History MILESTONE CUSTOM CARS: Louie Bettancourt 49 Merc

pretty much what i was thinking

 

Thank you Rikster. Nice to learn more about these great customs.

 

Thanks again Rikster for an outstanding job. The Bettancourt Merc is undoubtably one of the best Merc customs ever - whether the first or second version doesn't matter.

I just realized, thanks to the discussion here, why I really really like this car. It is the way the Ayalas treated the removal of the rain gutters, which is a feature that I generally dislike as it makes the rear window look all kinds of funny and just odd. By thining the tops of the doors and rounding the corners just right and slanting the B-pillars the flow of everything is just spot on. There is no way this just "happened". There had to be a master plan the Ayalas brewed up to arrive at the spectacular eye candy they did. Just freaking delicious.

However, I do have one question - what seems to be going on with the headliner windlace? It sure appears to be sagging in the photo with "Luigi" sitting in the car. Just an optical dillusion? Never mind, I can see now - it is an illusion as the door jam makes it appear as the windlace is hanging. I'll take my meds now...

Again Rik, THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

 

I really miss custom cars on the HAMB....

So I thought it was time again to bump some of the old threads and add some more info, photos for every Custom Car enthusiast to enjoy.

The Louis Bettancourt Mercury has always been one of my favorite Mercs around.. and since I last posted on this thread i have found some more material on it... time to post!

Lets start with two Kolorized Photos I did on this car...

First the version how the Ayala brothers finished it for Louis.




And here is how the Barris Brothers redid it a year or so later.




And here is a better scan of the 1952 Motorama Show program cover. (thanks Geoff Hacker for the scans)




And the page inside...




The October 1954 issue of Car Craft magazine had a two spread article on the car...







And here is a combined DVD still (made this photo out of three stills) AT the time the only color photo I had seen...




And then I came across another great color photo of the car parked next to Sam Barris his 1952 Ford Convertible, and the Valley Customs built 1950 Ford "Del Mar" for Tad Hirai.

GT350Lady photo




And I made this computer background showing both version of the car...
click the image for a full size version..
free download for every body who likes it!

 

I was just looking at my Kolorized photos you did before I walked out of my house tonight. This is by far the most under appreciated custom of all time(my opinion), still want to see Barry Mazza's clone in person because thats as close as Im going to get. The car looks so simple until you realize that there is a ton of work to make it what it is. Thanks again Rikster for bringing this back to the top.

 

DAMM, now it`s 3:20 in the morning and I can`t get to sleep now.Same thing tomarrow morning, right! Keep up the good work.

 

I almost hate to say it, but this is one time that a re-do of a really nicely done sled, actually looks better than the first version!
And 49SUPER6, if you wanna see it, It's here in NJ. I know where, and it's pretty accessible.

 

Thanks Rik for the updates to the thread...I too miss the kustom content on the HAMB !

 

I too would love to see it in person one day.

Barry's car is not a real clone though. He never intended it to be an exact clone. It was just very much inspired by it. And in its later live - after Barry had sold it - the car was presented as the real things at some auctions.... not good.

Barry's car...









ChopOlds... if you ever get the change to see it again... please bring your camera and shoot many photos of it. I would love to have some more photos of this car.

 

If I ever make it to NJ I will take you up on that offer, I know its not a 100% clone but damn its just as close as we are going to get. I wish it would've been at the Merc gathering here in Sacramento.

 

I think I have to agree with you on this.... however I do love the Ayala version a lot as well. It is just so much different than all the other 49-51 Mercury's we know.

When the car was built at the Ayala's they really treated it the same way as they had done before with 41-48 Fords and Mercury's. Lots of molding and all the chrome removed. And then on top of that they where brave enough to paint it a very light Lime gold color so they knew it would grab attention where ever it went.
The extra chrome that Barris added guides your eyes a little better and makes all the body work really flow.

 

When the car was at the Barris shop again after Louis had sold it to Johnny Zupan, they decided to update it to the mid 50's show standards.. and that was not really a good thing for the car. The only good thing is that the car was still attracting a lot of attention and won good prices.




The car again appeared in several magazines and luckily for us many color photos where made of it as well.
I personally thing the pin striping on the car is the real low-point of this version. It made this once so gorgeous custom an near ugly duck.

Barris photo


Andy Southard Photo
EDITED
This photo has been removed by request of the copyright holder.








And we can still se that underneath all the period "bling" there is still a beautiful Mercury...






