Following Finley R. Porter’s brilliant T-head engine design, which was produced from 1911 through 1914, Mercer’s second generation of motorcars transitioned to a long-stroke L-head engine designed by Erik Delling. This highly successful, all-new Series 5 chassis continued in the tradition of the already legendary early Mercer cars. Series 5 Raceabouts featured staggered semi-bucket seats in the low-slung cockpit, a full-width, raked windshield, and clamshell fenders, which were part of the Delling design package. It continued with only minor changes from 1915 until 1923.

Presented here is a Raceabout that retains all the flavor and excitement for which Mercer automobiles are famed. It was first owned by Farnsworth Chatfield Taylor, the scion of a wealthy East Coast family. Displeased with his adolescent-like antics, Farnsworth’s mother confiscated the car from her son in 1926 and sold it to local Long Island friends, the Libaire family. It remained in constant service with three generations of Libaires throughout their 84-year tenure with the car.

This truly gorgeous Mercer was mechanically rebuilt by specialist Karl Pauswewang in the 1930s. It was part of New York’s burgeoning vintage car-collecting movement that sprang up in the late 1930s and culminated in the New York World’s Fair auto exhibit in 1940 – where the Mercer was displayed. After WWII, the Mercer was a familiar sight at car meets, rallies and tours on the roads of Long Island and surrounding areas, driven whenever possible with verve – and nerve.

This Series 5 Raceabout has never been fully restored, but was maintained for many years by the famous Charlie Stich at his garage in New York City – an early gathering spot for sports car enthusiasts of the time. While the fenders were painted sometime in the 1950s, its overall originality remains so impressive that it received the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA) Cup for Best Original Car at the 2010 Hilton Head Concours d’Elegance. Decades of spirited use eventually necessitated the replacement of the engine block with a new and correct casting and new exhaust manifolds.

After more than eight decades of family ownership, John Libaire Jr. sold the Mercer to Stan Lucas in 2010, who became just its third owner, and it has been an important part of the Lucas collection in the years since, being driven and exhibited on occasion. From its earliest photographs, the Mercer has sported large, drum-style headlamps of a scale more commonly seen on a Locomobile or other similar Nickel Era automobiles. These lights, along with the aggressive rake of the windshield, have been synonymous with this Mercer for nearly a century. With its known provenance and extremely limited ownership roster, Gooding Christie’s is particularly honored to present this irreplaceable Mercer.