History Matranga Mercury at the 1951 Oakland Roadster show

That info and the photos are fantastic!... THANK YOU for sharing them.

 

What a great thread!

Threads like this keep me plugging away on my shoebox.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed.

There's such an incredible wealth of information out there.

 

great photos chopt34, thanks for posting these!

 

Does anyone have a date or anything close as to when Gil sold the 40 ??

 

The November 1950 issue of Motor Trend has the car finished on the cover.
I think it fair to say the car was photographed two month prior to the publishing date. So that would be anywhere in August or early September of 1950.
The car needed to be finished after Gil Sold it, So Perhaps Gil sold his 1940 Merc. in June/July of 1950 at the latest.... my guess. I don't know for sure.

 

Really ? How much finishing did the car need Rik? If I remember right the magazine talks about it being Gils 40.I could be wrong though.....I have to pull the issue and check it out.

 

As far as I know Gil sold the car unfinished. So when it appeared finished in the magazine Richard was already the owner.
The article actual said the car was completed New Years day 1949...!!! And it said the car was built by Gil and Al Ayala... it does not mention an owner.

 

Great research Rik,I just looked at the magazine and you are correct.I was wondering about Gils car because it was not at the Montebello show,so he had to of sold it by that time.

 

Bringing this back up for some history lessons. Maybe someone new might see the big difference in what was done back in the day. They did things the right way. not over chopping and having everything laying on the ground looking like its broken.

 

HISTORY LESSON TIME!!

Just bring this back up incase someone might have missed it.

 

History lesson time !!!!

 

Think You so much R&C Ron, for posting the 1950 roadster show program.
I have been trying for years to figure out, what year My roadster was in the
show. Found this thread and there it is on page three. You guys on the hamb
Rock..........

Looks like the 1950 program has been deleted, thanks again R&C Ron.....

 

Nobey....Glad I could help , I've collected this stuff for years and its been a blast being able to share it on the HAMB!!!!
RON

 

Great customs!!!! These are not over chopped,looking broke on the ground, and flow from the front to the back. I love these threads!!

 

I can shed a tiny bit of light on this. The show was held on Sunday March 30th, 1952. I found one of the original Falcon's jackets who hosted the event. The jacket was made by Stylized Emblems of LA, who also made car club plaques. Sorry I can't give any more info on the Matrangas Merc. Good luck with the search!

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.. some of the best threads on the HAMB.

Are 10 year plus "classics".

BTT

 

Great Information. Thanks

 

I started re-reading this thread earlier today because I was interested in its original subject, the pictures of Barris kustoms mounted on the wall behind the Metranga Merc at the '51 Oakland show. Ignoring all the debate about chopped Mercs that filled the rest of the thread, I have two comments about those first few posts:
1. Kudos to Rik for the effort he put into identifying the pictured cars in such detail.
2. It's remarkable how creative, original, and beautiful all those really early Barris cars were. While many have grilles swapped from other cars (Cad/Olds, mostly), others have completely fabricated grilles of Barris' own designs. As their work "evolved" over the subsequent decades, the need for quantities of new grilles and trim necessitated more swapping and repetition. George is justifiably criticized for the junk he turned out in later years, but those early cars are delicious!

 

Yes and yes.

 

Yes, I agree. I like the early customs so much I built my own.

 

Which is the one that Jack Walker owns now. Jack had the cloned version built in 1983 of the Hirohata Merc which was sold 2 or 3 years ago.