History What was the FIRST chopped 1949-50 MERCURY

It is not like Marcia was on-call for photos of every project. She may not have even known Sam was chopping his car until after it was done.
I do agree though that it is strange that George - also an avid photographer - seems to have not captured even one photo of Sam working on his own car. But that may have been Sam's doing since he wasn't fond of the whole photo documentation thing.

As far as the poster...I think that may have been created by KKOA well after Sam's death in 67. Like maybe even sometime in the 80's when KKOA was beginning a resurgence of interest in 49-50 Mercs.
Why do I say this? because the empty album was within a worn manila envelope addressed to KKOA. I think the album was returned with all the photos removed from the album and loose (after scanning for publication?) and that may have been when all the photos in the sequence became dumped into and mixed up with the rest of the photo collection that John allowed me to go through.
So the wording may have been created by someone very long after, who had no idea what they were really looking at - just someone creating a memorabilia poster celebrating Sam and chopped Mercs.

 

Cool thread....
Don't know a damn thing about who was 1st....doesn't matter...
The Bettancourt & Quesnel Mercs are the shit though.....doesn't get any better.

 

A picture from Popular Science 1951,I dont know why they would use this white primered car to compare to a brandnew stock mercury if they already had completed Sams car.Also not sure why George would use this white primered car to show the general public what a chopped merc looked like when he could of used a "finished painted car".We all know that Popular science appealed to a much larger audience then just a regular car magazine did,with that being said I would think George would choose to use his brothers finished painted car instead of Jerry white primer merc.

 

I think that George did not take that many photos himself in 1950, or early 1951. He really started to shoot everything he could get in focus on his camera in mid or late 1951 as far as I know.

 

Thats a pretty good point!!!

 

Rik, I will assume that you asked George. Who was first in his opinion?

 

Well guys, I love this thread, and Rikster, you never disappoint us with your info. Actually it's enlightening and inspiring and the rest of the knowledgeable replies add to the mix. Ok, now I've blown the requisite smoke up your collective asses , printed material from that time was predominently West Coast. I know that's due to the locations of the publishers. I'm Motown born and bred and have had a chance to see and hear from several older gents who were just as prolific here as some of the left coast guys. I have to hypothisize how many Ford Motor Company execs who were passionate about these things commissioned cars from our stock of local talent. I'm guessing that here where the car was born may have drawn one out but it never got the ink. I've seen a few old customs in person but have only one shot "from the day" with no info other than who did the work, but it's a 41 Ford cpe vs a 49 Merc. Bill Hines and Dick Dean were Motown transplants, weren't they? How busy were those guys back then? I mean we had all winter to get locked in a shop and create all sorts of wonderment.

I'm with the rest of you, it doesn't matter who was 1st. It does make you think and want to dig deeper into the past and learn more. We have to. The torch is still burning and it needs to carry on.

Thanks again for the topic and info/pics. Very inspiring no matter what one may be building.

Not on topic but this shot was taken in Lincoln Park in either 50 or 51 in front of "Don's Custom Shop" on Dix/Toledo Rd. I've posted it before, just adding it to help with any local knowledge or considerations.

 

It may be that Sam's car was already sold and gone by then?

It was a very short period of time between Sam's Merc being completed and then sold (Sam needed money to support his young family) and gone to the midwest, so there was very little opportunity for George to use it for promotional reasons.

 

These are good point.
But what we really need to know is when where these photos taken.
When was the photo taken of Jerry's Merc "finished" in white primer for this October 1951 Popular Science article. And when was the color photo of Sam's Mercury taken for the December 1951 issue of Motor Trend magazine.

It was Cleatus that mentioned on another thread that it is more than likely that Sam's car was photographed in the winter of 1950-51, to be able to use the photos the next winter.
I'm unaware how much production time the magazines had back then, but it would have been at least a month I guess.

 

It is said that Sam sold it soon after the Oakland Roadster show with was held at the end of February in 1951. So if that is the case, and knowing the magazines took at least one month production time then most likely Sam's Merc was also in Iowa by the time the feature for this issue of Popular Science was shot.

 

I know I should have... but I never did. I only met with george shortly on our Jack Stewart Research Trip. And at that time we had a mission an the first chopped 49-50 Merc was not part of that mission.

Perhaps Evel can ask George for us.

 

I seriously doubt that Motor Trend was holding these pictures for a year.I dont see that happening at all.Popular sciance on the other hand might have held photos for a long time since they featured alot more stuff then just cars.

 

Why does it look like in the Pop. Sci. photo the white primer Merc has been cut in to the photo. it just looks this way because of the "line" around the rear quarter and roof. Or they may have just been cropping stuff out of the back ground. If it is cropped in it may be because neither car was ready for photo shoot until the last minute or they just spliced the chopped car into a stock photo of a Merc from Ford.
Not trying to insinuate anything just looks odd to me. I marked to point out what I'm talking about.

