The Cauldron of Racing
1913 Mercer ad. all images courtesy AACA Library unless otherwise noted
There is no cauldron so influential for automobiles as is racing itself, and that is just what Mercer Raceabouts were subjected to from their inception in 1911. As mentioned in the prior post, Mercers were thrown into the stewpot, yet rose to the top and dominated most any form of competition in 1911 and 1912.
1911 Racing results from the Mercer sales catalog.
1912 Racing results.
However, in this brew, all racing brands were rapidly evolving, and so Mercer developed a purpose-built racer for 1913 to do just one thing right: race to win.
Type 45: Racing Improves the Breed
There is no substitute for cubic inches, and since racing rules had a class for 301-450 cubic inches, Mercer developed a special track racer for 1913, the Type 45, using an enlarged and improved powerplant initially displacing 424 cubic inches and later enlarged to just under 450. Erik Delling had been hired by 1912 to work under Porter, and Delling later claimed credit for the Type 45 engine design, but its architecture showed a lot of Porter in it as well. Whatever its provenance, this engine and its chassis revealed what many manufacturers now faced; without a specialized track speedster, they had no chance of winning in the rapidly evolving world of racing. The 45 was built for the track.
1913 Mercer 45, Caleb Bragg driving, Indianapolis.
The Type 45 initially used a stock Raceabout chassis whose wheelbase was increased to 112 inches. The streamlined engine cowl set back nine inches behind the front axle; later versions had widened frames and a strengthened chassis to accommodate a wider body. Mechanicals were sourced from the Type 35 track car of 1912-13, which derived from the street production Type 35 Raceabout.
Glory Days
Small, light, and strong, Mercers held their own and often won against much larger opponents, whether they used the tried-and-true 301-inch block or the newer 450. With Mercer already a known force at previous Indy appearances, Wishart grabbed second place at the 1913 Indianapolis International Sweepstakes (Indy 500) in a 301-inch Mercer, losing only to a Peugeot whose 450 cubic inch mount barely won out. 1913 continued to be a very good year for Mercer as DePalma won the Chicago automobile Club trophy at Elgin, with Barney Oldfield and Louis Nikrent placing second and third, respectively, in the annual Santa Monica event. And at Brighton Beach in New York, in a matinee series of six sprints, Mercers swept the field with six first places, five seconds, and two thirds!
1913 Racing results. More below too!
More 1913 racing results. Nothing quite sells like racing!
Whether driven by the team or by privateers, the Raceabout was a contender in every track event that it entered. Mercers also successfully competed in long-distance road events such as Savannah, the Vanderbilt Cup, and the Los Angeles-to-Phoenix desert race to prove their durability in grueling endurance tests. This string of victories in multiple venues would steadily continue until 1915. Famous battles against Stutz, Marmon, and other racing giants were sensationalized in newspaper and magazine accounts, and Mercer always acquitted itself well.
Late 1914 became a season for evaluation and redesign, and Mercer re-entered the competitive fray in 1915 using a single overhead cam engine. This four-valve per head 298 cubic incher was reportedly modeled after the revolutionary Peugeot L3 Grand Prix engine from 1913, but not much information regarding this powerplant in the way of announcements, photographs, drawings, or specifications has survived, creating an unresolved mystery about the SOHC engines.
Its first showing may have been at Indy, where three team Mercers were entered, and all three broke during qualifying. One appeared at the October event in Sheepshead Bay but withdrew after burning a bearing in practice, and by 1915, Mercer no longer supported a team.
Joe Thomas would continue to campaign some version of the SOHC for Mercer at events up into 1919 without much success; Mercer’s racing team days were over.
During this period it was not uncommon to see other privateers racing Mercers with T-head 301s, 450s, or even the L-head 298 powerplants. Despite their efforts, continuous improvement from other competitive makes such as Duesenberg, Stutz, and Hudson effectively shut Mercer out of the winner’s circle after 1915.
Mercer’s magic had run its course.
Street Successors to the 35/45
With Delling influencing new projects such as the Type 45 and the L-head engine, Porter saw his role reduced, so he quit in 1914 to start his own auto company, FRP. Delling’s redesigned Raceabout for 1915 not only radically changed the engine, he had also introduced more creature comforts for the 1915 Model 22-70 (Series 1) that would influence later Raceabouts (Series 2 through 5). More windshield. More cushion. More leather.
With these changes the iconic buckboard-styled look disappeared, replaced by a more enclosed cockpit.
1915 Mercer 22-70 Series 1.
1915 also featured a longer wheelbase Raceabout (115 inches), which was promoted as “a speed car designed for the use of amateur sportsmen – its guaranteed speed is one mile in 48 seconds.” The gas tank still mounted behind the driver in classic speedster style and fed the engine using gravity. The main difference between the Raceabout and its sibling, the Runabout, remained that the latter had a more enclosed cockpit .
1915 Mercer Runabout vs Raceabout.
The Delling-designed L-head engine replaced Porter’s more complicated T-head. Its distinctly longer stroke of 6 ¾ inches resulted in a more robust and refined engine that used lighter internal components, revved higher, and produced 70-plus horsepower from 298 cubic inches (see image 8). And it was cheaper to produce.
