East Coaster of the Day: 1952 Mercury M5
Troy Lawrence looks like he should be driving a truck from the 1950s. His slicked-back hair brings to mind the glory days of another Troy, teen idol from the 50s and 60s, Troy Donahue.
It’s fitting, then, that his stand-out pumpkin-coloured truck is a 1952 Mercury M5. The big friendly truck, with a wooden bed Troy built and installed himself, used to be a fire truck in Lockeport, Nova Scotia.
He tells us if you look at the door closely, in a certain light, you can still a trace of the logo.
Troy wants to leave the cab-over-engine truck as natural as possible. He doesn’t mind the paint chipping, it reveals the fire engine red underneath.
In 1946, Ford of Canada divided up their dealership network into Ford and Lincoln/Mercury. Trucks were introduced in the Mercury division. Mercury added different trims and a brand-specific grille to distinguish their vehicles from Ford trucks. When Ford introduced their F-series in 1948, Mercury debuted the ‘M’ prefix. Ford discontinued Mercury trucks in 1968 and the Mercury brand disappeared altogether in 2011.
Troy’s 1952 Mercury M5 has a Chevy engine, which is temporarily standing in for a replacement Ford Flathead V8 that’s on order. Everything else, from the tires to the radiator, is original.
The truck sat in his driveway for a while after he purchased it about 15 years ago. His wife finally said: It either has to move under its own power, or it’s gotta go.
Everyone needs a little push sometimes.
How does it drive?
“Oh, terrible,” grins Troy. “But it sure is an experience to drive.”
The bumper car on the back? Well, that’s just pure nostalgia.
One Response
This is really cool. Thank you for taking the time to feature Troy and this big little Gem.
I’ve worked with Troy for about 10 years now and though he has had some out of the ordinary vehicles in his stable (remember the Edsel?), I think this has always been his favourite. Even more than his model A.
Your description of Troy being from a different time is spot on. If he could go back to the future he would certainly fit right in with the times of the era’s long forgotten.
He’s a no bones kind of guy and a real gentleman. I’m proud and fortunate to have him as a friend.
Ps. That little bumper car was rescued with the intent of slipping a gas engine into it for some silly tire smokin fun.
Cheers Troy.