A Mercurial History in Motorsports

[This post is a follow up from "Motorsports Memories and Mementos". To read Larry Edsall's last entry, click here]

Ford’s history in motorsports stretches back more than a century, from the victory in 1901 that provided Henry Ford with the financial backing to start a car company in the first place, to successes at such diverse destinations as Le Mans and Baja, Indianapolis and Daytona.

Much more mercurial has been the racing history of Ford’s other mainstream brand, Mercury, which was established by Edsel Ford in the late 1930s as a way to keep loyal those customers who were ready to move up from a Ford but could not afford a Lincoln.

After World War II, West Coast boat racers Bill Stroppe and Clay Smith competed successfully on land too in Mercurys, and not only on race tracks. In 1950 and 1951, they posted victories in the well-publicized Mobilegas (fuel) Economy Run. In 1951, they entered a Mercury – a ’48 model from a used car lot -- in the famed Mexican road race, La Carrera Panamericana.

With Smith riding shotgun as sort of an onboard crew chief, young driver Troy Ruttman quickly drove that Mercury into the lead over a pair of Ferraris. The infamous Mexican two-step slowed Ruttman, but the car still finished fourth (and a year later, Stroppe and Smith were in the pits when, at the age of 22, Ruttman won the Indianapolis 500 for car owner J.C. Agajanian).

Encouraged by the success in Mexico, Edsel’s son and Lincoln-Mercury division manager Benson Ford ended the Ford Motor Company’s 20-year hiatus from factory-supported racing by fielding a fleet of race-prepped Lincolns for the 1952 Mexican race. They dominated the stock car category, sweeping the top four places.

Back when stock car racing involved real stock cars, Mercurys sometimes presented an aerodynamic advantage that the famed Wood Brothers team exploited with Cale Yarborough, A.J. Foyt and David Pearson all winning the Daytona 500.

Mercurys left stock car racing when someone in Dearborn realized sibling rivalry was a distraction from the real competition for "win on Sunday/sell on Monday" -- Chevrolet and Dodge.

Mercury did return, if briefly to the racetrack with some success when Merkur models from Ford of Germany were imported and raced in IMSA’s GTO category against the likes of Toyota, Chevrolet, Audi and Nissan. Before long, however, the decision was made to focus Ford motorsports activities on the Ford brand and Mercury’s mercurial motorsports history came to an end.

Photo Credit: Serge Stroumpfy

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