That car is beautiful, and I'm not a big Merc fan. This car could change all that. Love the colors, love the roofline, everything just works except maybe the antennas. Like that they're sunken, just wish they were slanted. They're upright stance kinda disrupts the otherwise perfect "flow" of the car............I still love it.
Nice car, very nice car. I'm there on the engine bay too, some chrome would fit well. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to notice more customs (kustoms?) from you lately, or maybe around the change to the new format. It's not a bad thing by any means and it makes this old bastid happy to see em. Thanks...
Oh yeah, I also love the characteristic shrouded Merc headlights that lend themselves so well to a mild custom look..yeah I'm getting converted.
Amazing photo shoot.....I love the colors and profile of that car. Maybe just an inch lower in the rear? And some bias plies...
Such a great looking car. I agree with the couple minor changes that you mentioned and just have one small one to add. Those modern black speaker grilles in the back window stick out like a sore thumb. A chrome flat perforated steel (or steel mesh) pair would look great...
So many custom enthusiasts make changes to their cars to make 'em look "better"...and end up - by poor choice, poor taste, poor workmanship or just plain overkill - making them look "worse". Back in the days of the goofy ISCA judging system there was a plausible excuse, but not any more. Thankfully the owner of this Merc knew when enough was enough...and had the rare good sense to stop. Nice car!
Love this car!!! That was when car companies "designed" cars, not just built cars. Such cool details are why so many of us appreciate old cars. Thanks for the post.
When a car (in this case the Merc) has style to begin with, all that's needed is a few minor tweeks to make it Sweet! Kudos to you both for sharing, Carp
Nice. I like all of the design elements that were built to come together on that car. Specifically the dashboard instruments.
"When in doubt, keep it simple." Here's your proof! The '56 Merc was a great looking car right off the showroom floor, needing only a little judicious gingerbread removal, as demonstrated here, to look even better. The wheelcovers on this car were optional on the '56 Mercury, so I guess, technically, they're "stock" - and perfect! A rare case where Lancers or Fiestas wouldn't be an improvement.
What a beaut ! Saw a twin to it at a local Americruise a few years back. Same exact colors, etc. Always loved those dashes. My grand-dad had a 56 Merc 4-dr sedan back in the early 60s. Same color, too. After he passed away, my oldest brother "inherited" it, and eventually traded it in on a almost new 63 Thunderbird. Next oldest brother had a 56 Victoria 2-dr hdtp a first cousin to the Merc; and in the same colors as this one. Had full cruiser skirts with red dice and 3-bar flippers., under-the-dash "hot lights" (just in case, ya know).. the whole nine yards. When he got drafted and decided to sell the car, he was elated to get $500 for it;........ because he only paid $300 for it. 'Course, this was back in the mid 60's
Nope. That's just what the sky does here in the hill country at dawn. These photos weren't so much as opened in photoshop. I played with levels a tad, but there have been no other edits to the RAW file at all. What you see is what Larry and I saw when we shot it. Nothing fancy at all.
On the main page of the JJ it shows the post of the day, but it doesn't say who the poster is until you click on the full post. I looked at the pics and knew this was an RC piece because I recognized the backdrop, then you mentioned it as your favorite location.. Since I'm building a 40 Tudor, the pics you took of your 39 at this location are permanently seared into my mind, as I studied that car intently when I purchased my pile. Great feature.
Mild customs are usually always a success. There was alot of talent in the factory styling departments in that era, and their work was great right off the showroom floor. Like any product that is developed, the production version will have compromises from the original design/sketch. I find that successful mild customs, will take the factory car and with a some minor custom touches, take the factory car closer to what the styling department originally intended.
I was actually talking to Larry about this while shooting his car. I can't count how many times I've used that location... I've shot everything from early Fords to late model Porsche super cars to vintage Ferraris out there. I bet I've taken more than 3000 images in that spot all together. Here's a quick few I could find without digging too deep: I recently shot a hot rodded Porsche out there and it was one of those things where everything just came together and I got lucky. Probably the best photos I've ever lucked into, but they are off topic so I'll leave them out of this. The sad thing is, the location is actually a cul-de-sac in a developing neighborhood and the developer is about to start building there. My location will be gone forever.
I turned 16 in 1958 & this is 1 of those I would have dreamed of owning. Very nice mild custom. Now have to figure out how to do hidden wires by engine like this. Under hood is really sweet.
I've always loved that shot of your '39, Ryan, and the single fog lamp, well that's just the cat's pajamas.
When I was in high school in the late '50's, a brother of a friend of mine had one of these, only his was solid black. His brother was an "old guy", about 25 who stayed home with his wife on Friday nights. My buddy would borrow his car and we would go on double dates in it. I really believe that car greatly increased our "opportunities", if you get my drift.
Can't say much that hasn't already been said! But, my opinions are: I love the antennas the way they are. I like slanted antennas if they're surface mounted, but I prefer vertical ones if they're sunken. The colors and stance are dead-on perfect for the car and the 'shave' really cleans it up. I do have to agree, though, that another air cleaner - something more 'fifties' - would help under the hood. If I had to pick a name for this one, it'd be "Just Enough".
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