I think the first time I heard about the cars built by Paul Bragg, was when I read an article in the Swedish magazine Wheels about his fantastic 1951 Mercury Convertible. I fell in love with that car, and I can remember looking at the photos over and over again.. and that issue is pretty much worn... it was even on my workbench a long time when I considered building a 1/25 scale model of it. But that unfortunately never happened. His 1951 Mercury was perfect in every aspect. Simple, Subtile, Super... Every line on that car flowed just so perfectly. And I knew that there was a lot more going on that I could read in the Swedish text. Many, many years later - I had never dreamt that this would become a reality - I was fortunate enough to look at the car up close in person. And even better have Paul Bragg talk about nearly every detail on the car. But lets stay back in time a little... The second time I read about Paul was in a Rod Action magazine, where his wife's Pat Bragg Sectioned 1949 Ford was featured. Another masterpiece, and now I was sure about it. Paul Bragg was an incredible customizer, and metal man, and was able to shape metal like it was butter. Over the years I kept reading his name in the magazines, and I started to collect photos of the cars he built to add to my website. Some of his cars always showed up at the Westcoast Kustoms Passo Robles shows, since that was Paul's home town. So it was great to see progress on Paul's 1950 Mercury, his Wife's Pat's 1954 Mercury and sometimes other projects like his chopped Econoliner as well. (Ollin Photo) A few years ago I received an email from Paul, who had visited my website. And over the years we have become friends. Paul was always very willing to talk about his project, but one thing I always wanted, more photos of his projects, was always a bit of a problem. Not that Paul did not want to share them. But he just did not know how to get his regular photos to me over the internet. I met Paul and his lovely wife Pat at the 2009 Sacramento Autorama Mercury Gathering, where Paul was invited with his 1951 Mercury. Paul and Pat unloading the 51 Merc at the Sacramento Autorama We spend a lot of time together, talking cars etc. And we also talked about attaching photos to emails etc. Paul and Pat must have spend a lot of time on the computer figuring out how to scan, and send attachments. And two weeks ago I received a CD from Paul with a lot of very cool project photos. With Paul's permission I have added them to my site for everybody to enjoy. And I figured this would be a very good subject for another "Spotlight" post. Especially his in progress photos are amazing. Paul is an expert body man and uses no plastic filler at all. Everything is metal finished, and the only filler he uses is lead. Paul also send a few of the rare 1950's and 60's photos he still has. Paul and his father working on one of Pauls 1951 Mercury's he has owned over the years. This one was taken in the mid 50's 1949 Chopped Merc with Paul standing next to it. Paul has always built both Hot Rods and Custom Cars. But I think we can say he is a true custom car guy building his cars with perfect lines and period perfect detailing... or more modern if his customers request for that. All the in progress photos where taken by Paul Bragg, and are part of the Paul Bragg Photo Collection. All other photos come from either the internet source unknown, but where I could the photographer is mentioned. Many thanks for Paul and Pat for not only building these fantastic car, but also have the patients to try over and over again to send the photos by email. It finally worked! And as always... there is plenty more on my website here:
Besides owning a body shop (B+B) for many years and building custom cars from turn key to only parts of the whole car like chopping the top or frenching etc. Paul had always many personal projects going one. One of his projects that took him a long time to finish was his olive green 1949 Mercury. These in progress photos where taken 40 years ago... Finally in primer... As you can see a lot of Paul's custom cars look like they could have been built in the early 50's. But the workmanship and finish on Paul's cars is most likely far beyond what was built back then. Paul loves the smooth lines from the Ayala and Barris Customs. Shaved driprails. Rounded corners, and Appleton Spots. Finished. Another personal project started out a custom project for a customer. Paul chopped the top, and later bought the project from the owner who lost interest. It is one of the many unfinished projects that Paul has in his shop at home. Besides doing excellent body work, Paul also does everything else to create the perfect custom. Here he "C"-ed teh frame to get the car at the proper ride height.
Paul's 1951 Mercury Convertible... Some older photos from when the car was just finished. Paul won the prestigious Harry Bradley Design Achievement award with this car... and its so much deserved. Although the car might look "mild" at first there is really a lot going on. One thing that I noticed when I looked at the car for many hours is how the rear quarters are molded into the body. They where not just welded to the body with a filled in seam. Not the radius of the rounding from the front fender to the main body was repeated all the way to the back. This ment the whole section from the dog leg to the back was radiused. The side trim is from a 1954 Mercury... The bumpers are 1951 DeSoto units but at the back several bumpers where used, cut and reshaped to fit the 1951 Fenders. The taillights where home made. As mentioned before Paul also built some Hot Rods... Here is his 1932 Ford 5-window Coupe... Note that all the corners are rounded... slightly.
Paul built the Sectioned 1949 Ford Coupe for his wife Pat... it has modern drive train and interior since it was built a driver. A lot of perfectly proportioned body work went into this car. The Work on the taillights is amazing... (tinWolf photo) (Paul Kelly Photo)
A lot of the cars Paul built are turnkey cars. But Paul also did a lot of partial custom projects. On this 1950 Ford Convertible Paul chopped the windshield, built the Carson style top bows and the window frames. Bill Reasoner did the rest of the car and Rick Simmons did the upholstery and top Finished car...
