[rotorwrench]

Edsel Ford started the body design department in 1937 or so but the Ford engineering lab was built before that in 1924. When Bob Gregorie was hired to help with the Lincoln cars, Edsel put him over in the Ford Airport building that was across the street so that Henry wouldn't mess with him. Henry didn't care as much about the body design as he did the chassis & drive system. The Mercury was kind of a first major design change for Ford since they purchased Lincoln. Lincoln was always Edsel's baby since Henry didn't care much about the hoity toity cars. He felt it would give Edsel something to do where he wouldn't try to mess with the Ford line of cars. Henry would always put his foot down on the frame and would not allow much of any changes. The Mercury was a different car though and would have a longer design. Edsel finally found a way to get the longer frame that he always wanted but it was only longer by 4-inches. The 1st Generation Mercury body was completely different than the Ford line so I don't know where the firewall was in relation to the frame. It wasn't till 1941 that they started trying to use the same basic body as Ford but dress and accesorise it more. In 1942, there were a lot more things interchangeable between Ford & Mercury than there ever were before. The new design for 49 was when the Mercury line started to blend more with Lincoln than Ford but that only lasted a few years.

All the frames were designed by a different department in the Engineering Lab. Joe Galamb pretty much oversaw the frame design and production design that were going on and Henry was always around there to see what was going on and make them change things he didn't like. It's no coincidence that the Mercury frames are still a lot like the Ford counterparts.