Features The Definitive "MILD CUSTOM" Photo Thread....

I always thought the '61 Fords had great lines. That grille treatment cleans up that area quite nicely.

 

Found these in other threads...very cool car's

 

^ Really like that Starliner! Nice rake.

 

A nice photo by Jim Appleby of my friend Ian McDonald's '59 Chev. from back in the day..



Dave

 

Beautiful '59 Chevy. Mild by today's standards, but pretty full-on for its day.
Here is a new "slant" on those through-the-fin antennae.

 

This beautiful 55 Ford is typical of a traditional mild custom!

 

Had a 56 similar to this 55. Now have a mild custom 57 Chevy which has gone thru many changes since I got it in 66. This is how I remember mild customs from the early 60s. Thanks[/IMG]

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Your convertible is absolutely beautiful and completely representative of a early 60's mild custom. It would have been highly coveted back then, as it is to day!

 

sweeeeet ride, dude!

 

Thanks for complement. It only took me 60 years to get it this way. I'm only 75!

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My mistake it only took 50 years.

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how much for the 55?

 

I love this thread, and I love looking at cars like this -- maybe more than any other class of cars. It's too bad that there was once a time when you'd see cars like this on the street, several times a day -- but no more.

 

AMEN

 

Sorry, I can't help you Verde; I swiped the photo form the 'net!

 

I'm new to customs, so forgive me if this doesn't belong here. I would call it mild custom, but it's really mild... just lowered. I just picked this up about a month ago. Still getting to know her. -a stock 61 merc is like a mild custom galaxie anyways right? Original paint

 

Besides the lowering, you have wide whites and custom wheel treatment, besides duals! You have awesome, unique raw material there. Do a grill swap, and you will be able to recoup cost for the new grill and some custom taillight lenses in exchange for your Merc grill. The Impala guys should be lining up for a chance to score the Merc grill!
What are your future plans?

 

Thanks! I got this just to drive for now, no real plans. Trying to focus on my phaeton! Need to clean up some leaks and address a couple little thing. Should be a fun one to safely tote around my wife and two boys! Funny you mention the grille. I really like the stock grille. But i can see where a little more up front could be exciting. Though i do have to disagree about one point... I think the ass is perfect already!
There are a couple things i would change about it... Not thrilled about the 14s or the exhaust. But its a cruiser with a big personality and a big block

 

My mild 51 Merc, a current driver in process, some things left to do and a few cars from my past

by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:56 PM

1967/ 1960 Ford Ragtop by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:46 PM

 

Here is a nice, clean Olds; a 52, I believe.

 

Unlike some, I think your Merc definitely belongs here.
Many will dismiss it as "just a lowered stocker". But in my youth (Fifties), a lowered car was not a stocker!
If you were low, you were (in) trouble! Rebel without a cause!
You have to consider the context and the times. "I like Ike". RKO Pictures. Senator McCarthy.
There is just no way to imagine the Ultra-Conservatism of the nation in the fifties, unless you were there.
No MLK, Timothy Leary, Beatles. Check for the twin beds in black and white movies!
I had a buddy who got his gauges free from a used car salesman friend who would pull them off of trade-ins, because no one would buy a modified car. Nose the hood, destroy the retail value. 504640 sure seems to get it.

But back to earth.

I think your Merc is just about perfect. The concave grille is a desirable feature, and should certainly be retained. ('62's convex grilles were much more pedestrian.) But some adornment would indeed be trump.

'60 Buicks , with their beautiful concave grille, had a simple Medallion.



But I am partial to the grille on Curly Tremaine's Merc (also Buick?) Perhaps a similar installation over your OEM grille would" set the nail".



Cadillac also had some options.

 

Mo, my older brother owned the same 60 Buick convertible, sans the skirts, that you posted above, when I was a teenager. In exchange for me waxing it, he would allow me to take it out on a weekend night, for dates only. My dating would have been severally curtailed if it wasn't for that rag top; you know how girls dig drop tops! He always set curfews, which I always met because I knew the first time I missed curfew would be the last time I drove the Buick!

 

Everything is right on the Merc convertible, Mo! What a deep, rich wonderful color.

Aztec Bronze was/is a very popular combo on 56 and 7 Chevys. I believe that in those 2 years it was available on only Belairs, with the exception being the 57 210 Delray. All mild customs are not lowered, although this rag top would benefit greatly with a California Rake!

 

I agree it's perfect.
Did you notice the flush mount skirts?

One more.

 

Is that Ron House`s(?). The most noticeable feature is the flattened convertible top bows. Do you have any pic`s.

 

Yes, it is Ron House's Merc, at TRJ show. Those are the only pics I took.
Engine is a big inch "full-house" tri-carb flathead!

 

Yet another great custom with an upscale factory vibe is Cody Walls incredible '59 Chevy Wagon, caught here at Customs by the Sea (Wildwood). Note the deletion of the factory gauge pods on either side of the speedo.





Special features and super detailing simply abound, throughout.If you look closely at the underside of the reverse-opening hood, you can make out concave ridges, to match those in the roof.
And it's six powered!

 

Typical, yes!
And how about a shine and some louvers on top of that?
The sound through the functional lakes pipes on this one was unforgettable!