why not "Gasserize" a 50's Merc...?

As someone has said earlier , its only a car ...

 

Yup I was right... here's Oddball's

 

if i had a merc, i wouldtnt even think of chopping it, i have afriend that ha sa 50 and it looks so freaking cool with a stock body, compared to all the others that are chopped. a guy had a4 dr by my house th eother day, it was all original looking i think he just got it road worthy and recently put i ton th eroad, even though it was a 4 dr, it looked really cool with the stock roof. as for ag***er, that oddball merc dont look right, i like them up in the air a little but not like that it just looks so wrong.

 

Fwiw, my Olds Rocket powered, Caddy stick trans 50 Shoebox coupe weighed 3150# on a couple (San Fernando and Santa Maria) of drag strip scales.
Front bumper off and rear seat out which probably accounted for 60-70# of weight.

 

That old Packard E/Gas car is an interesting one.

A little perusal of the rule book, some smart thinking and the guys who ran it held the E/Gas record for a while.

Some of the secrets it held were an 80# flywheel in an era when many were running Schiefer 11# aluminum flywheels.

They recognized as well that very low gears in the somewhat heavy car - combined with the heavy flywheel which carried a lot of stored energy - would launch the car quite well.

I got to see the car run at Palmdale - now known as L.A. County Raceway - dragstrip one windblown desert night.

It was interesting to watch.
The throttle would be firewalled as the tree came down, they'd launch and pull their opponent a length or two and then settle down for the long pull down the 1/4 with the little SBC engine.

If they were running against another E/G***er they could hold the advantage gained at the launch till the end.

Neat car and it proved that a little thinking outside the box could carry the day.

 

Just add some little tires on old Monster Mutt and you got a Merc g***er!

 

If you did built this in a true late '50s g***er style I'd like it. Not a 4wd straight axle street freak - a g***er. Rear end a couple inches lower than the front, recap slicks that fit in the wheelwells, minor body mods, no front bumper and lose some unnecessary stuff from the front end and interior. I know I saw shoebox Ford and '49 - '54 GM g***ers in the '50/'60s. I'm pretty sure at least 1 Merc was done also.

 

AMT Street Rods T291

 

That kind of looks like the one in the drag race game that was posted on here 6(?) or so months ago. Anyone have that thread or bookmark handy?

Thanks,
Kurt

 

I'm weird.

If I was building a '49-51 Merc it would be unchopped and hoodless with no skirts painted dark green, with polished Halibrands on blackwall tires and a 6-carb setup..

 

love the model kit...

 

anyone have a pic of the red one in the 80's that had no skirts and early ford wires. i think it was in street rodder. the article sad he was trying for the hot rod 34 ford look.

 

Oh great, now Greg's going to buy up all the Merc's and build g***ers. Damn!

 

Not a Merc...but here's a '50 plymouth from back in the day... Gotta be about the same weight. I gotta say DO IT!!!

 

here is a pic of a model i found somewhere......

 

you guys have too much money and/or free time if your thinking of building a G***ER MERC....hahahaha

what's next??,,,a 32 ford 3 window LOWRIDER? hahaha

 

LOL! How about a '34 tail dragger....

 

Pro street only looks good on Chevy II's IMO. Mercs dont look good as a g***er, only as a sled or even plain stock.

 

NOW THATS FUNNY!

THANK YOU RYAN

 

Theres an all out 32 Ford Lowrider in L.A.Its a gennie 5 window with Daytons

 

G***er Merc makes all kinds of sense! Just think about how kick *** that green g***er looked out there on Congress at the Lone Star Round Up?! Big Daddy took this pic and it shows some atypical g***ers that really look cool! Go for it!

 

Maybe, maybe not.

Depends on the era you built the car for.
Up to the very early 60's the average g***er - meaning no sponsors etc., just guys with a Shoebox size car running the street with a swapped in, no setback OHV engine - had to run gas cl***.
Original suspension, sometimes lowered a bit, but most times stock height both ends.

The lightweight Willy's built specifically for racing and adhering - sorta - closely to the rules would kill you when they came on the scene.
Even so, a guy running a streetable car could take home a few trophies now and then.

Modified Production cl***es came in about 1963 and it wasn't long until the Tri-Five Chevys owned the cl***.
That was a perfect fit for street runners with no engine setback etc., but for those of us running Fords with Rocket, Nailhead, Hemi or Caddy engines, we were still stuck in gas cl***.
Rules required use of the factory installed engine - or at least one that looked like it.
IE: 283 SBC running a stroker worked, you just had to declare for the right cl***.

Not long after Modified Production came to be - and it didn't last long - the jacked up g***ers became popular and those are what most people identify with when they're thinking "g***er."

A lot of us got out of drag racing then, it was getting a little too specialized to run your street runner against the guys who were running comp only cars.

A little later on, index racing which soon turned into bracket racing came on the scene and to an extent saved drag racing.
At least a guy or gal could roll their daily driver into the track and make a few runs and have some fun competing.

Since today's g***ers are low riders for the most part, the Merc should fit right into that scene.
And if you built it like a g***er from days gone by you could run it stock height or lowered a reasonable amount.
Either one of those styles would do it for me.

Ain't too sure about running a straight axle jacked up Merc though.
Next thing ya know they'll be running dago'd 38 Fords with strong running engines and then what?

Once't upon a time I saw a Can-Am styled 50 Merc coupe.
Helluva car . . . but that's a whole other story....

 

Here's a couple examples of the kind of g***ers I'm (and I think C9) are referring to. Both are cl*** winners at the 1957 Nationals. Real g***ers. Nothing that couldn't be reversed if you change your mind.

 

Actually that's the kind of g***er I was referring to in the beginning also. The original g***ers were hot streeters not necesdsarily dedicated racecars. I unfortunatley don't remember much before about '58 - '60 and those memories are a little sketchy but I recall reading somewhere that the original g***ers were street legal cars.

I did help rework an old g***er Stude from the '50s a few years back, it sets the same now as it did back in the day, pretty much stock height. Pretty neat old car.

 

Exactamento.

Here's a pic of a 50 Shoebox coupe running at San Fernando circa 1962.
Note the stock appearing Chevy next to it.

The coupe isn't mine, but a virtual clone of it's last iteration on the dragstrip except for color.
Mine was 56 Ford metallic green.

 

Two words: Flynstone Flyer.

Ya, I know, that one was an anomaly

 

I'm gonna G***erize my lawnmower so I can get that Nose High in the weeds look!

 

How about a Hudson G***er. Unibody I believe.

 

That didn't work!