It is pretty exciting to sit and write about finally finding and owning this cool old kustom. To give a little bit of my perspective I would consider myself a younger guy who grew up going to car shows with my Dad during the resurgence of the kustom car scene era which was the 80s and early 90s. I was always enamored with chopped Mercs and always considered them top tier kustom cars. I saw guys finding and actually restoring Barris cars and other notable kustom cars of the 40s and 50s and thought how cool is that to be able to experience something like that. Well here we are in 2025 and the chances of finding a lost Barris car to enjoy are about slim to none. But even in the 70s and 80s when guys were finding those old Kustoms they were only built about 25 year prior. So fast forward to today and I’ve found a forgotten kustom car that was built originally as a kustom in the early 70s and even was in some magazines before being chopped and redone in the early 80s. Not anywhere near a Barris car but I feel as excited as those guys probably did finding and building a car they seen in magazines as a kid. It hasn’t been on the road in 20 years
Congrats!Nice find!Nice Merc! Pretty cool to find an old Kustom! I know how excited I was when I found mine!
That would work for me. I like that they didn't lean the B post, it has working vent windows and especially that it still has its drip rails. Well done. Welcome to the Merc family.
I believe I saw that car at some of the KKOA shows in the 80s. Didn't recognize it until I got to the side shot showing the trim and colors. Someone will have old pics of it. I may have some, too, but finding them may take a while. Good score, nice car! Show us/tell us more, please.
I do know the history of the car and I will use the thread to share everything I have. Here is the Mercury as it sat in 1969 when Gene Elgan bought the car from the original owner. Gene is the one who had the car for all of its kustom iterations. But if anyone has any pictures or remembers Gene or the car please share.
Sweet find! I vaguely remember one in that color scheme from mags, too. Don't have the details memorized, but if you can still talk to Gene, get as much history as you can. Might be worth setting up a video cam and recording the talk as you go through all the history with him. A couple of guys sitting in the garage looking at old pics and walking around the car pointing out details.
Gene wasted no time after getting the Merc to clean it up, nose the hood and paint it before making the car his daily driver as it only had 45k original miles on it when he got it. Gene passed away from cancer in 1999.
That's super cool, and for a car that was finished in the 80's, it's very well done. So many cars of that era were like 90% period but then they'd tack on some giant painted mirrors, Cadillac taillights, tilt column or something, this one looks like the builder really nailed all the details. It also looks like it held up very well even after years of storage, which is a hallmark of quality work. Very nice, looking forward to seeing more.
Wow - Thats like a check list of the era - chop, caddy caps, buick trim, rounded hood corners, desoto grill, etc etc......lucky you! I know of a gold one from the same era thats for sale, same story - magazine car, sitting for 20 years.....
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