Power output increased to 72 with the 1916 Model 22-72, and then to 73 with the 1917-18 Model 22-73. The Raceabout had originally retailed in 1911 for $2250 F.O.B. but now cost $3250 in early 1918. Why? A strengthening economy, coupled with commodity shortages due to WWI, caused industry-wide price inflation. Mercer was no exception.
1917-18 Mercer 22-73 Raceabout.
The late teens Raceabout took on the tamer look of the Runabout of years past. It also became quite expensive, as much as $4200 F.O.B. The model was dropped after 1922 as markets dried up from a nasty postwar depression. Ironically, it made one last appearance in 1924 catalogs as a Series 6 Raceabout
Raceabout Evolution
Although several engines were used in successive Raceabout models, Mercer maintained its use of a shaft drive and differential. The fully floating live rear axle was positioned by radius rods and supported by semi-elliptical springs. All Mercers had a solid front axle; right-sided steering changed to left side in 1915.
Mercer 22-70 Series 1 Chassis. Note the space between the flywheel/clutch assembly and the transmission.
The Raceabout’s original 108-inch wheelbase had stretched to 115 inches by 1915 after updating its iconic buckboard style with a body, and this length would persist for all Raceabouts. The Runabout went to the 132-inch wheelbase after the Series 4, as all other Mercers had done.
Continuous improvement was practiced at Mercer on many of its components, one example being the transmission and clutch mechanisms. Initially the transmission was centrally mounted in the frame, which contributed to the overall balance of the vehicle. The 1910 model used a conventional flywheel-mounted cone clutch for its three-speed transmission. In 1911 the clutch had 41 plates which ran in a bath of oil. The 44-plate steel cone clutch for the 1913 35-J, also bathed in oil, was now placed inside the redesigned four-speed transmission The Model 22-70 of 1915 as seen in illustration 10 used a 21-plate dry clutch mounted in the flywheel but kept the transmission separate. In 1923 the Series Six would rejoin the transmission, clutch and engine.
1923 Mercer Series 6 Chassis. Note that the engine, flywheel/clutch housing, and transmission are now connected as a unit.
The driveshaft-mounted drum brakes, along with the rear wheel emergency drum brakes, were a carryover from the Walter car and provided only marginal stopping power. Continuous improvement finally visited the braking department in 1924 when four-wheel mechanical brakes were fitted.
Decisions Have Consequences
Time and unfortunate circumstances would lay to rest the Roebling family, and after this half of the partnership had all died, the Kusers sold their share of Mercer in 1919 to a Wall Street syndicate. Emlen S. Hare, formerly of Packard, brought in a team of very capable professionals to oversee this transition. Despite this, looming market forces would quickly undermine this promising initiative and torpedo the company.
Repeated engineering turnovers in the Roebling-funded auto companies (Walter, then Mercer) quietly foretold trouble. In just a few short years Planche had left, followed by Georges, and then Porter, who had then left his post at Mercer to Delling, who in turn had been succeeded by A.C. Shultz.
Despite a postwar recession, Hare had raided Mercer’s kitty to fund leveraged purchases of Locomobile and Simplex, with Riker Truck included in the deals. His noble attempt to create a GM-style conglomerate, however, was undermined by depression era market forces beyond anyone’s control. The economy tanked, Riker truck purchase contracts were cancelled, and Simplex failed, all in 1921.
Then Shultz steered Mercer in a new direction to make it a more luxurious, high-priced car. Since luxury car brands were trending to multi-cylinder engines, Shultz replaced the venerable Mercer four-cylinder in 1923 with the problematic Rochester-Duesenberg six-cylinder. Another stumble….
Mercer was then repurchased by John L. Kuser and others in an attempt to save the brand. However, piecing together spare parts at the factory and selling them as Series Six Raceabouts failed to attract buyers. Although the car still carried a classic speedster look that had largely continued unchanged from the 1916 Model 22-73 on through the Series 5, it found too few buyers and was discontinued in 1923. As went the Raceabout, so too went the company.
1920 Mercer Series 5 Raceabout.
Turnovers in directorships, engineering staff, and ownership were all contributing factors in this Darwinian environment. Compounding the company’s small size and available capital, Mercer’s personnel turnovers hobbled its engineering development, marketing efforts, and probably a host of other underfunded projects that would have kept the brand healthy and growing.
Most significantly, however, Mercer had cut its connection to its racing roots at a time when this was its best form of advertising.
1911 Mercer 35. Hughie Hughes was drifting the car while using the handbrake for control. Note that the right-rear tire is going flat, and the centrifugal force on the tire is whipping it at the top of its rotation. image courtesy Tim Kuser collection.
After all, racing had been the raison d’être of the Mercer. Without another marketing lifeline to which it could secure itself, Mercer was adrift, eventually succumbing to the currents of history in 1926. Down with the ship, so to speak, went the Mercer.
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In the next set of blogs we will look at companies that served as testbeds for journeymen engineers to try out new ideas, firms that also provided opportunities for itinerant executives to grow into their leadership roles. The aughts were formative times….
Plus, some speedsters got made!