The car was now used in some magazine articles about how to prepare your Custom/Hot Rod for a car show... Showing us some nice never before seen details.

 

The second version with Cadillac Sombrero's instead of the Studebaker caps would be perfection.

 

So, has anyone actually been able to confirm that it still exists in the San Fran/Oakland area? I heard rumors of this for years, and no one has ever had a pic to confirm it.

 

Rik,

This should be a weekly column........deserving of a blog on TJJ home page.

 

No... I have not been able to find any other info than what Barry Mazza had to say about it... its in the hands of one or more Motor Cycle Club guys in LA... And that they are rough guys! Probably a reason why nobody dares to go out and try to find it.

Below are the photos he send me... but its unsure when exactly these where taken. 80's most likely

 

Thanks Rik!! This is far and away my favorite Merc build of all time. The Ayala's just got it so right. Smooth organic flowing car. This is a perfect example for all those guys that say Merc's need to have drip rails, and the belt line chrome. I would love to actually see the original build Ayala build (that lime color) with the Cadillac spear that Barris added.

 

Thanks for the post! I think I like the first, green/gold version the best.

 

It's is incredible if it still survives today. Other than the Merc convert that Ayala's built with the Olds quarters(that has NEVER gotten much publicity), Jerry Quesanels, and Mandy Holders, All the original chopped mercs are accounted for...right?

 

I'm really diggin' the new pics even though I don't like the changes to the ol' girl. It would be great if the car surfaced again.

This car is definitely one of the biggest influences in my current '51 Mercury redo.

 

The "near"Barry Mazza clone is here in NJ.I know where and who owns it also.I don't know about how accessible it really is.I have an in with the owner.When I get a chance,will go there and take some pics of it.

 

Current pics of the Mr Mazza's near clone would be awesome, hope this happens.

 

It would be great if the original was found, although if the Barry Mazza photos are actually of the real car, it has been so screwed up that it might be beyond salvage, maybe an honorable death would be better.....

 

Go wash your mouth out! It would have to be a lot worse than shown in the photos for it to be hopeless. Anything can be saved! Haven't you learned anything from the guys here on the HAMB?

 

those blurry color photos of the Barry Mazza Collection are the real thing.

Just compare them with this one from the Greg Sharp article..
And it can be saved.... it just needs to be found.

 

Here are two still of the excellent Barris DVD from Mad Fabricators.

Never been seen before photos of the Bettancourt Mercury, and the Zupan Mercury. The interior shot shows the location of the Appleton Spots really well.


If you are a custom car fan and you dont have the Barris DVD yet..... better order one HERE, this one has a TON of fantastic never been seen before photos.

 

Great pics and info Rik, Glad to see someone else feels like I do about Kustoms being invisible on the Hamb, I have been noticing that for quite a while now. If we can get the "BAD One" to post on here im sure this thread would take off from all his fans but until then, we just have to try to keep kustoms alive with us regular guys. Thanks for posting new pics, I dig em.

 

What a great thread and amazing photo's . Excellent job Rik. My wife and i went to the movies tonight and we watched Iron Man Part 2. In the beginning of the film it shows The Joe Bailon built Merc that Bruce Meyer now owns. I thought to myself "gee, i had Herb Martinez pinstripe the dash in that car at the Merc gathering" . Anyway, Jeff "Sled" Neppl is right, not enough Kustoms are shown or talked about on here. Keep up the fantastic research Rik ! Axle

 

Thanks for that Axle, Yes there are only a small handfull of us on here that get into the old history of kustoms on here.There is a lot of stuff I would like to post but im still in prehistoric days of these computers and I dont know how to post pics. I always have people telling me that " Lead is Dead" and I never want to believe them but sometimes it sure does seem like it.Not enough people these days do there homework and read about old history of kustoms in real books and magazines,they just read what ever is on there screen. Sad but true. People talk..." kustom this and merc this " but when something to do with history comes up they have NOTHING to add to the thread and that just makes me laugh.Im not saying everyone has to know there history but there are people who need to go to cl*** before they act like they know something about the topic.

 

I remember the original thread and enjoyed the hell out of it. Thanks for pulling it back up Rik. The Ayala version by far my favorite. I always felt by Barris hanging his badges he was trying to claim it as his own build. The chrome spear is a nice touch and I think it was needed since it is missing the dip in the door. Hopefully it will surface one day but I'm not holding my breath.