Sharp eye, Bill. I totally missed that! E Great pics, Doc! The more pictures I see of this car the more I like it. Thanks for the kudos and for sticking around this thread to help keep it rollin'! E
That must have been a big thing in the 70s and 80s. A lot of great customs built in that time frame had some questionable mirrors. I can think of many "new" cars of the 70s and 80s that had some great looking chrome factory mirrors. Mopars like Darts and Dusters immediately come to mind. Mirrors like that used to be cheap. I don't know if that's true anymore now that the muscle car boom is in full swing..........E
Agreed. Even my Merc had some of those same mirrors on it. They were swapped out in favor of some stock mirrors. Looks much better.
I'm agreeing with Dave, I was sleepy as could be last night but waited till the WEHT post popped up before I went to bed. This post keeps me coming back every time I get a notification.
I agree! I'm a child of the late 70's/early 80's car shows. Every weekend was spent at a show somewhere! I also read every car magazine I could find! One of my favorites was always Classic & Custom. It's cool to see updates on so many of the feature cars I remember from those magazines! Thanks for starting this thread, and to those who contribute!
I looked but don`t have any other pic`s of his Merc. Here is a pic of his T-Bird that is for sale in the classifieds now. Notice that the opposite corners have been restyled differently to match each other. @Sancho or someone Post Dr Dave`s pic and Scott Pavey`s pic of the front of his Merc. They are almost identical at the same angle. But at two different shows. It`s good to see other pic`s besides mine. They aren`t sun faded and don`t have staple holes in them. Keep up the good work ED.
Look at the chrome strip on his Merc compared to the one on his Dodge. Strangely similar but different.
I was looking over the pics of the T-Bird checking out the re-styling done to the back of the car. The amount of work done here is staggering. Just curious. Anybody know why it has Colorado plates on it in the pictures? Thought it was kinda strange since Mr. Thomaszewski is from Wisconsin. Was the car originally built or once owned by someone in Colorado? Don't worry about sun faded or staple marked pictures, Jim. We appreciate every one you post. What makes them real special to me is that you were there at those shows and took them yourself. Thanks for always being quick to post pictures and fill in lots of great information on the thread! E
It would appear Scott's about 6" taller..! Let me add my thanks to everyone on here and especially to OG lil E for all his efforts week after week. Even we "lurkers" are enjoying the ride - Thank you! Dave
John Thomaszewski (TSki) sold his Mercury to a gentleman (Charlie Goode) from Waukesha in the 90's. Charlie showed it a couple of years and he too sold it, I never saw it again. TSki built a Hemi-powered chopped Mercury for a friend of his from Colorado who spent time in Wisconsin each summer. That may explain the Colorado plates on the T-Bird. TSki is the state KKOA and was part of the shows in Stevens Point in 2012 & 2013. His Dodge and T-Bird were there.
Thanks Dave (@rodncustomdreams)! I'm glad that so many are following the thread--longtime lurkers and even custom guys that left the HAMB for a while seem to be coming back. Not too long ago the "custom" threads and activities were dwindling down to nothing around the HAMB. This thread along with Mick's (@straykatkustoms) "Kustom Blues" thread are hopefully helping to keep the custom craziness alive that we all love so much! E
Hey @BrewtownPrez , your post got me to thinkin' so I started to dig. In the late 90s a guy from Wisconsin moved to Colorado who owned a pretty slick Ford shoebox. His name was Chuck Saunders. When he first got here, his sled still had Wisconsin plates on it. I remember seeing his car at the Oldies But Goodies Flathead Nationals up at Bandimere Speedway in June of '99. That is where I took these pictures. If I'm not mistaken, it had a Hemi in it with lots of carbs. We saw Chuck at shows a lot that summer. It wasn't too long after that when he showed up with a really bitchin' Merc and that had a Hemi in it as well with a full six deuce set-up. I took these pictures at the Brag & Drag again at Bandimere, this time it was in June of '01. I remember we talked to him right after he got the Merc and he said he was going to sell the shoebox. Not too long after that conversation he seemed to disappear. I know he lived in Loveland up north, but I have no idea if he still lives up that way. I haven't seen Chuck or either car in quite sometime. With all that being said, does anybody know if Chuck Saunders is the guy that Mr. Tomaszewski built the Merc for? Maybe even the shoebox? It all could just be a coincidence, but it all kinda seems to fit together. E
Found this so far - Chuck S Saunders, age 80 Locations: Loveland, CO • Berthoud, CO • Monroe, WI And on this page is a letter he wrote to Hot Rod. http://www.hotrod.com/articles/wheres-fun-readers-rides-letters-editor-picks-month/
Here is a picture of his Ford, can`t remember where. And one of his Merc taken in Salina in the old park. It was forsale at the time. @rodncustomdreams Dave is actually taller than Scott. Both were in Indy last year when you were there.
