From its very inception in 1937, Henry Ford denied that the Mercury even existed. His only contribution to the marquee was in finally allowing Edsel Ford to go ahead with it. The reason for the car was obvious enough: to put something into the gnawing $500 gap between the Ford DeLuxe and the Lincoln-Zephyr. The original 1939 Mercury debuted on November 5,1938, and shared Ford's antiquated transverse-spring suspension. However, the first Mercury frame wasn't quite the same as a Ford's because it was made more rigid and carried a four-inch-longer wheel-base. The engine was pure Ford flathead V-8, bored out from 221 cubic inches to 239.4 to develop an additional 10 horsepower. However, the body was unique, sharing no panels with Ford, although design-wise the two were clearly related. Also unique to Mercury was the narrow B-pillared Club Coupe, arguably the forerunner of the hardtop body style. While Edsel wanted to tie Mercury closely to Ford, design head E.T. "Bob" Gregorie and others in Ford styling wanted to set it apart. The Indians ultimately won out over the chief, at least for the first two model years. This '39 Mercury has benefitted from an older restoration but has only had a very limited amount of miles put on it since. The car comes from the same owner that's had it since March of 1972! Finished in its original color of dark blue, the car is striking inside and out. The interior was been completely reupholstered in its original color and style of fabric and is nearly perfect. The original shade of blue on the car looks great and shows no major imperfections. The all steel body is very straight and solid with no bubbling or rot to be found. Both front and rear steel bumpers look great with no damage. The same goes for the stainless trim surrounding the car. Inside, the interior has been completely reupholstered in the correct material and color. The seats, carpet, headliner and door panels all look great with no wear showing with the exception of some minor staining to the carpet. The dash has been repainted and looks very good. All gauges are in good working order with the exception of the clock. The flat head V8 under the hood looks great and is in nice, original condition, looking just like it did when it left the factory. With a push of the button, the car starts up with no problems and goes down the road with plenty of power. The three speed manual transmission on the floor shifts as it should. We recently put about 15 miles on the car in stop and go traffic with no issues. In the trunk, you will find an original, full size, bias ply spare along with gray carpeting. The trunk looks very period correct. The body matching wheels look great and are covered with beauty rings and Mercury hubcaps. They are all wrapped with new, bias ply, wide white tires. Current mileage shows 72,132 and the VIN number is 99A44731.