If this were 1953 that Merc would be king of the street except for meeting an occasional Oldsmobile or being surprised by a Hudson Hornet. My cousin drove one of these and in spite of the bulbous body it could really haul around almost anything on the street. Riding with him at the age of 15 I thought the Merc's acceleration was amazing. Now if you look up the stock specs on a '52-'53 Oldsmobile it makes the 2015 Camaros look like all out race cars! Just recall the expense and effort to put dual carbs, headers, 8:1 heads and dual exhaust on a late '40s Ford flathead to "maybe" achieve 200 HP and even use a Merc 4" stroker crank compared to the ease of approaching 280 HP on mild 350 SBC! Even so it is the availability of modern computer controlled fuel injection that evidently makes it possible to get both HP and improved mpg on modern street cars. Just remembering!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder