The first Mercury was announced in 1939 based on the existing Ford V8, the Mercury Eight boasted a longer chassis (116 inches instead of 112-inches) and a Flathead V8 enlarged to 3,923cc. In fact the Mercury had a better chassis and the body panels differed even though the styling was similar. The Town Sedan was the first body, offered as 2 or 4-door, there was a rare convertible in 2 or 4-door, and a 2-door Club Coupe which looked like an early hardtop. For 1941 Ford amd Mercury now shared the same body, the main beneficiary here appearing to be Ford who ended up with a much more robust car than hitherto. However, the Mercury expanded to a 118-inch wheelbase whilst the Ford went to 114-inches. The new models did without the innovative Club Coupe, and replaced it with a more conventional coupe which shared its body with the Ford. There was also a Woody Station Wagon, again shared with Ford, and although the Mercury was on a longer wheelbase that length was in front of the windscreen so both Mercury and Ford could share body parts aft of the windscreen. For 1942 Mercury was restyled, especially in the grille, but the body actually remained the same until 1948. However, Mercury got back into production in 1945 with its 1946 models that had a new wide grille made up of nine vertical panels and this continued through into 1948. The postwar Eights, in common with the Ford V8s, included a 'Woody' convertible known as the 'Sportsman' but these were very expensive and few sold.