I agree, I was referring to the series of shots outdoors with George, Sam, ect. After comparing these two photos, I believe that the outdoor photo showing Sam cutting the roof off, is Quisnel's car. I compared the primer where the door handle use to be, the location of the spotlight hole and the steering wheel. Sam's car had the accessory wheel. Quisnel's had the standard wheel. The only problem with that, is, Quisnel claiming to have cut the roof off at home. If that's true then it can't be his.
Thank you so much for that fantastic coverage, Rik...what an awesome show that must have been to attend!
I found this pic this morning at my dads house. He had it hanging up in his back office..There is the COOL 50 in the background along with Justin Zocchi It was 9/17 A Hot Rod gathering in El Sobrante (My mom thought to bring my birthday cake)
When did Mercury start putting the one piece windows in the back of '49 Merc's? It seems that Sam would have purchased his Merc first as he still had the 3 piece window not that it has any bearing on who had their car chopped first but it might narrow down some time frames.
Rik, in those days, the new models never were released before September of the previous year and there was much hype leading up to the actual day.
As far as the one piece glass in 49s,many say it was the late 49s that had it.I will say this...Ive never seen a stock business coupe with 3 piece glass.
maybe George says that their's was the first CHOPPED(49-50) merc ,because,their's was the first one FINISHED???? all points lead to Quesnel,but his wasnt "technically" finished as it was still in white primer at the time Sam's was done?? and, that poster does not mean anything,it is something that was put together almost 20 years after the fact.
Wow! this is getting interesting it sure would be nice to get to the bottom of this and would even be nicer to find the Quesnel Merc!
These are the photos Anthony is talking bout (from the Barry Mazza collection) it is obviously not the Quesnel Mecury... still a very nice one. And the cover image of the Popular Customs maga Anthony mentioned Very nice lines... but by far not the same profile as the Quesnel Mercury. It sure would be very intersting to findout how and why the mix-up was made.
RIK - You snuck into the US and didn't come to Maryland? Glad you made it to the show. Great pics. Hope you and the family are doing well. I have a feeling the pic of you in the Hirohata Merc may show up in the M.A.M.A. news letter. Love all the pics. Take care, my friend.
Maybe he did not actually "cut it OFF" at home. Maybe he wanted to make sure he was not going to chicken out on his plans to chop his brand new car and took out the hacksaw and made the first cuts as sort of a "no going back now" statement and then took it over to Sam to continue it...and that picture of the car outside is the beginning of that next step? I doubt Quesnel's dad walked outside to see the roof completely missing - rather, he just saw some cuts made and thought it was vandals (as has been said). At any rate, there should be photos that show what license number was on the car we know to be Quesnel's that could be compared to the car in the sequence photos. And the sequence photos show the same car inside being chopped as the car outside with the roof being removed. But...also show it unchopped with 51 tags. Also...when these guys speak of cutting the roofs off of "brand new cars" I think that does not always mean they did it immediately after purchase. These we're kids who we're for the first time buying a car from a dealership, whereas in the past they we're driving and modifying second-hand cars. So, to them, even it was a year later, it was still their "brand-new car."
hmm thats a very intersting thought there... Have not thought about that. I knew that Sam Barris drove the his "brand New" car around for a few month before he chopped it. At least thats what has been written in the Rodders Journal article. Here are three photos, and the first two are of the Jerry Quesnel car since the license plate is the same. 8N 45171 From one of the Barris Books... This one comes from the Marcia Campbell photo book. Top is not chopped yet. Note the antenna, and not the primer spots on the rear fenders and the completely primered trunk... And the last one.. we cannot see the license plate, but we can see the antenna, and the missing reflections on the rear of the fender and the trunk indicate these where in primer. Also the trunk appears to be darker than the turret panel (check the area where the belt line trim used to be.)
hey rik, is there any body or any way to get sam's son to reproduce the book and the poster? i'm sure he could sell tons of them. is anyone close enough to him to try and talk to him about it? thanks again for the pictures. mike
Cant wait to talk to Jerry but it's pretty obvious that his roof was NOT cut at his house. I cant think of why he would tell me that when there are all these pictures showing that car getting sliced.
Can't imagine how I overlooked this thread until today! Thanks, Rik, for the wonderfully detailed review of the show, the excellent photos, and all the historical stuff. And thanks to Axle for putting the whole deal together. Certainly a milestone event; I'm sorry I couldn't make it.
Seems like Jerry would really be the linchpin here as to the exact chronology. Seems to me there are different possible distinctions to make: 1) First chopped 49-51 Merc. 2) First chopped and finished .. Merc. I think you guys are pretty amazing that you have found these pics, and also can tell the difference in chopping style... ie. that the Quesnel Merc has an older style chop.
#2 Well I guess thats up to you and what you consider a "finished" car.We can see that Jerry had his in that car show while he was running that white primer and there were some trophies around it so it looked like he has been to some other shows as well. As far as paint goes,me personally I think they maybe painted Sam's car first or close to the same time. Since him and Jerry ran the same grill I think the final work was finished close to the same time.
Wow! great reading and really intrigued on this 1st Chopped 1949 Mercury. Never thought of the Jerry Quensel Mercury being first, though it made me wonder at times. Just as Rik noted, very informative. But seeing other Customs can help the facts of this story. In another photo Rik noted Snooky's '41 Ford Custom in the background. Is that Jesse Lopez's '41 Ford Custom here? In the background of this photo. I love this cloud of msytery, great info.
And, yes!!!! Marcia Campbell would have some great photos. In the early/first anuals, she is given credit for photos on the Custom cars. There was also another Person, a guy, with a last name Campbell that took photos of Early Customs and Hot Rods. Not sure if they were related. She also took photos in the first issues of Hop up too.
No I'm with you Jeff, if he showed the car in white primer that's a done car to me. Maybe when you talk to Jerry, you can steer the convo a bit, and ask him why the chops are different on his old car vs. the Sam Barris Merc. That might influence hearing the most accurate information... "Sam did his different after I did mine because..."
I would agree in the sense that the car was finished other than paint but perhaps, and this is purely speculation, Sam completed the chop of his car first but still had other work to do like the fadeaways so the car never left the shop until the other mods were done which may have meant that Jerry had the first Merc on the street with a chopped top painted or not. I would think given George's misinformation about the picture he claims to be Sam's car which has clearly been established as Jerry's that Sam chopped his car before he did the fadeaways which has been claimed to have been the most difficult part of Sam's build. Also it doesn't seem as though Sam's car was ever pictured in primer which you would think meant that it never left the shop until finished. This would have surely meant that his car took longer to build than Jerry's and given they were probably built in very close time frames Jerry's car was almost definitley on the street before Sam's. It could be that both claims are true depending on how you look at them.
Actually just tried to call Jerry and no answer.He was taking a big long trip in his motorhome is what he told me so thats why he has been gone for so long. He kind of already touched on that subject about his being done a little different.He told me that his with post being slanted was a little more difficult and that was one of the reasons why Sam went with the straight post,being that Sam chopped his car after Jerry.
The Jalopy Journal
