"The Car that dares to ask Why?," some ads touted, referring to why a big car could also be so economical.

The early Mercury was a good-sized car and with its up-to-20 mpg performance, by 1942 had earned an image of being a fine performer in mph as well as mpg. The 49-51 Mercurys became very popular with customizers and hot rodders and James Dean driving one in "Rebel Without a Cause" helped capture the cult status these cars were making.

The large, archival photographs in this book illustrate the fascinating early life of the infamous Mercury, a car with an image synonymous to the fleet-footed messenger of the gods that shared its name.