower and is about all you need in an old truck. A more modern V8 would definitely make it easier to drive in modern traffic, but given the truck’s originality it would be a shame to modify it. I suppose what happens with it will boil down to what it takes to get this engine running again.
Having written about more than a few of these trucks, I’ve come to really appreciate the design. It’s simple yet elegant, which isn’t something you see in modern truck design. This one really does look like a great find! Whether you decide to give it a full restoration or simply get it running and drive it as is, it would be a fun truck to have. So, what would you do with this Mercury?
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Comments
Had a 1950 Merc 1/2 ton..I would get this baby running and drive the wheels off it…
“The guys up in Sweet Grass, Montana just keep finding more great old Canadian trucks! I’m honestly not sure how they do it, but I hope they can keep finding ones like this Mercury!”
Yeah, for real. My only complaint with these guys is I wish there were more photos and even videos. A couple of auctions they had did have some short videos and I told them to keep it up and make them even longer. Only helps their bottom dollar.
No wonder Frank Zappa wanted to “move to Montana soon”. Yippie io ki yay,,,just shows, it’s probably relatively untouched for this stuff. Canada probably had more farms than the US, we just never heard of them. Great find.
Nice!
The M68/F68 Canadian trucks were actually equivalent to the F3. I don’t think I ever saw a CDN version of the F2 3/4 ton and I saw lots of F2 trucks in MT when I was a kid. I would take a close look at the engine because I’m sure that it would be the Mercury engine. A 49 Mercury would likely have a CM or 8CM cast on the heads. I understand that the Ford F3 and F68 could be ordered with the Mercury engine as well, and I’ve seen them so equipped.
Now for this truck: I would love to take on a project like this one. It would get the driver-quality restoration and it would be put to work, albeit not as hard. While I might have been a little embarrassed to drive one of these with that T-9 crashbox years ago because of the whine, I actually enjoy it now. That whine tells you that everything is alive and well…
Pick this up in Sweetgrass, and stop at the Mint in Sunburst for coffee with geomechs on the way home?
We must be getting old. To drink COFFEE (?) at the Mint?
One of the better Montana Mercurys we’ve seen lately, it’s not as beat up as some that have appeared on Barn Finds. I’d like to see it restored to original with a nice, fresh paint job in it’s original colors. These are nice trucks with the only drawback being the limited top end speed. Other than that, not much to complain about.
What a nice clean truck!!! That’s it I’m moving to sweet grass Montana!!!
These brothers are actually Canadians. Sweetgrass MT is the border crossing where they stash the trucks for import to the US. The US dollar is stronger, as is the demand. Arbitrage at it’s finest.
They’re actually English. And very honest men to deal with. Good conversation too if you like talking about old vehicles.
Is this truck still for sale?