YES, you are right. John did built Chuck's Merc. Chuck lived in Wisconsin before moving to Colorado and knew John when he live here. He returned many summers to visit. His Merc was featured in a magazine that I'm trying to find and will post. The last time I saw him was in Stevens Point for the KKOA show.
Wow! That is something right there! Good eye Jim. Funny two guys taking the same pic at two different shows.
Hey, Clarence Crayton here. I ain't dead YET! Not into Kustoms anymore. I like them but I am having fun building street gassers now. NOT into racing. Not into car shows. Just having fun building and driving street gassers. I'm on here under Lumpyswillys. Yes both the 56 with the conney kit and the white Merc" Heaven Forbid" were mine. I sold the 56 to an artist named George ?? in Chicago. He sold it to Rich Kazil and he sold it to someone in Californiia It then went to the East coast and got the cont. kit. The white merc was sold to a guy in Aurora, Illinois who then sold it to a guy in West Chicago Illinois.
Thanks for checking in Clarence (@Lumpyswillys) and giving us some details about where your Mercs went. Glad to hear that you are alive and well and still playing with cars. E
Just talked to John on the phone. Stay tuned for the full scoop on his old Merc real soon as well as the other cars he had a hand in.
Wow!!! Talk about a shot out of the blue .... Just received a call from "stanlow69"about inquiries about my long ago Merc. I thank all of you for the stories and inquiries about the old girl. Here are some information bits about it... Someone noticed the different colorations on some of the pictures. The car had two paint jobs. They were similar but different. Was getting a lot of stone chips and such. Always wanted to do a custom with canted quads. I got those Chrysler headlamp bezels from Eldon Titus in 1980 I believe, at the Des Moines show. Paid him $20.00 for the pair. Wonder what that price would be today??? On that side trim. That is bodywork moulded into the body. That was not any other side trim. It was designed to fit those skirts which were made from the roof of a 1957 Chevy. Trying to make look one piece. The grille was also a homemade piece. It was fabricate from 1/4 stainlees steel rod to look like a grill from an old custom Merc. out of New Jersey. Can't remember the owners name right off. I do remember that it was in a front end accident and repaired to a more conventional look. The last I heard was that the car was in Richland center WI. and was in some pretty good company, that being that the owner also had a Roy Brizio rod and a Sam Foose custom also in his collection. On that T-Bird. The car was sold to Mr Saunders-White from Colorado. Body work was complete but all mechanicals and interior needed finishing. When Mr. Saunders-White completed those projects he returned the car to me for finishing and paint. After returning to Colorado he started another project and I re-bought the car from him. I did all the work on Chucks Saunders-White Ford and Merc. The reason I sold him the T-Bird as that I was selling the business, after 20 years of having way to much fun, and retiring. and had a buyer waiting to move in While doing Chucks other projects he always mentioned that if I were to sell the T-Bird to give him first shot at it. So that's how he ended up with it. If anybody would care for any more info. just contact me. Be glad to chat some. You can E-Mail me at [email protected]. or post on here. I,ll get back to you ... John T-ski ...
Thanks for posting the story of your customs @da dodge brother. Always nice to read about custom history! E
John, look in the 19 77 Merc issue of Street Rodder. I believe the Merc belonged to Fred Steele. The article was cross country in a Custom. Fred drove a chopped and channeled 32 Purple Roadster to California from the East Coast in the 50`s to attend a car show. You should know who he is. He`s was pretty well known in the Hot Rod community.
Here is the magazine article with Charles Saunders-White's Hemi Merc. It is from "Kustom Illustrated" issue number 2. Always good to hear from "TSki". Us Merc guys from Milwaukee sure miss the "Spud City show, John!
The Jalopy Journal
