BRITAIN'S LEADING ROAD TEST EXPERTS PRAISE THE A.E.C. 'MERCURY'
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"A.E.C. 'Mercury's' power-to-weight ratio is best yet"'
—Motor Transport
"A.E.C. 'Mercury' thrives on hard work"
—Commercial Vehicles
Road tests carried out on the latest A.E.C. 'Mercury' by Britain's leading motor transport journals have produced unanimous praise of its performance and reliability under many varying conditions. One underlying fact emerges—that in capacity and size the 'Mercury' is miles ahead of any other vehicle in its class.
As 'Motor Transport' says:
. the 'Mercury' is hard to fault."
"With the 'Mercury', A.E.C. seems to have struck about the best balance to be achieved so far. The 'Mercury' is indeed one of comparatively few heavy vehicles that can traverse the whole length of the LondonBirmingham motorway without the need for changing gear or, in fact, losing very much speed." "In the 14 ton class this vehicle has the highest power-toweight ratio and it has the best fuel consumption too."
From 'Modern Transport' praise is equally high : "The 'Mercury' had a general feeling of light handling and effortless performance." "Speed of other traffic away from checks was comfortably matched and the number of
necessary gear changes in this kind of going were substantially fewer than with most vehicles of this weight."
" . .. when 52-53 m.p.h. was recorded on the speedometer, at this speed it proved commendably stable, even when the steering was swung from side to side."
"Fitted with a 5.87 to I axle, the vehicle has a lively performance and left no impression of being overgeared at full load on our rather hilly route."
And from rThe Commercial Motor'.
"...it's easy lo understand why this model ha remained one of the most po,ular of its type since its introduction over six years ago."
"The `Mer ry' is economical too. When t sted under simu , rated trunkperation condi tions 13.4 m.p.g. was returned, whilst town running drops this figure by only 0.6 m.p.g."
"Full speed operation on a stretch of motorway gave the highly commendable result of 11.9 m.p.g. at an average speed of 41.2 m.p.h. yielding a time load mileage factor of 6,856—a particularly high figure for a 14 ton gross vehicle."
"The combination of a 112 b.h.p. engine and five-speed synchromesh gearbox gives all the liveliness that could be asked for."
"The 'Mercury' is an easy vehicle to handle, and the lowgeared steering makes light work of tight corners at low speeds."
" . . . operators working laden in one direction only could expect at least 16 m.p.g. overall from a 'Mercury' Mk. ii." "Suspension reached a high standard, helped partly by the telescopic dampers fitted as standard on the front axle." 'Commercial Vehicles' says : "Like all A.E.C. engines, this type is notable for the high torque it develops, in relation to its swept volume. In this instance, the maximum net torque is 325 lb. ft., developed from i,too to 1,300 r.p.m. . . . In fact it is a glutton for hard work."
"The high torque also commends itself for semi-trailer operation, where the permissible gross train weight with the standard single-drive rear axle is x8 tons."
"Braking performance is reliably adequate for all occasions, the average efficiency recorded in five emergency stops from zo m.p.h. being 61.6 per cent."
"With its high torque, the 'Mercury' is no laggard and its acceleration makes driving a pleasure. To reach 20 m.p.h. from a standing start took an average of 15.4 seconds, whilst o to 30 m.p.h. needed 30.1 seconds."
"In keeping with the general sturdiness of the 'Mercury' chassis, the suspension system, too, appears to have ample reserves of strength."