Yes, Mercury Used To Make Pickup Trucks (And Here's What One's Worth Today)

Lovers of vintage pickup trucks have an affinity, or at least respect, for those special trucks from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. However, many old truck enthusiasts might not know that, as part of its 70+ year relationship with Ford, Mercury made pickup trucks during that period. With the bulk of Mercury pickup truck sales occurring in Canada, it's easy to understand why many Americans won't remember them.

Mercury started making trucks in 1946 and produced its final M-Series trucks in 1968. As a mid-tier automaker under the Ford umbrella, Mercury soldiered on producing cars, SUVs, and minivans until Ford discontinued the brand altogether in 2011. Coincidentally, just shortly after General Motors' Pontiac brand flopped.

Mercury pickup trucks were mostly rebadged Ford models. During the first two production years, 1946 and 1947, Ford and Mercury trucks rode on the same chassis as the automaker's full-size cars. Mercury kicked off its M-Series pickup line in 1948, coinciding with Ford's first-generation F-Series pickup trucks.

Some Mercury M-Series pickup trucks, like the Ford F-Series, carried model numbers derived by dividing their Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) by 100. For instance, a Mercury truck with a 4,700-pound GVWR was an M-47 and larger 6,800-pound GVWR Mercury trucks were known as M-68s. Other M-Series pickup trucks followed the Ford F-Series naming convention to a large extent with models like the M-1 evolving into the M-100.

[Featured image by Elise240SX via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]

Classic.com, powered by a group of self-proclaimed "data geeks and car enthusiasts," has recorded 27 Mercury truck sales over the past five years. The total dollar volume of those sales exceeds $750,500 with an average of nearly $27,800 per sale. The lowest sale price for the period was $10,000, the highest reported at $57,200, and the most recent sale in August 2024 brought $42,560.

The most recent sale occurred at auction and involved a customized 1949 Mercury M-68 pickup truck. The 1949 M-68 featured an updated drivetrain with a 460-cubic-inch big block V8, C6 automatic transmission, and positrac rear differential. Tilt steering, cruise control, power seats, air conditioning, and remote power windows top the list of modern tech incorporated into this truck. The stretched and chopped cab and oak flooring in the shortened bed make the truck unique.

A 1964 Mercury M-250 pickup brought the highest reported sale price when it rolled across the auction block at Mecum Auctions in May of 2021. Finished in red and white inside and out, the truck featured four-wheel drive with Warn locking hubs and Cummins diesel power backed by an Allison automatic transmission.

[Featured image by Crwpitman via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]