Hello to all! About 6 months ago my father and I were able to acquire Fred Steele’s 1950 yellow chopped merc from his family. With the car, we were able to get TONS of photos and documentation. This car was literally all over the place in the late 70s, 80s, and into the 90s. I was hoping that some fellow H.A.M.B.ers may have some photos of this car stashed away somewhere! Some of the notable shows Fred attended with this car were: - NSRA Nationals Tulsa,OK August 1976 - NSRA Nationals Maryland June 1977 - V8 Club Western Nationals Fresn,CA 1976 - 10th Andy’s Picnic August 1, 1976 - NSRA Nationals St Paul, MN 1977 - KKOA Lead Sled Spectacular 1983 Ohio - KKOA Sled East 1988 - KKOA Sled East 1989 - KKOA Sled East 1992 - Merc-Deuce Reunion No. 3 August 1989 Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Great car, timeless design. This looks like it could have been built in 1955, 1985, or last week. Nothing is "dated", that's the mark of a tasteful build.
I may have a pic of it in Fred's basement from when the son and I visited Fred back in 2011. The only cars he had left then were the A Tudor, 56 Vicky, the chopped Merc and the 59 Continental convert. My mate will have some pics of it plus details as he corresponded with Fred from 1963 on.
Here are those same photos in color. The guy in the first image is the original owner Paul Vigilant. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That`s pretty neat you ended up with the originals. Do you have the book that it was featured in as well.
Lots of original photos and slides. There are also some pretty interesting documents like the cross country trip itinerary, and all the correspondence with Pat Ganahl about the Street Rodder story. Fred literally saved EVERYTHING. Even the hotel receipts from where he stayed along the trip. 2 full pocket note books full of notes and maintenance records and trips he took. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I was wondering if the Merc was still around. Congrats on the purchase, I'm looking forward to seeing running around. Thanks for taking the time to share the pics...
Here’s a couple examples of the documents I got and scanned. The first is a letter from Eddie Ford to the NSRA from Feb. 1976 asking for them to provide Fred Steele with full press credentials and courtesies as he will be covering the event on his behalf. The second is a scan of Fred’s itinerary for the cross country trip. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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