Customs Kustom Mercs / How did you get hooked?

You know 49 thru 51 wasn't the only years they made MERC'S

 

Back in '77, I bought an issue of "Street Rodder" mag. There was a special section on Kustom mercs in it. All those cool Mercs blew me away! Before that issue, the only time I saw a Merc was in American Graffiti.
I still have that Mag!

 

I always thought the same thing..then decided a Merc in progress was better than no Merc at all.

 

HC.

 

When I was a kid I wanted the merc from the shirly muldowny movie so bad!!I also wanted funny cars and peterbuilts for every day drivers

 

I posted this on another thread with a pic from what I think is Lowe's Motor Speedway, but I think it probably fits here better. This pic is from the James Dean or Ducktail run in Indiana.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...0&highlight=what+got+you+into+hot+rods&page=2

I dated a girl in college in mid 90's whose parents moved to NC from PA. The first time we went down to visit, her dad had bought this 50 merc. I fell in love that day, corny but true. He ended up letting me drive it around the parking lot at a local supermarket while he went in. I can remember creeping over the speedbumps, because the megaphone tips would drag. I can't remember if it was a 327 or 318 car. He had a 50 ford shortly after that. She and I broke up. I talked to her dad when he moved back to PA. He said he sold the merc in NC after a couple years. I have seen it on the net and it was recently in show coverage in car culture deluxe or old school rods. It has had different caps over the years, but the car doesn't appear to have changed. Anybody here own it or know who has it now?

 

sorry but '49-'51s are the "merc" all others are mercurys

 

haha yeah, thats my buddie justin's granpa's car. my buddies dad has a 51 merc all sledded out hered in CO. i remember seeing that exact pic on his wall, very nice car. last name should be erickson if that help's any. myy buddies dad's username is "merc" on ruffrodders

 

I've still never seen that movie.

AG was the first nail, and then Cobra was the 2nd nail.

 

For me it was a copy of a special edition of Rod & Custom (I think they called them Annuals where it was all printed on newsprint and was kind of a recap of the year) that I picked up at a newsstand by chance and they had a bunch of pictures of Merc's that just blew me away. Bought the issue and was hooked.

 

Bo Hopkins is one bad ass and he had a Merc to match the attitude. Even as crude as
the Merc was, it probably represented the movie better then a Merc with a perfect chop
top. I’m sure their were some bad chop tops running around but at the time no one knew
any different.

The affect of the Movie “Cobra” surprised me. When I’m at non-kustom shows it seems like
some one will ask if it is the same car as the one in the Cobra Movie.

Hey Jeff, that is a Kool day dream idea… How kool would that have been seeing him cruiz
around in the Alcorn Merc. Wow, would that have been kool….I guess I can’t understand
the James Dean thing because I was just too young to appreciate it. It must have been
a moving moment because a lot of guys talk about it.

Happy Trails,

Mick

 

Nice 49 Do you still have it?

 

The James Dean Merc is one of my all time favorites. So simple but it just looks perfect. If I would have found a great original Merc I would have done it like that.

 

And remember kids, Dean absolutely HATED the Merc he drove in "Rebel". He said it was slow and handled like a boat as compared to the "Lil' Bastard" Spyder.

 

I've heard that, "man, that is a sharp short!". Not too well known though, dates from the '50's I recall.

 

You won't hear me say "Hey I like your shorts" I might tell it to JK.......Ha, ha, ha,.

 

Having just seen an hour special on James Dean, I'm sure he would have considered a Mercury a slow tank.

 

Back in 1955 I was ten years old and my best buddy Jerry Hurst's older brother had 3 kustom Mercs a '49 Chopped, a '50 Vert, and a '50 Carson topped one and I fell in love been a Kustom guy the rest of my life.
I've never owned one but I did have a '54,'55,'56 and tons of 60's and 70's Mercs.
At 64 years old my chance of getting a Classic Kustom Merc is pretty slim but I'll do my '63 T-Bird in a mild kustom, next best thing to having one!

 

That old geezer I call Dad got me hooked on them years ago! He's probably owned 30 of them ('49 to '51's) over the years and about 6 or 7 years ago, I got my first one. I built it in just under a year, painted it Kandy Brandywine and finished up by pinstriping it on a Wednesday night, took it to the James Dean Run that weekend and sold it to the first guy that looked at it. Since then I've gotten 2 more. Now, I just HAVE to have a '53 or '54. I'm CRAZY 'bout a Mercury!

 

YES!!! To see him cruising the Alcorn merc would of been breathtaking. Maybe the writer just wasnt aware of Kustoms..... I mean Jim was supposed to be different and kind of a lonewolf . I mean Jimi would been looking like a total rebel if he was driving a kustom sled,I think it would of made him even look more out of the ordinary.

 

I looked at a lot of nice cars, and 1 four door Merc. The Merc won! Had it since the 1900's 1987 to be exact. Damn, is it really 23 years? It was just gonna be a temporary thing!

 

Do you have any pics of the Kandy Brandywine one?
I've always liked that color and wonder what a Merc would look like dressed in it.

 

For me it was a local Candy red flake 49 merc owned by Charlie Lopez in Midway City, Ca back in the 70's when I was about 14 i had posters and magazine articles of this car hanging on the walls in my bedroom to me this was the baddest car I had ever seen it was so cool anyway fast fwd about 30 years I got a call from a friend asking me if I remember a car called "Nostalgia Sleeper" and I said hell yea! thats was my favorite car growing up and the merc that made me fall in love with mercs Why? he said its for sale! long story short its in my garage now! one of the coolest things thats ever happen to me! its like a dream come true the car that I once dreamed of now belongs to me.

this is the car in 1974 before it was modified again and painted candy red flake.




and this is it as I remember it in 78-79




as it sits today awaiting its restoration

 

I bet there isn't a handful of guys who own the ACTUAL CAR that got then hooked on Customs! You are a lucky man....

 

Pat Ganahl ran an article in Street Rodder when I was a Junior in HS...all about custom Mercs (1977 maybe?)...Still have the mag with the article. Went 17 years looking and planning the build of the car, 'til I had the $$ and time to finally get one. Been driving this one since 94. My only regret is that Dick Dean offered to chop it for me at Paso one year, and I turned him down...I kick myself in the ass a lot about that missed opportunity.

 

Lotsa guys in my old neighborhood called them shorts...but I grew up on "that side" of town where my girlfriend's parents didn't want her to go.

 

Speaking of the Sultan himself..... I was at Dicks old shop today and this whole week with his son Keith who took over the shop. If you ever want that merc chopped you might want to look up KidDean, his roofs flow like no other .

 

That's the mag I saw that changed my whole outlook on cars...still got it, too.

 

Thanks, I will look him up when I get out there this Spring, after Viva Las Vegas.

 

I agree with Bob, How kool is that, having the opportunity to own the Merc that you fell
in love with so many years ago...I don't know where I saw the Merc for the first time. If
it was in Classics and Custom magazine? or if it was Street Rodder? I love wild kustoms and you own one of the Wildest Merc that I've every seen. One of these days I'll be able
to check it out. Good luck with the Resto.....

Happy Trails,

Mick