Registration No: BS 9704
Chassis No: 18490
MOT: Exempt

• Understood to be 1 of just 120 or so Mercer cars to have survived worldwide
• Formerly part of the Detroit-based, c.1,200-strong Barney Pollard Collection
• Current family ownership since 2005
• Powerful 5-litre L-head engine allied to four-speed manual transmission

Founded in 1909, the Mercer Automobile Company enjoyed the backing of the Roebling and Kuser families. Heavyweights in their respective fields, the former were responsible for designing and building the Brooklyn Bridge, while the latter had amassed a sizeable fortune from banking, bottling and brewing. Based in the New Jersey County of the same name, the fledgling marque’s most famous product - the Type 35 Raceabout – proved to be among the seminal sportscars of the Edwardian Era. A pared back two-seater powered by a 4.8-litre four-cylinder engine, it was reputedly good for 90mph and soon garnered an enviable competition pedigree with such notable drivers as Barney Oldfield and Brian de Palma. The subsequent Type 22-70 model featured a new L-head four-cylinder 4.9-litre powerplant, courtesy of incoming designer Eric H. Delling, and four-speed manual transmission thus maintaining Mercer’s reputation for high-performance machinery.

Keen to push further upmarket, the New Jersey concern poached A.C. Schultz from Locomobile in late 1916 (the same year in which their turnover exceeded $230,000). The adoption of a longer 132-inch (10ft 10in) wheelbase for the Sporting and Touring models yielded improved ride quality and greater passenger space. The subject of much Wall Street speculation when the Roebling family withdrew their interest following a series of tragedies, Mercer was bought by the Emlen S. Hare syndicate. Packard’s former New York Manager, Hare went on a buying spree snapping up Locomobile and Crane-Simplex too which left his backers overstretched. Introduced in 1919, the Mercer Series 5 could be had in Touring, Sporting, Runabout and Raceabout guises (all but the last utilising the 132-inch wheelbase). Well-engineered and well-built with a good turn of speed from its tried and tested 4.9-litre straight-four, the Series 5 could not prevent Mercer’s slide into receivership during July 1923. Production finally ceased two years later. Of the 5,000 Mercers built between 1909 and 1925, just 120 or so are thought to have survived to the present day.

A product of the Roaring Twenties, chassis 18490 celebrates its centenary this year having spent some six decades as part of the legendary Barney Pollard collection. Beginning with an old Cadillac that was taken as final payment on an overdue debt during the late 1930s, he went on to amass some 1,200 cars! Ranging up to 400 miles from his Detroit base, Mr Pollard purchased machinery at such a rate that at one stage he resorted to vertically suspending new acquisitions from roof trusses so as to maximise the indoor space available to him. Understood to have joined the collection during the early / mid-1940s at a time when its founder was buying up scrap iron and aluminium to keep the US government from requisitioning any of his prized possessions, the Mercer was reportedly treated to an extensive restoration during the late 1970s / early 1980s.

Retained by the Pollard family until shortly before the vendors’ late father bought it at RM Auctions’ Florida Collector Car Sale on 11-13^th February 2005, the Series 5 Touring was UK registered as ‘BS 9704’ that same year. Granted a Vintage Sports Car Club ‘Buff Form’ during March 2006, it was subsequently repainted in its current Dark Green over Black scheme. Entered for the 2015 Classic Cars Challenge Rally which was due to run from Beijing to Shanghai, the event was cancelled at the last minute due to a large explosion in Tianjin. Safely shipped back, the Series 5 Touring has seen little use since then and as such will require recommissioning. Barney Pollard was renowned for buying well-preserved, low mileage cars whenever possible and ‘BS 9704’ appears to be highly original. A handsome, Vintage Tourer with performance that is said to be on par with a WO Bentley of the same age (its 10ft 10in wheelbase is the same as a 4½ Litre, while its engine is bigger), this rare Mercer is worthy of close inspection.