A friend of mine was in MN not long ago and spotted a Mercury convertible, looks like a custom project somebody started and then abandon. It's at a lot called Stony Hill Auto. I found the following contact info on the net: Stony Hill Auto 18752 US Highway 169, Milaca, MN 56353 320-983-3224 Maybe this is old new, but I just thought I would mention it in case somebody is looking for a project like this.
that car is very reasonabliy priced, comes with new bumpers alot of the metal is done and is a very solid car,drive train is done,convert coversion is done right he also has the chopped roof if you want to put it back on.