https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...he-king-of-customs.768041/page-2#post-8531966 ...shared by @50mercfan https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a35681329/hirohata-mercury-custom-car-history/ Credit to Photographer, Owner
There are 4 iconic cars that stand out for Barris builds. The 40 Merc with the hardtop conversion(pic one). The Hirohata Merc. The Alla Cart and the Batmobile. Every body wonders what a historic custom would bring if one came to an auction. Now we will find out. It was the McMullun(spelling) roadster which brought some thing like over 700,000. The golden Sahara brought over 300,000 and needed restored. And there is more bashing of people who work there asses off there entire lives who have money to spend that get pissed on by people who just don`t get it. Imagine working 50 to 60 hours a week managing a company or owning a company for 30 to 40 years. With little time off. And with what time off is spent on vacations with the wife and kids. No time for there hobbies. So let them go to an auction with over 500 cars for sale and let the buy the one they happen to like. They have a budget that far exceeds ours. I`m happy for them. And the sellers of the cars are happy to get the money when the car sells.
Dana also owned the Calori 36 ford 3 window.... he has been known to buy high profile cars and then auction them himself.... He also owns the 65 altered wheelbase Lee Smith AFX car
I don't have a problem with that. I also like anchovies on my pizza. Differences make the world go round. But, there's no need to disparage others who may not share you viewpoint. They're not criticizing yours.
If I had big bucks, I`d buy it and build a clone in the other version as it appeared in the movie Running Wild. And take them to the Custom Shows and display them together.
I don't think it's fair to paint all Hotrodders with the same brush...I enjoy both equally... I don't appreciate the ignorance either, whichever direction it comes from... Many times their ignorance extends to Hotrods never mind Customs... As a self proclaimed Hotrodder I choose to ignore the negative and appreciate the focus of the Threads be it Customs or Hotrods...and thank those who share content meeting the guidelines... I look forward to this Iconic Custom being auctioned to the highest bidder...I also understand the inspiration to recreate Excellence...and am not surprised there are a few of these existing...
https://www.rkmotors.com/blog/Hirohata-Merc-Kustom ...Well deserved Provenance and a tip of the Hat to the Excellence of Vintage Hotrod/Custom Credit to Photographer, Owner
It is time to get this car in a museum for its final home. Before someone does something stupid to it ruin it forever. Pray that a museum is top bidder.
Part of me says "Put it into a Museum" and part of me says "drive the daylights out of it, that's what it was made for". Glad I don't have to decide.
The Hirohata will always be an ICON in the Custom Car world. Unfortunately, the younger crowd isn't into old cars of even CARS in some cases. Give it another 10-15yrs, and the shows that are left now won't be a thing. IMO....
The fact that the full documentary on the Hagerty YT channel has over 650,000 views is a bit of a hint. It's clearly iconic, innately appealing, the provenance from its early days, its Barris pedigree, its resurrection, the role @pgan played in its comeback, the role it played in R&C's comeback, the recent Pebble Beach Concours recognition, the National Historic Vehicle registration. It has a documentary made about it. I hope it goes for eye popping money and the documentary gets millions more views. Pat, you might not like seeing and hearing yourself on screen, but we do. This car and its story are epic. Legendary. Moving.
i remember reading in R&C about its restoration. i got the feeling that the original was more like a "shade tree" job...
there's a guy in the st. louis era that's a huge barris fan. i remember seeing an add in the back pages where he offered up the R&C dream truck "to the gentleman who has the hirohata merc..."
You must only attend shows that fit the scope of this forum I’ve attended several where us grey beards are in the minority
That would be Kurt McCormick, he wore a sandwich board sign wanting that car at every event he went to back in the 70's and 80's... Kurt is now selling his collection....
I’ve lusted over the lines of that car for decades. Must be why “fat bottom girls” is one of my favorite songs.
Barris' work in the fifties was crude underneath with a nice finish on top, you should dig up some old magazine articles showing how he did things, cutting away the old grille or tail lights with a torch then building on new, and smoothing everything out with plenty of lead. A lot of the work was done by off duty cops and firemen not professional bodymen.
The car was built in 1952 or so. Torches were used to weld and cut stuff. People had tools that would fit in a tool box that sat on a table. Nothing like the tools we have today. I`m sure Bob Hirohata had a budget like everybody else had even back then. Back then the average person chopped a top with a hacksaw.
This was a big bucks car for the time. Bob Hirohata had plenty of money. The story goes that when he got out of the Navy in late 1951 he went down to the Mercury dealership to buy a new one, but the 52s were already out and they did not have a 51 2 door sedan. The 52s were completely different, and he had in mind a custom along the lines of Sam Barris's 49 Merc but with a side window treatment like the Matranga Mercury. So he found a nearly new model on a used car lot, bought it and took it straight to the Barris shop where they tore it apart and went to work. They gave it the full custom treatment, interior and all. I think it took 3 or 4 months. As time went on he changed a few details, like adding hand made dash knobs. After a couple of years he had it freshened up with a new paint job and in 1953, bought a new Cadillac engine from the Cadillac dealer and had it put in before driving to Indianapolis for a show. He said that all told, he had about $7000 in the car. That was enough to buy a new tract house at the time.
No. Everything was perfectly cut, welded by a professional and hammered into perfection only requiring a coat of primer to remove file marks.
No, I attend all kind of shows, and the there's just no younger crowd like there was 20yrs ago. They're either at the Tuner shows or somewhere else. There used to be many shows here in SoCal. Most have moved on, cause you can't draw a crowd anymore. the GNRS and the Fathers Day show, are the only ones that really draw crowds. Very few shows for Traditional Cars now.
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