Mercury Eight
“Fast” is relative, and while anything with less than 200 horses or torques is considered weak by today’s standards, the Mercury Eight and its 3.9L flathead V8 was considered one of the first American muscle cars ever made. The ole’ Eight’s slogan was, “The car that truly dares to ask, ‘Why?’” It’s fitting. The Eight went against the grain, acting as a big car that was economical and sporty.
The flathead motor in the Eight boasted 95 horses and got up to 20 MPGs, something even modern V8s struggle to do today. The Eight came in many configurations, including a landboat-sized town sedan. But the smaller third generation of the Eight was a completely different story.
See, the Eight provided plenty of storage space – some of it relatively inconspicuous and hidden – and it could outrun Johnny Law’s police cruiser. This made the Eight a great candidate for midnight rum running, and it did so quite effectively. The Eight’s flathead motor was quite capable of snagging some extra cubic inches and horsepower with slight modifications, and its everyman styling made it an easy vehicle to glance at and not think back twice.
The Eight was a cool guy’s sports car on film, too. In Rebel Without a Cause, James Dean drives a ’49 coupe. It also makes notable appearances in American Graffiti, Badlands, and Grease. Batman even drove a chopped up and customized ’49 Mercury in the Batman and Robin serial.
Its appearance in Grease is fitting, considering the Mercury Eight earned the title as one of the most popular vehicles to modify into a “Lead Sled”. The Eights were the vehicle American vehicles to receive an aftermarket OHV engine swap, cementing the vehicle in the history books as “the most famous custom car ever”, according to legendary American designers Sam and George Barris.
The Eight easily played a crucial role in shaping modern car customization today, holding a coveted place on Rod & Custom’s “Twenty Best of All Time” list. Because of the Eight’s popularity as a mod car, it’s just as exciting to find one bone stock and running as it is to spy a newly minted, retro Lead Sled at a Cars and Coffee.
