Did the Right Car Win?

I recently got home from the Pebble Beach weekend and I was completely wiped out– It was 4 straight days of cool cars, fun events, and many good buddies all in one place. As you might know, the Concours d’Elegance wraps up with a big ‘Best of Show’ winner, which was an incredibly elegant 1924 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A Cabriolet. It’s no big news that this particular car took the grand prize because it was just the right pick for the award in so many ways. Actually, the one award choice of the day that I wasn’t 100% sure about was the Postwar Mercury class winner. The three finalists were the 1950 Wally Welch Mercury, the 1951 Bob Hirohata Merc, and the 1949 Sam Barris Merc. Let me just say that all three of these judge selects were excellent, and anyone of them deserved to be in the winning class- All three Mercury customs had the historical significance, plus the pure style and custom presence to be a winner. But which of them really deserved to win it all? The Hirohata Mercury was the final choice for first place, but it wasn’t mine… I honestly thought the Sam Barris ’49 would win it all. Why? It was arguably the first chopped ’49 Mercury, since it was started after but finished before the Louie Bettancourt 1949 Mercury at the Ayala Brothers shop. That alone is historically significant to all postwar custom Mercurys in my book. Hirohata’s car is flashier, more radically customized, and far better know, but Sam’s Mercury is the more elegant choice in my book, by a long shot. Let’s say it was your choice of the three top cars- Which car deserved the top Postwar Mercury honors in your opinion?