One of the Cars Paul is building for his wife is this 1954 Mercury... (Don Dillard photo) (ModelCarGuy photo) Another 49-51 Merc custom.. this time a 1950 Merc for Mike Torres.. With Paul's own Merc sitting in front of Mikes freshly unfinished chopped Merc. Smooth metal work.. as always from Paul... Molded in beltline... and the top finally in primer... And this is how it looks now... (BadBob photo... we miss you Bob!!!)
The 'mores' are not happening and i want MORE! Thanks for posting this, very cool, great simple style.
Paul performed all the body work on Ralph Bagdasarian 1953 Oldsmobile. The car is currently at the owner to be finished... and I really cant wait to see it in gloss paint. Wonderful lines on this custom Its almost magic... nah it is magic! (TinWolf photo) 1954 Packard Tailight/rear fender contruction on the Olds
Paul built this 1950 Mercury for Frank Livingston... Note the molded in belt line... and the absence of the drip rails... very smooth All scratch built flush fender skirt and opening construction... Modified 1951 Merc front bumper... Extended fenders and custom grille opening/splash pan... METAL MAGIC!!! Note the 54 Mercury Side trim on the car. Paul preferred this wider side trim. But Frank wanted to have a very narrow side trim...
Paul's own project.. well one of them, his 1950 Mercury turned Hard-Top... Many years ago... (Russ Beckwith photos) (Photos by Eric) Primer...
Another current project Paul is working on is this 1941 short door Coupe... As you can see in this and many other photos. Paul either works a lot outside... perfect Californian weather makes that possible... or he moves the projects outdoors a lot to be able to walk around the cars, and view it from every possible angle to see how everything flows together, and how the lines work.... and it really helps. the flow of Paul's cars is always perfect. (Dave Dale Photo) (Sanfordsotherson photo)
All guys who think they can work metal should look at Paul's work to see how a "master" does it. The man is a metalworking genius. And it's a shame he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. I've been a fan since I saw his olive Merc at one of the Leadsled's back in the 80's. A nice guy to talk to, as well!
1966 Ford Econoliner... which was bought brand new and used as a family transporter... Sectioned door and raised wheel opening... 1950 Ford Pick Up chop...
Hey Rik, Thanks so much...again. I have been using your site daily as a studying tool. I also bookmark several of your postings like the 2009 Sacramento Autorama Mercury Gathering photos. So seeing some thing NEW from the RIKSTER is awesome. Slim
Thanks for putting tgether this piece, Rik...fantastic job as usual! I've seen pictures of many of these cars before and never realized all of them were built by Paul. He is truly an artist with a keen eye and awesome talent. Thanks again for taking the time to put this together and share it with us.
A true Metal Master. Paul's chops are always spot on & he never chops a roof the same way. I have been in love with Pat's sectioned shoebox since I saw it in TRJ #9. Great post Rikster.
Wonderful! Paul Bragg's cars has been a great influence for med many years (ever since the mentioned photo did show up in "Wheels Magazine"). The never seen before build up photos gives me a lot of inspiration, I have to rush out to my garage at once. Many thans to Rik for the good work of sharing this and the great written words.
I want to take that Merc convertible behind a middle school and get it pregnant. That is one of the most gorgeous cars ever. Very cool post Rikster.
Great post Rikster thank you VERY much and thank Paul for sharing these images of custom history with us. I love the in progress pics , its great to see these masterpieces before they get painted!! Well done!
From the early years to the current, you can see how this guy's skills have gone from "very good " to "Off the charts" . What skills! and a fantastic eye for proportion and flow.
Paul Bragg is one of my biggest influences when it comes to customs. He doesn't know that... but I sure do. Back in 2003, I went to Paso Robles with the Dude (aka Jason Worthington) in a '61 Buick, and we got to stay at Paul's house during the show. Heck, I slept in Ralph's chopped Olds out in Paul's shop! Ralph let me pinstripe the dash in the Olds, and ever since then Ralph Bagdasarian has been a good friend as well. Spending nights and mornings in Paul's shop and being surrounded by his metalwork for a weekend literally changed my life. Being from a small town in Texas, I'd never seen anything like it. Not even in magazines. I remember staring at the lead on the front of the '54 Merc and being awestruck by how nice everything fit...and it looked like it had always been like that. I don't think I've ever seen anyone as good as Paul when it comes to metalwork in the traditional vein. He's simply the best there is as far I'm concerned. He also has the first Yoder power hammer that I'd ever seen. And the fact that he's a bit of a curmudgeon that doesn't really give a damn about what people think...but is still a genuinely nice guy deep down...is just the icing on the cake. One thing I was also really impressed by was the fact that ever car in his shop ran and drove. It appeared to me that he didn't start any customizing until he was able to move the car around under it's own power...I thought that was pretty smart. That's also the reason that the public has been able to see some of his work in progress through the years at Paso. Someday Paul will be remembered as one of the best...if not THE best...customizers of his generation. And I'll still be glad to say that I got to spend some time with him, however brief it was. P.S...I saw Ralph's Olds last summer and it was in primer. He's going to be painting it himself, and I can assure you it will be flawless. -Brian
Oh, and I almost forgot....Thanks Rik for working so hard to get all of these photos on the internet where we can all see them!!!! And also...did you notice that Paul chopped his four-door Dually as well?
Wow that was great .. I had the chance to talk with Paul from time to time as I drooled over his rides In Paso . He is a real nice guy and down for the conversation.. Really nice collection of photos!! his work is flawless! Last time I saw him in paso I must of taken 100 pictures of his merc unfinished.. it was crazy one side fully customized the other just a little.. great work!! i will revisit this thread for sure
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