Customs Amazing Garage Find Merc at Detroit

I recognized the 55 Chevy Park lights, & thought the grille bars might possibly be 56 Chrysler grille bars.

 

So difficult with a find such as this to leave it as Mother Nature intended.

 

It wouldn't hurt to clean the mildew off the seats & interior, what really impresses me is if the mildew wasn't present the interior looks like it could have been done recently.

Beautiful car and it really does need a paint job. HRP

 

53 Olds wheel covers, 54-56 Buick side trim swoop. Can anyone ID the quarter panel stainless trim? Would help establish the earliest possible build date. Looks to be a late 50's era build.
Possibly the Windsor grille was stored inside the car/trunk as the gold paint lasted much better than the body paint? The dash almost looks as if it has been repainted (though the column has peeling paint).

I'd eventually repaint the car but would be in no hurry while out enjoying the car and taking it to shows.

I'd see if a good upholstery shop could dye the seat inserts. Would really make that chrome piping pop!

Brass radiator, cloth covered wiring, correct era hose clamps, bolts, etc. for the engine compartment...

Car looks like it drove right out a late 50's TV Guide sized little pages such as Rodding and Restyling!

 

The grille bars are stainless, so I'm guessing the paint held up better because of the lack of corrosion.

 

Prett damn cool. I'd enjoy as is and eventually paint it and give the interior a good once-over. I really like it.

 

This thing is amazing

 

I wonder if the original builder would vote for "patina", or redone to look the way he wanted it?

 

I'm sure that's old lacquer primer on it which left alone and washed or outside it will rust under neath I drove my '65 Ford pony for a year or so in primer back in high school and ended up sanding and priming a few times before I picked the color since in '78 we only had Imron for urethanes and not urethane primer yet.

 

I used Rust-Oleum professional grade on a boat and put urethane hardener in it with the reducer and it works.

 

Whatever I wear, I prefer that it doesn't look like I spent all week wearing it to shovel shit. If it has a rotted out exhaust system, would it ruin it to do something about that as well?

 

Awesome, thanks!

 

I reckon you've nailed it Mark. You can see the join where the curved section meets the straight section near the front and the back end has the angle cut to meet up with the vertical fin trim pieces on the '57.

 

We wash our jeans, but we don't re-dye them once they've faded.

 

looks like it's set up for lincoln tail lights. very popular back in the day.

 

Hope the original builder and the story behind this car comes to light.

Bob

 

We know Anthony, we know.

 

Alex Gambino (Custom car builder and painter!) says somthing in the new "The Car That Ate My Brain 2" that I think applies here.

I am going to paraphrase.

"These cars that are being cloned or restored are way nicer than they were back then, and they lose soul."

And that is what many of you seem to be missing about the patina movement, the cars are no longer what they were they are modern interpretations of traditional hot rods and customs.

Yes, there were cars with nice paint body work (not all even some famous cars) but they didn't spend hours lining up body gaps, filling sanding, painting, color sanding buffing, basecoat clearcoat.

To quote Brad Masterson-

"You don't want to build an 80's version of a 50's style car."

There is also difference Patina, and a rotten piece of junk.

 

Nice Merc. If it was mine - what year & size olds motor? Does it need a rebuild? What do floors & frame look like? Any rust? What transmission - old hydro? Clean mold from interior & treat to prevent. Like the hubcaps. Repaint gold bottom & flat black on top, maybe some white pin stripes or gold. Drive it while save up for a top chop.

 

& lose the front bumper guards, hate them, let bumper better match grill bars.

 

This makes sense...

 

Was it found in the Detroit area or elsewhere?

 

Almost FOUR PAGES, and still nobody knows who owns this car , who built it, or where or when. Just like watching Oak Island, another unsolved mystery.

 

Really love the look and set up of this Merc. It's a genuine build from days gone by. To be honest, I'm a little surprised at the sentiments to chop the roof. The fact it survived as an un-chopped Merc all these years is pretty remarkable. I'd leave it unchopped, designed as-is, but hey that's just me!

 

Agreed, I love chopped Mercs (obviously), but I can fully appreciate unchopped but still customized cars as well. I'd do the clean up/preserve approach on this car if it was mine.

 

Agree, I love chopped Mercs but glad mine has survived unchopped ... When I was kid in the 70's it seemed all the Mercs were chopped sleds at the shows and in the mags. When I asked my dad why he didn't chop the Merc he simply said "because they all are!"

 

We were debating if the spots were a pattern or spots that got bleached out with mold removal maybe. It was so inconsistent, so we didn't think it was a pattern. Pretty sure it was local to Detroit as a few people I know were just a minute too late. Cool car, whatever he does with it, it is at least in the light of day again to be seen.