Customs what happened to this mercury custom..

I remember this merc,was wondering what became of it..anyone know?

 

didn't that one get all boogered up with gull wing doors and other bad modifications?

 

Take a look at Pat Ganahl new book Lost Hot Rods II on page 146

 

Charley Lopez mercury.

Its still around today.

 

Goo!!!

 

It got low ridered and not in a good way

 

I should have known that....Conrad(Mr. Bomba)has it..here in town.

 

Lesson in what NOT to do to a Merc.

 

gross.

 

Not my cup of tea, thats not a fresh Merc...

 

Hey,

Now,now ladies! In 1974, when that Merc was built and winning shows, that whole '' Sam Barris Merc chop'' thing was well played out You couldn't even get guys to look at a "conventional chop'' at a show. Kustoms were DEAD, and that whole low Rider era rocked up 'till the rebirth of " conventional/traditional '' kustoms resurfaced in the early 80's.

" The future ain't what it use to be "

 

still a merc with a pair of doors and a roof were back in biz(and interior) i would take it in a heartbeat

 

Somebody needs to have their tools taken away. Redroaddog is right,though...could be saved.

 

I saw that Merc one night at Bobs Big Boy in Downey a couple of years ago.

 

It belongs to Mr Bomba,here on the HAMB.

 

Charley Lopez his 1949 Mercury Low Rider is the car that got me into Custom Cars back in the early 1980's.

Therefor this car has always had a special place in my heart. It might not have the best styling for a custom car as we know it today, or for people who knew the cars from the 1950's when this car was built in the late 1970's.
But it was a perfect car somewhere in between the Custom Car and Lowrider groups, combining both. Together with the 1956 Chevy "Tower of Power" these are really important cars in the history of both Low riders and Custom Cars.

I'm really happy it survived all these years and I sure hope that Conrad will get around and restores it back to how it looked in the early 1980's in bright metal flake red. And hopefully it will not find its way into somebody who will take the gullwing doors off and put it back into a more regular custom merc.

It might not be everybody's cup of tea, but this Mercury is just an important part of our Custom Car history.







The magazine article on Charley Lopes his "Nostalgia Sleeper" 1949 Mercury that started it all for me.




Back when I was 13 years old I was so much inspired by this Merc that I built a model car based on its design... I was not able to find a Mercury model car where I lived back then, so I used a plastic Volvo Amazon as base... The body was created from plaster molds made from the soft plastic Volvo toy and then filled with body filler. The chrome parts were robbed from an old poorly built AMT truck. Crude by todays standards... but I was very proud of it back then.

 

All custom cars are a bit of a trick, working out some thing different and/or timeless is difficult, and then of course there is personal taste. While this car may not be everybodys cup of tea ,it certainly has it's place in customizing history.

 

Your last post needs to be read by everybody on the HAMB. I`m guessing over 70%(or higher) on the HAMB think this thing is on the ugly list. But they don`t realize what time period this car was built in. It made a big impact on people and opened up a different build style not seen before. This goes for every other car built in different build styles in different decades. Most people judge a car car for what it looks like today and not the time period it was built in. I remember looking at the above article in Classic and Custom magazine many times as well as seeing it in Lowrider. You could say I was surprised to see it it at a KKOA show in Davenport Iowa. Dad even parked next to it both Friday and Saturday, and maybe even Sunday too. Why, because it was sitting in a same good spot all three days. I even bought the issue of Lowrider a few years ago when the car resurfaced again. Would I build the car in that maner today, no. But I do respect the way it was built back then and glad to see it is being saved.

 

Hey,

Anyone one have peekchures ov this Merc from the "Street Rodder'' magazine artical from 1974? ish when it was in its' Mk1 version?

Thanx

Rik, that's a smokin hot model you built from a Volva model & bondo,,,,,,,,,,WOW!

 

I have a folder for Charley's Mercury on my site.

Click HERE for more.

 

Here is a photo of the model in the very early stages.

 

SWEET!

Rik, you are the real deal, not some poser leanin' against the bar in Kustomland

Thanx

 

Is that hobby shop body putty in the tube or spackling? On the real car, that is one big door and with the interior panels that is alot of weight. Are the doors raised by gas springs or some motor driven mechanism?

 

Its regular car body filler.
I cut a soft model plastic model toy Volvo in several pieces (hood, doors, fenders, top, etc) and then created molds from plaster fabric. I had broken by arm back then and when it was set in a cast in the hospital I saw them use this stuff and figured I could use that to create molds, so I asked for some left overs. Then when the modes where ready I mixed the filler and smeared it inside the molds. I did not use a mold release agent (had no idea that even existed back then) so some of the plaster stuck to the filler.
The photo was taken shortly after I had glued back all the parts using more body filler. It looks a lot worse than it was in that photo. I could very easily sand down the extra filler used as glue to get to the body shape.

 

In the text in the Classic Custom article it is mentioned that the Gull Wing doors are hydraulic.

 

Hey,


Does anyone know if the original builder, Mr. Lopez, is still with us? I'd like to know what sized flake he used on the MkI build?

'spoze I'd burn in " Kustom Hell " for building a 70's kustom, oh well
And now to find some '59 Rambler facebars & some '66 Olds headlamp doors, along with the '62 Pontiac taillamps..........he,he,he! What, no drip rails??

" Do not reach greedily for the Kool-Aid "

 

Here are a couple pictures from the 88 show in Iowa.

 

Sorry to say this ,but what a waste. It looked good in it's first iteration and should have stayed that way.

......................Jack

 

I myself remember this Merc in both incarnations.But i prefer the first.My fathers '51 Merc,the Lopez car and the Steve Gonzales '51 Merc from Montebello,that also appeared in Street Rodder,are the cars that inspired me to chop my first Merc back in '82...