hate to be a naysayer but I never liked that merc, The whole "3 window" thing on a merc does nothing more than leave a big blank spot where there should be a window. Just my opinion....
I'll agree with you on that point Mark. There are those one or two out there that make the effort to lengthen the doors and adjust the roof to really pull the 3 window look off, but most fall short when the rear window is just filled in. Not that it helps any, but I would say the scoops on the front fenders are likely 65/66 Mustang Shelby side scoops.
. It`s neat to see a pic without flames. Remember this was 1985 when seeing a chopped Merc was a rare occurance in our area for that time period. I believe this is the same merc. As I said earlier, the roof was badly warped. So to fix it, just chop it off. The taillights makes the car standout as being the same Merc. I`m sure they had to put a different front end on it as well.
That was a great read, Sancho! Thanks for posting. Now I'm going to have to chase down Brad Davies at the Leadsled to talk about Phil. If I'm not mistaken, Brad is still a Minnesota Chopper. E
@stanlow69 is that a Lincoln front clip? Something doesn't look quite right. The proportions look all wrong. Especially the distance from the front edge of the front wheelwells forward.... Seems to have a lot of front "overhang".
Also, I see the dash.... Was this swapped onto a late model chassis? That might explain the weird proportions.
In the pic`s of all three owners, the spots are positioned the same way. I can`t figure what they did to the front part of the lower front fenders. The pic`s were taken at Grease-A-Ramma in Kansas City.
It would seem so. There was a gentleman in Calgary who put a 2-door Merc on a newer frame. Engine sat higher and more forward, so he added 7 or 8 inches to the front fenders in front of the wheels and hood for clearance. Work was excellent but as you said in another post, the proportions were off. The modifications for back 3/4's of the car were excellent but that front just "killed" it, and not in a good way. He tried selling it with no luck, hence he put it behind the garage where it sits rusting away.
Lets get back to the shoebox. Here is the only other pic I have with the parking light housings deleted from the grille. The car has less teeth, so it isn`t the one we are looking for. The pic was taken in Holland Michigan`s KKOA show. The yellow one, you can see the turn signals mounted below the bumper. I really like how the grille looks this way. I`m gonna have to put the 54 Chevy grille back in Dads Vicky and remove the parking light housing. He was planning on using the 54 Chevy ends.
Jim, to be clear, you're not saying the two cars above are the same cars, just that its the only other shoebox you've seen with a similar grille and grille end treatment. Yes? No? So fellow HAMBers, what ever happened to the flamed Ford?
What Ever Happened To..........? number 68. 1951 Ford Victoria Owner: Dave Waddell Indianapolis, Indiana This week's car was another one that seemed to break out on the scene, make an impression, and after a few short show seasons, disappeared. This '51 Ford Victoria had a ton of modifications done to it, and even though '49-'51 Fords were one of the cars of choice back in the 80s and 90s, this one managed to stand out from the rest. First of all, it was chopped quite a bit. One of the modifications that really took some work was the addition of custom taillights that look to be '55 or '56 Oldsmobile in crazy openings that are similar to a Packard, Buick or '55 Chevy. The rear bumper appears to be mid 50s GM, but I can't say for sure. The rear wheel wells were reworked as well and look to be mid to late 50's GM. Up front a '57 Buick grille was used along with '59 Cadillac taillight housings with clear lenses for turn signals. The owner of this car utilized what I'd guess to be Mopar quad headlight assemblies. Hard to believe they'd fit, but they pulled it off. This gives this Ford a similar look as Don Boeke's '57 Ford "Shboom" (W.E.H.T. #33) which used Desoto assemblies, as well as Jim Discher's '57 Pontiac (W.E.H.T. #47) which used dual headlight assemblies out of a '57 Chrysler. This was a truly unique modification that hasn't been done on a lot of '49-'51 Fords. You will also notice that the hood was seriously re-worked and had rounded corners and was semi-pancaked. Tons of time in that! The first time this car appeared on video was at the '86 Spectacular in Springfield, Missouri. It had quite a few of the modifications done but it was covered in gray prime. The next year (1987) it was at the Spectacular again in Springfield, Illinois. This time it was covered in purple and looked super! Unfortunately, the owner was never interviewed, so I have no idea who the car belonged to. After the '87 appearance, I couldn't find it on any other videos. As far as magazines go, I searched high and low, but I couldn't find any coverage on this car in print in my collection. This would also help explain the lack of owner information. Fortunately, I was able to find a nice group of pictures on Rikster's site that show how nice this sled was. Thankfully Scott Pavey, Kustom Lincoln Lady as well as many others took photographs at these events. And, with Rikster's hard work and compilation talents, we have a place to find these photos to share with everyone to enjoy. Well, I hope somebody out there can add some insight to this custom. I know some of you Indiana folks will recognize it. We need to give credit where credit is due. Hope everyone out there is staying cool. Why not grab your girl, a friend or neighbor, hop in the sled and take a spin down to your local 7-11 and get a nice cold Slurpee? You know what? That sounds like a "cool" idea. Where are my keys? Until next time, cruise on..........E
Wow, another one I can't seem to find anything on. Some times I come across them later while looking for something else so not giving up yet, just letting everyone know....
Here is another picture I took of it. For some strange reason, when I first saw this car posted on here, I immediately thought of Springfield Missouri. Maybe it was when I first saw it. Could that be the owner standing behind the car.
I agree @Chaz. Awesome and unique car. Be great to see it out on the streets again! E Could be Pontiac. I have a hard time identifying bumpers sometimes. Glad you're still hangin' in and like the thread, Bill. Thanks! E If there's any info out there, I'm sure you'll find it, dude! E I thought that, too, @mr57. Very similar to '56 Chevy as well. Man, it would be nice if the car was featured in a magazine somewhere so we could get all the great details of this cool shoebox. E
Wow, must be the angle of the pics I posted versus the one you posted, Jim. I hadn't noticed the crazy way the front wheel wells were re-worked towards the bottom. Kind of like a '60 Plymouth. You know, it might be a possibility that this car was built in the late 50s through the early 60s and never got any recognition. After that, maybe the owner put it away and forgot about it. Possibly he grew tired of storing the car or the need for money came up and it was sold. Maybe then it was purchased and re-done by a new owner and shown in the 80s, only to disappear. Hmmm. Something to think about..........E
Yeah, I thought that it looks like the quarters were completely replaced as well. To me, the section where the taillights are down to the bumper look like '55 Chevy with the taillight openings reworked to be a little more pointy and slightly extended out and downward. E
Here is a '55 with Packard taillights. See how the area under the taillight goes down? Very similar to the back of the Ford.
That '55 above has a LOT of pretty cool mods done to it! Nice! The '56 Chev quarter has that similar shape under the tail-lamp and would have the proper wheel well to go along with it.. I like that shoebox too and also hope it is safe somewhere.. Dave
How does a great custom like this just disappear? Somebody gotta know sumpin'! The way the roof sail panel flows onto the body is an amazing custom touch.
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