The Mercer
Automobile Company was founded in 1910. The early
models were aimed towards motor racing. The Type
35 was introduced in 1911 and was Mercer's most
famous and successful model. The cars were raced
at Indianapolis, and in 1914 Eddy Pullen won the
American GP in one.
The Yesteryear
model was originally to have replace the Y6-1 AEC
Lorry. However the Y7-1 Leyland was discontinued
prematurely and so the Mercer was used as a
replacement for this model instead. Some
preproduction models can be found with the number
6 cast on the baseplate.
The early
Yesteryear model appeared in a metallic lilac
colour, which has the unfortunate tendency to
fade in bright sunlight. In 1965 this colour
scheme was replace by one of deep yellow and
remained this colour until the model was
discontinued in 1967.
Only relatively
minor variations exist for this model. Early
issues sported black knobbly tyres which were
replaced by those having a fine tread. Most
issues can be found at swapmeets between £20 and
£50 for mint boxed examples.
| Very early issues
had a gap between the front mudguard and
chassis. On the left is issue two which
has had this structure strengthened with
a single strut. On the right is a later
issue with the gap completely filled in. |
 |
|
