The Lee Pratt Merc

Our extensive look into the history of Lee Pratt continues today with a sidebar of sorts… I say “sidebar,” because this 1951 Mercury isn’t a car that jumps out at you like most of Lee’s cars do. It’s unfinished… It’s rough…  It’s… Well, it’s a shit box. But honestly, that’s really what drew me to the car when I first saw an image of it in Lee’s photograph collection.

So, what’s the story?

Back in the 1980’s, when Lee was still living in Iowa, he heard about a Merc owned by a local paint and body guy that was looking to cash out. Lee made the trip across town, casually checked the car out, and made a deal. But, once he got the car home and started to dig into the sheet metal he quickly realized that the Merc was in far worse condition than he had hoped. In fact, the car required more metal work than he was willing to invest.

So rather than write the whole thing off, Lee and a buddy of his decided to make a decent driver out of the car. Together, they clipped the front-end (see comments from Lee) and built a hella-z for the ass end. The result was a car that sat incredibly low, but still rode pretty damned well. In fact, when Lee sold the car a little while later he agreed to deliver it to the new owner. During the 200 mile drive, he contemplated turning around and heading back home.

Lee maintains that this ’51 was the best driving car he has ever owned.

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