Event Coverage '50 Merc thicket find - the HIGHS...the LOWS

Well, today was a roller coaster ride for me. We've got to follow ALL leads, don't we? A friend of a friend says someone he knows has some old cars he might sell. So finally I got the old guys phone number and called. "Yes, you might want to come and check 'em out. I've got a 32 Chevy and a Model A parade cars for about $8000 each and they go down from there. Got a 48 Ford truck with a Chevy engine I never finished...needs a little more work...and a 53 Ford....just come take a look" So this morning I confirmed he'd be home and set out on the hour and a half ride to see what he has. Well, I got there and we jump in his old golf cart and the first thing he says is "these 2 in here I don't think I'll sell" as he points to a large metal container, "but check 'em out". So he opens it and there's a '29 roadster and 32 Chevy coupe, both bone stock. Neat, but not a good start after an hour and a half drive. "Do you have more old cars?" "Sure, jump in and I'll show you" Soon we pull up to a '68 Polara 4 door..."Naw, I'm looking for older". Then we get to a lean to with a '53 Ford 4 door. I get to listen to the story of how he had one he had to sell a long time ago, so he fairly recently got this one to replace it. OK, thanks, any more? So we go down a path to where the 48 Ford pickup is sitting next to another 53 Ford. "I just sold the '53 to a fella a few days ago and he's gonna pick it up soon, but there's the 48". I got out and took a look...ROUGH, patches surface welded onto every single panel on the truck. A small block of unknown vintage, T0218D (I still have to look it up), was cobbled in under the hood. Wow, I thought, I made a long haul for this! "Anything else?" "We can look some more" so we bounced along on the golf cart toward the "back 40"..........

 

We made out way past more out buildings where he pointed out a '66 ford pickup camper I could buy and then we headed to another lean to where he stopped the cart and said "Check out that buggy my son made when he was 11". There in front of me was a monstrosity with a 6 cyl Chevy, dual wheels front and back....not my style, I'm thinking. Then I look down and there's a bumper sitting on the ground in front of the "heap". It has a nice curve to it, so I pick it up and between the bumper guards it says MERCURY...hmmmm. I ask him if this is for sale and he says sure...there's another one...$25 for the pair. OK, so I load them into the back of the cart. I glace over to my left and there's the slightest hint of a fender in a thicket about 15 feet from where I'm standing, so I go for a closer look, then push a few bushes away with a board.

 

"What's that?" I ask. "A 1950 Mercury" "Is it for sale?" "Sure, $500..that's what I can get for scrap". Now I'm crawling through briars to get a look at the side...it's a 2 door...COOL! Now, what shape is it in? So I tell the guy I might be interested if I could get a better look. He tells me we'll have to go get the tractor and pull some of the bushes away. It's a slow ride back to "the front 40" and back, but we make it and start knocking bushes away. I get more excited with every bush that comes down. Rain gutters have no rust, body is straight, flathead is in the trunk, but so what? Trunk floor needs replacing and I'm sure rockers and floors, but a really straight car with hardly any body rust.

 

And....?

 

You stop here ????

 

I've seen enough....I'll take it. So we head back to the house. I ask him if a flatbed can get back there and he says yes, off a side road. When we get to the house, I ask if he knows of a tow company near. As we near the house, he says his son could probably haul it cheaper than a tow company. His son hears us and asks what we're talking about. "The Mercury". "You can't sell that - that's MY car" and on he went. He was gonna put it on a newer chassis, etc. I asked how long it has been back there. "About 20 years...I haven't had time to get to it". Well. I'm bummed at this point, but keep my chin up. I leave my contact info and make my hour and a half trip home empty handed. I'll try every once in a while...you never know.

 

Well damn......now his son is gonna need some bumpers...LOL.

 

Pop said "guess we can't sell the bumper, now. They go to the car." Man, what a high, then a smack down!

 

Crap.....hopefully next time you'll score.

 

Bummer man.

 

That sucks. I lost out on a '42 Chevy PU with a '77 350 & trans for $500 yesterday. At least I wasn't out the labor & drive.

 

Did you offer the Son more than $500. Its worth multiples of that.

If he still doesn't bite, do you have a project car (that is closer to being a runner) or a beater that he may jump at for a trade?
Sometimes guys will be enticed by a car (even a late model) that they can jump in and drive/start working on right away vs. a ground-up project.

 

The son has dibs on the 32 Chevy coupe and told me he has 2 65 Mustangs he's "working" on with his son. Son is off at college and now they're sitting. The Mercury is obviously on the back burner. Heck, it slid off the back of the stove. He stripped the chrome off 20 years ago to paint it. I'm pretty persistent, so I'll keep after him. I told him of a 40 Ford I knew of years ago. Same situation..."I'm gonna fix it some day". Eventually the 40 turned into a pile of rust. I told him he had good intentions, but the reality is he doesn't have the time for all those cars. We'll see, I'm not giving up.

 

I've had the exact same thing happen to me with a 56 chevy 210 2 dr.
Pretty bad feeling after you already made the deal.

 

Oh man, that would be such a wicked emotional roller coaster to be on!!! Keep at him and save that Merc!!!

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Good luck rescue it!


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Looks like the SBC in the '48 truck is a '58 or '60 Tonawanda 283...not a 4 bbl. Any value to these?

 

I've done that a time or two.Whats nearly as bad is to hear about one & when you get there all you can see is a big dirt spot where it was!

 

Yeah, I'm hoping the guy will see the error of his ways and let it be saved.

 

Stay in contact with him and let him know its slipping away to being worth no more than scrap and you would like to have the chance to save it.

 

Wasn't that long ago I found a '51 coupe in a you-pull yard.

Of course, once in, it stays in, but I saved enough for someone to turn a sedan into a coupe from it.

 

Called and talked to the dad. Made an offer that he'll relay to the son and I'm gonna call back Wednesday. Keeping fingers crossed.

 

good luck, mercs are sweet when done right.....

 

As one of the guys said, rolling up in a running driving "trade" sometimes trumps cash if he still balks at selling it. You just have to figure out what the guy likes that might not cost more than what your offer on the car would be. Maybe a mid 70's early 60's pickup with shiny paint and shiny wheels or something like that.

 

Can't wait to hear the outcome of this....

 

Damn that sucks! Hopefully the son will realize that some cash in his pocket is better than having that car that will NEVER get put back on the road. Hell he probably forgot it was there!

 

Called the dad today. He thought I made a good offer, but seems the car was the sons mother in laws car and there is a family attachment. I asked the dad if the family would be pissed if the car rotted into the ground? He agreed and said call back in about a month...he'd talk to the son again and tell him to either sell it or get it off his property. So I'll try back in a few weeks (or so).

 

Any word on this story???!

-Matt

 

[ I asked the dad if the family would be pissed if the car rotted into the ground? He agreed and said call back in about a month...he'd talk to the son again and tell him to either sell it or get it off his property. So I'll try back in a few weeks (or so).[/QUOTE]

I'll have to remember that , I know of a truck I've been trying to buy for 30 years!




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Those "some day" cars really hurt. Keep on it. Hope you get it.