This is a 1951 M 100 Pick up truck.  Only 2612 of this model were built in 1951.  This truck has a flat head V8, 3 speed standard transmission with the stick on the steering column, No radio, Vacuum windshield wipers ( Which have never worked well) The red and black livery is original to this vehicle.  The truck was purchased from a farmer in Rosetown Saskatchewan in 1987 for $1.00.  The tin work was excellent but the flat head had a frost crack down the crank journals from being left with water in the rad during a Canadian Winter.  I started hunting for another 17a casting number block and could only find long blocks which were out of my price range.  After about 18 months of hunting I found an old air compressor in Prince George British Columbia which I bought for $300.00, which had a 17a casting number flathead in it.  We pulled out the engine and used the original crank and cams and one of the heads from the engine which the truck was built with.  The Mercury trucks built in the day had a hot cam and a few more horsepower than the standard F1 flathead.  The truck is 98 % stock with pretty much no jewellry, no radio, good heater, crank windows and manual everything.  The original hub caps which were on it when I purchased it but were stolen so they have been replaced with baby moons and beauty rings and I put radial tires on it as the bias ply tires which I originally installed were tough on California freeways. Though not original the radial tires improved driveability substantially.

Once we had the motor coming back together, we dissassembled the truck to the frame rails, fixed all minor rust and cracks and painted it.  When purchased she showed 58000 miles on the odometer and is currently around 73000.  She has been in many parades, little league opening day functions and car shows in the last 23 years.  She has hauled gear and food to boy scout camp and is really very reliable.

Cute Story- My wife of 30 years has been in the truck once in the past 23 years.  A few years ago I asked her why she hated this truck so much.  She said it is very simple, "I hate that truck because you love it more than me!!!"  I got to hand it to her, she is right!!!

More information on mercury Pick Ups can be found at http://www.mercurypickup.com/

 This 1959 Austin Healey Bug Eye Sprite spent most of the last 25 years as a race car.  When I bought it, there was not an undented panel on the body.  The driver must have really liked hugging guard rails and rubbing up against other cars as she was very bruised.  It is pretty much a stock power train with 948 CC 4 cylinder engine and the original 4 speed transmission including no synchromesh in first.  The mods include a roll bar which was well done and full race seat belts.  It is a fun car to drive and corners like it is riding on rails.  The engine has high torque and though never much of a race car it was pretty decent as a rally car and for hill climbs and such.
There is lots more information available on the Sprite at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin-Healey_Sprite