 

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE INFO GATHERING

HMMM ?somes more points of this discussion....

a)How is the year on license plates a factor?

would these cars have a yearly updated plate ?
do the plates always stay with a car ?
can another plate be used ... temporarily?
what were the procedures/rules of California plates/titles of this vintage?
DMV recorded info?

b)next question
first WHAT /WHO?????
owned?
done by?
cut?
back together?
finished ?
completed enough for magazine pic?
shown publicly?

 

I would love to see this whole article to read their text. This is not exactly a brandnew stock mercury. There is no hood ornament, emblem, or nose trim. The centerbar appears to be removed. The hubcaps have been swapped. It's hard to say if the door handles have been removed or not. I think the white one blocks where they would be. With the parking lights and rear window, I believe it's a 50. I don't know all the history, but could Sam's have been this '50 if this is truly Jerry's? Or was there a third mercury is their circle that was already being customized?

On an unrelated note, does anyone know anything about the first 49, the last 51, or the millionth Mercury that was somewhere in between?

 

The photo of the snow scene on the cover of Dec 51 (winter of 51-52) Motor Trend would have then needed to have been shot around October or even earlier - assuming the Dec 51 issue hit the stands before Dec 51 + production time. Therefore, since Sam's Merc was sold in EARLY 51 - right after the Oakland Roadster show, it pretty much proves that the photo was shot in the winter of 50-51 right before the show at which the car was sold. No?

 

Well I think that it is obvious since he passes off in progress work photos of Jerrys merc as being Sams.He has done it for years and even in his own tecnique books he did it,so I dont see much reason to ask him about it.Please dont say "Oh maybe he was mixed up and thought it was Sams car".


To this day Jack Stewart and George Barris are good friends..............Why would Jack say that they chopped Jerrys merc first? Do you think he wants to start trouble with his friend George of 60 plus years?

 

It is stock compared to what is sitting next to it. This thread just took a turn down the wrong road.

 

Talk about "chicken or the egg"....hahaha! It would be great to finally clear this issue up. But,will we ever REALLY know the answer? Seems like everytime new info comes up,it just creates more questions,rather than answering them.
It's also cool to see a thread assigned to this controversy instead of working it's way onto every Merc thread. Now I can go to this thread to read the latest information.
Keep it up Jeff and Rikster!!!!

 

Sorry, I thought I was adding something.

 

Thanks for the post Rik! As always, great research, great info and photos!

 

It was an interesting premise, really - That the 'stock' car might have been Sam's.
And IF it were (match the license plate to Sam's). THEN it would have cleared up the whole issue of which was chopped first. So I don't think it was a bad thought to bring up.

 

Sorry dude,I should of rephrased that.You did add something,it came out wrong

 

ditto!

 

What is crazy about the popular science pic is that over the last couple of years there have been people saying that the 50 was Sams car but people were joking around,but it looks like it is interesting.

 

I would think so. I can't see them dragging the car back from Iowa to shoot in late 51. Although (I don't know what the weather is like in Cali where the photo was shot) but it could have been shot right before or right after the Oakland show. The picture is shot from an angle that does not show the interior. Maybe because it wasn't done yet?

 

Don't think it is Sam's car. One piece rear window.

 

Jeff, I'm not bustin' on you in any way whatsoever. I'm gonna be in Anaheim later this month swing by and pick me up in your Merc and give me some pointers mang.

Okay so I'm hearing here...

-Jerry says his was chopped first.
-Nobody has asked Sam recently but evel should.
-How about Dean Jeffries or someone else who worked there back then? Frank Sonzogni still alive?
-Did Jerry work and the shop and trade his work for the chop?
-Sam's car, zero pics. So Marcia never took pics... why. Because he did it off hours. Maybe he did it fast and she was not around.
-Did Jerry buy his car and mod it over time? Did he nose it on weekend, and keep driving it? And then several months later he brings the car by the shop, and they cut on it and get it done.
-Did Jerry paint his later, lack of funds? This could be the simple reason why Sam's car hit a show first. Jerry's car might have been rough.
-I think Sam's non-rounded hood, and straight pillars speak to this car not getting as much time as "customers" cars. From 1951 to 1956 the shop then did a ton of 49-51 Merc projects so the "advertising" paid off.

 

Back in the day most photos where retouched before they would go into the magazines. Back then it was done with airbrush and fine line brushes. To me it looks like most of the panel lines on Jerry's Merc where touched up to make sure they would stand out in the magazine prints. They probably where also afraid the white paint and the light sky would not create enough contrast, so a line was added there as well.
Retouching is still done, only now we have Photoshop, and we can do it in such a way nearly nobody noticed it.

 

Here you go... big scans...