We have fawned over everything we have ever found with NAPCO four wheel drive over the years but this 1960 Mercury school bus is on a completely new level. For sale on eBay currently, it is beyond anything we have ever seen or ever knew existed and the best part of the whole thing? The NAPCO components are all present and 100% accounted for. Axles, hubs, driveshafts, the massive divorced transfer case, all of it. Built by Ford trucks of Canada, it may very well be the only one in the world left standing. The bus is short in length but huge in stature. When you see the eBay ad and look at the thing sitting next to a mondo Ford pickup you’ll understand the presence that this machine has.
It will be a pretty monumental task for anyone to restore this thing but someone needs to. For starters, how many of you have seen a heavy duty 1960 Mercury truck before. That in and of itself is a rare deal. Add to the fact that this is a school bus and you have a real unicorn before you even get to the fact that it is a NAPCO equipped vehicle.
The bus has no engine currently but we’re guessing that back in 1960 it would have had a Y-block V8 in it. A six would have been available but for something this overtly manly, we’re seeing it with a V8. The seller believes that it may have had a 460 in it at one point but we’re not sure. There are no under hood shots. Yes, we know that the hood is the wrong year for this monster as well.
There is a LOT of metal work to be done to restore the body of the bus. Rot is present in many areas but hey, it is just metal, right? To us the real story is that the mechanical underpinnings are all still there. For those of you bus freaks out there, Bluebird did the body. The seller says that the bottom of the body is nearly three feet off the ground and the 20″ wheels are wrapped in rubber with an outer diameter of 38″. This is a literal monster.
Thanks to Jay Holdash for the tip!
Scroll down to see some photos and then hit the link for the full story and more!
If the tires are 38″ then that guy is close on 11 feet tall.
This must have been the Mercury Alan Jackson was singing about!
Given what I remember about NAPCO front differentials I hope whoever restores this bus knows to keep the front differential oil 1″ below the bottom of the fill hole or else it will come through the right axle seal, into the trunion and leak all over the tire.
How do we know that someone did not just put in a Mercury front grill? The front is the same as on the ford 1960 bus. Did not just put in a mercury front grill? The front if the 69 Mercury is the same as on the ford 1960 bus. If the hood was replaced by Ford Hood, Then maybe the grill was simply put swapped too? Just thinking why would there be only one Mercury Bus known? And the tag says M-F450 was his standin for Mercury? Thoughts …..?
How do we know that someone did not just put in a Mercury front grill? The front of the 60 Mercury is the same as on the ford 1960 bus. If the hood was replaced by a Ford Hood, Then maybe the grill was simply swapped too? Just thinking why would there be only one Mercury Bus known? And the tag says M-F450 was his standin for Mercury? Thoughts …..?