American Auto Emblems

This web-site presents the nameplates, emblems and logos displayed on American auto vehicles from the introduction of the horseless carriage up to about 1950. My intention is to provide a reference base for collectors and researchers. I would welcome any corrections or observations and details of other emblems or vehicle makes to add to this reference base. For more details see the Pages listed on the right. (Contact Mike Shears at murraysbadges@gmail.com)

August 09, 2024

MERCURY

Ford Motor Co. (1938-2011)
Dearborn, Michigan

This is a Mercury radiator emblem (1949-1950) mjs
Size: 95mm high 83mm wide MM: None

The Mercury was set up in the Ford Lincoln Division in 1938 by Edsel Ford as an entry-level luxury car to compete with the General Motors Buick brand (see Ford). The first Mercury, introduced for the 1939 model year, was an enlarged Model 91 Ford V8, which cost more than the Ford but less than the cheapest four-door Buick. From 1945, Mercury was part of the Lincoln-Mercury Division of the Ford Motor Company.

The Mercury was little changed until 1949, when the design and front-end styling began to emphasize the association with Lincoln. The Mercury became larger and more expensive in 1958 and 1959 to avoid clashing with the Edsel range. In 1961, Mercury began to offer a series of smaller options to the V8 models, including the Comet. In 1967, Mercury introduced a sports coupe version called the Cougar. Subsequent Mercury developments were aimed at keeping in the medium-priced market as part of the Ford Lincoln-Mercury Division. The Mercury brand was phased out in 2011.

Emblems

The Mercury was named after the messenger of the gods in Roman mythology and the initial logo featured a side profile of Mercury wearing a winged helmet. A variety of other logos were used on Mercury emblems over the years.

Edsel Ford had initially intended to use the "Ford Mercury" name but it was decided that the new marque would be marketed as the "Mercury Eight". However, the very few initial prototype Mercury cars built prior to the commencement of production in November 1938, possibly as few as two cars only, had "Ford Mercury" hood side scripts. If these could be found, they would be ultra rare.

The only piece remaining of the "Ford Mercury" name to appear on very early production models were the "Ford Mercury" hubcaps. The prototype hubcaps showed the image of a caduceus (the winged, serpent entwined, staff carried by Mercury) in black with the names "Ford" above and "Mercury" below both in red. The caduceus was deleted prior to production but the "Ford Mercury" name remained on the hubcaps used for the earliest Mercury cars produced in November 1938, making this hubcap very rare, see example shown below:

This is a Ford Mercury hubcap (1938) ebay

The "Ford Mercury" hubcaps were discontinued, as soon as "Mercury 8" hubcaps were available, see example shown below:

This is a Mercury 8 hubcap (1939) ebay

The Mercury 8 cars did not carry a Mercury emblem but did have a red painted figure "8" on the top of the radiator grille and displayed the "Mercury" name on chrome metal scripts attached to the hood sides and on the trunk, in addition to the hubcaps, see examples shown below:

Mercury 8 showing the grille "8" & hood side scripts (1939)
significantcars

Mercury 8 grille emblem (1939) rmsothebys

Mercury 8 hood side script (1939) rmsothebys

Mercury 8 trunk lid script (1939) rmsothebys

Internally, the "Mercury" name was displayed on a small dashboard script and on the steering wheel center, see examples shown below:

Mercury 8 dashboard script (1939) rmsothebys

Mercury 8 steering wheel center (1939) rmsothebys

For 1940, the hood side and trunk lid scripts displayed the full "Mercury Eight" name and there were "Mercury V Eight" hubcaps, see examples shown below:

Mercury Eight hood side script (1940) mecum

Mercury V Eight hubcap (1940) jalpoyjournal

For 1941, the "Mercury 8" name was detailed in red on the hood front upper grille trim and hubcaps, see examples shown below:

Mercury 8 showing hood front (1941) fusionmotorco

Mercury 8 hood front upper grille trim (1941) rmsothebys

Mercury 8 hubcap (1941) rmsothebys

The "Mercury" name was also displayed on chrome scripts mounted on the rear sides of the hood and on the trunk lid, see example shown below:

This is a Mercury hood rear side script (1941) rmsothebys

Some Mercury models had chrome grille protector bars as accessories fitted to the top of the bumper. The grille protector bars had an emblem mounted at the top center of the bar and detailed in red. There were two alternative designs of the grille protector bar emblems; one design had a winged Mercury head "Mercury Eight", which can just be seen in the following photo:

