Rock Solid Project: 1950 Mercury M68 Pickup
This 1950 Mercury M68 Pickup is a solid vehicle that would be a prime candidate for a restoration project. You will find it listed for sale here on eBay. It is located in Sweet Grass, Montana, and is offered for sale with a clear title. At the time of writing, bidding has reached $2,000 in this No Reserve auction.
This pickup is remarkably solid and straight. There are a number of photos of the floors, and they look to be in really solid condition. There is some rust in the bed-sides, but as this is flat steel, this will be an easy fix. The bed itself is not bolted into place at present, as it used to have a PTO-driven hoist, but this has been removed. The rest of the pickup looks really good, with only a few very minor marks on some of the exterior trim to possibly address. All of the glass is present, and it all appears to be in good condition.
The interior of the pickup is surprisingly good for a commercial vehicle of this age. The seat will need a new cover, although it looks like you could use it by throwing a blanket over it. The dash is complete and would restore very easily. The wheel has a couple of cracks in it, but it could also be restored. Items like the Mercury horn button are present, which tends to be quite unusual in these pickups.
Under the hood, the news isn’t quite so good, but it also isn’t terrible. The original flat-head V8 is present, but it is going to need some work. It is partially dismantled, and the seller states that it will either need a rebuild or would have to be replaced. If I were taking this on as a restoration project, I would definitely be doing everything that I could to revive that original engine. The remainder of the original drive-train is present, although the seller gives no indication of the condition.
Some people will look at this Mercury and will see a prime candidate for a rat rod project. If they do, I fully respect that. To me, this Mercury is a candidate for a full restoration. If you take a close look at it, there’s really no work to do on this pickup that couldn’t be performed by a competent person in a home workshop. It’s being sold in a No Reserve auction, and I’d really like to know what the winning bidder will be planning to do with it.
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Comments
Nice truck, easy enough to replace the engine.
Is Sweet Grass, Montana where all old Mercury pickups go to retire ?
Not exactly tropical, but it is south of the border! It would be a great deal, if it stayed this low.
I often wonder that myself. When I was a kid it was a common sight to see a Mercury truck in Northern Montana because the closest dealer (for anything) was just north of the border into Canada. A lot of cross-border farming operations and marriages plus the shortage brought on by the Korean war contributed to this. Some businesses in Sweetgrass did their banking in Canada. I-15 is a major highway that starts in LA, goes through Vegas and ends in Sweetgrass where it connects with Canada.
Isn’t Sweet Grass the name of the town in “Once Upon a Time in the West”?
I like this truck…
These good project trucks never seem to stop coming. Another truck probably migrating from the Canadian prairies to points south. You’ll get the 255 (Mercury) engine with T-9 howler in this one unless someone has dropped in something else, so I’d make sure either it went back in or I sourced out another one. When I was growing up there were a lot of tonners in the region but I think that they are long since used up and these are definitely coming from somewhere else.
That poor Metro in the background
Wonder why folks don’t wipe the finger-grease off their smartphone camera lens before use?
I usually prefer simple restoration on vehicles older than 1964.. And I’m not a patina guy or into rodding old iron but…
After helping put together a ‘51 Chevrolet 1/2 ton panel truck with 1994 mechanicals and even a 1994 Chevrolet interior and dashboard I can make an exception to my general preferences..that said..
Late model F150 suspension, frame, all mechanicals including a 5.0 Coyote and interior. Finish the exterior as stock in the original color.
I know that there’s not a lot of these Mercury pickups in existence but it’d be a really nice show truck and driver. For me.
And there are still more than a few clean originals and patina ones out there.
My uncle Harold had a ‘50 Mercury pickup and my Dad had a ‘51 Ford pickup. They were constantly going back and forth about uncle Harold’s Mercury being of a higher quality in build and design. But that ended when my cousin backed a five ton dump truck over uncle Harold’s Mercury.
And someone must have made an offer that the seller couldn’t refuse. It’s gone.
Maybe a NADA check on it’s value in clean restored condition would change my mind about rodding one.
This guy has a bunch of sweet old iron sitting around. Wonder if the old METRO is on the block.
Isn’t this the same truck that you guys keep showing of the time or are they just all the same color green?