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I would like to correct a few of the statements above. The first black Mercurys came out in 1962, with the introduction of the worlds first 100HP engine, the Merc 1000.

The idea for black came from the mother of one of the chief engineers working for Mercury, Charlie Strang, who later became CEO of OMC. Strang is also responsible for the invention of the in-line 6, who evidently had the idea to cobb together two of Mercury's inline 4 blocks, reduced to three cylinders, unknown to Carl K. After they had a prototype done, they showed it to Carl, who loved the way it ran, and he said "build it". Strang told his mother about the new engine, and mentioned how huge it was (for the time!) and she said "that's easy - paint it black. Large women always dress in black"

Now days the "huge" Tower of Power of the 60's weighs less than a little three cylinder Evinrude E-tec 90, and the Yamaha and "Seven" V-8's make the Verado in-line 6 look small!