Mercury 8 grille protector bar emblem (1941) rmsothebys

The second, alternative Mercury grille protector bar emblem design was inscribed " Mercury Eight", see example shown below:

Mercury 8 grille protector bar emblem (1941) conceptcarz

There was a change in the Mercury 8 front red painted, chrome panel emblem and grille trim for 1942, see example shown below:

Mercury 8 showing front panel emblem and grille trim (1942) flickr

The only other external identification was the hubcaps, which showed "Mercury" above a "Winged Mercury Head" motif, see unpainted example shown below:

This is a Mercury 8 hubcap (1942) ebay

The first postwar Mercury Eight displayed a diecast chrome finished "Mercury" emblem mounted at the center of the top grille bar with a diecast vertical "Eight" grille centerpiece, see examples shown below. This Mercury radiator grille emblem was used from the start of postwar production in November 1945 to the end of this series in April 1948.

Mercury Sportsman with grille emblem & hood side script (1946) ebay

This is a Mercury Eight grille emblem (1945-1948) flickr

The 1946 Mercury Eight also displayed "Mercury" and "Eight" on separate pressed metal emblems mounted at the ends of a horizontal chrome strip on the trunk lid, see emblems shown below:

These are the Mercury Eight trunk emblems (1946-1947) ebay

For the immediate post war 1946-1948 period only, Ford Canada offered the Mercury 114, which displayed the same diecast chrome "Mercury" grille emblem as for the US Mercury Eight but mounted above a winged Mercury head motif, see example shown below:

Canadian Mercury 114 grille emblem (1947) custom_cab

Canadian Mercury 114 grille emblem (1947) richard spiegelman

The 1946-1948 Canadian Mercury 114 also displayed the "Mercury" name on a painted, pressed metal emblem mounted on the trunk, see example shown below:

Canadian Mercury 114 trunk emblem (1947) richard spiegelman

The 1946 US Mercury Sportsman model shown earlier above displayed the "Sportsman" name on chrome scripts mounted on both rear hood sides, see example shown below:

Mercury Sportsman rear hood side script (1946) jill reger

The 1946 Mercury hubcaps and horn button displayed the winged Mercury head motif, see examples shown below:

This is a Mercury hubcap (1946-1947) etsy

This is a Mercury horn button (1946-1947) 2040parts

The Mercury Eight decoration was changed in 1947 to a short chrome strip and "Mercury" script emblem mounted at the rear hood sides, see examples shown below, which replaced the previous long chrome trim strip seen on the 1946 Mercury Sportsman shown earlier above:

Mercury Eight showing rear hood side emblem script (1947-1948) grautogallery

Mercury hood side emblem script (1947-1948) nick gray

There was a change in the Mercury Eight trunk emblems in the trim restyle in April 1947 to replace the previous separate "Mercury" and "Eight" trunk emblems, see example shown below:

This shows the Mercury Eight trunk emblem (1947-1948) classicmoto.rs

There were also new Mercury hubcaps and horn button after the 1947 trim restyle, see examples shown below:

This is a Mercury hubcap (1947-1948) jalopyjournal

This is a Mercury horn button (1947-1948) jalopyjournal

The Mercury Eight hood and grille emblems changed again for 1949, see examples shown below:

Mercury Eight showing hood & grille emblems (1949) hemmings

The 1949 Mercury Eight displayed a hood emblem with a highly stylized representation of the winged Mercury head mounted above the "Mercury" name in separate chrome letters, while the radiator grille displayed the "Eight" emblem mounted vertically on the center of the grille, see below:

Mercury Eight hood & grille emblems (1949) jill reger

The Mercury hood emblem is the red, white and blue enamel emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below:

This is a Mercury Eight hood emblem (1949-1950) mjs
Size: 95mm high 83mm wide MM: None

The 1949 Mercury Eight trunk emblem was a diecast emblem with a separate circular winged Mercury head insert in red plastic with a chrome bezel, see example shown below:

This is a Mercury Eight trunk emblem (1949) classiccars

Close up showing winged Mercury head insert (1949) picclick

The winged Mercury head motif was also back on the Mercury Eight hubcaps for 1949, see example shown below:

This is a Mercury Eight hubcap (1949) hubcaps

The Mercury Eight hood emblem remained unchanged for 1950, as seen above, but the other emblems used in the 1950 Mercury were different, see examples shown below: