Mercer

The Mercer Automobile Company had its roots in a small, high-quality automobiles plant of New York, owned by William Walter.  William Walter was being financed by two extremely rich families of Trenton, the Roeblings and the Kusers, the latter having invited Walter to move to a vacant brewery they owned in New Jersey in 1906. By 1909 William Walter could no longer meet his debts and the families Roebling and the Kuser became the owners of the business in a foreclosure sale and founded the Mercer Automobile Company (named after the Mercer County).  Thanks to the excellent quality and endurance of its sports cars, Mercer became one of the most renowned brands. The top Mercer racing car was the dashy Raceabout that won hundreds of races in the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, the Vanderbilt Cup and the Elgin Trophy. In 1919, subsequent to the death of the last of the Roeblings, Mercer was sold to Hare Motors, that embarked on an ambitious development program by buying Locomobile and Crane-Simplex, which proved to be a financial disaster. Mercers were pure racing cars, not passenger vehicles, and could never survive a mass production policy. Mercer ceased car production in 1925.