Found abandoned old car, what is it?

As I already mentioned, it is not private land. Either indian res or Az dot right of way. My thinking it is indian res because the hwy has been abandoned for many decades.
This has turned out to be a very unusual find indeed.
next time i go back there, I will right down the trim tag code. the pics did not come out clear enough. I guess if you guys already know it is a '50, that is what it is.
How does a '50 differ from a '51?

Steve
Hosting- 8th annual Nostalgic Show and Go! March 27-28, 2010 Phoenix
www.nostalgicshowandgo.org

 

By looking at some visable parts its easy to tell that it is the remains of a 2 door -50 Merc. The rear fenders are different on a -51. Also visable is the gravel pan, below the front bumper, is different on a -51. And the front fender side trim is different on a -51.
I hope the parts can be resqued...

 

i was thinking the same thing

if it was me before i started tryin to figure out what i could make a buck on

id try to find a readable serial number on it ...most likly it was stolen and stripped and left for dead

incase your on the up-n-up and honestly dont know anything about a 49-50 merc (i really am having a hard time with that) ill put it in perspective for you

to custom car guys what you found is roughly the equivalent of finding a 61-63 swiss cheese catalina with the 421 SD still in it or a 69 RA4 gto judge
maybe not quite that rare but you get the idea

personnally i think someone is spinning a yarn tryin to see how many he can get tangled up in it

 

That quarter panel looks like it just got set there last week, not 50 years ago. Around here there would be tangles of weeds and leaves all over that **** in just a few years. Also, this is a really desirable car, dumped in a ditch and dis***embled but with the pieces all pretty much still there.

It's still worth trying to get, but I'd be a bit worried that this is someone's project car that got stolen for a few key pieces, or someone left it at a body shop and the owner ditched it or something like that. You'll have a hard time convincing me that the lower rear quarter panel in the picture got dumped there 40 years ago, sat untouched in clear view all of that time, even during the s**** metal craze, and didn't sink in the dirt or get covered in leaves over 4 decades.

 

Not out here in the west. Things can sit forever and look like that. I actually dug some Merc parts outta the woods here a few years ago. Rode past them on my mountainbike many times before it hit me. Scored a qtr, bumper and could had the hood if I had been a few weeks earlier, some pals had found it and turned it into a kicker (jump).

 

Quit over thinking it. Go grab that stuff and make a buck. Everyone is happy.

As for a car guy who can't identify Merc parts, not everyone is a scholar who likes old cars. This would be similar to a Baseball guy who can identify every stat for every player ever. Some of us aren't that **** about it.

 

You can decide what you like but, everything I have said and posted is straight forward and truthful to the best of my knowledge. Also, perhaps you do not understand about how things age in Arizona and you and others may not understand how things last and how things on Indian land. These parts are in a remote area. I doubt a vehicle has been there in many, many years and probably decades. Maybe someone moved the fender, I do not know.
What I can gather though, if these parts are really 'hot stuff' to customizers, then WHY would they be there unless no one else knows where they are? I just stumbled on this stuff searching parts of an old hiway that i have been do***enting now for several months. Each time I find a section of road, I make a note and when I have time, I will park my car and hike to the area with my camera. so far, I have found stainless trim from wrecked cars, probably early 50s, late 40s, I have also found a spoke/wire wheel which has to be mid 30s or older, then I found the radiator I mentioned that is from mid 30s or older.

I also doubt a 50 merc has the value is a SD Catalina or Ram Air
IV GTO.

Steve
Hosting- 8th annual Nostalgic Show and Go! March 27-28, 2010 Phoenix
www.nostalgicshowandgo.org

 

Just as I was thinking, sounds like ******** to me.

 

Radiator has a screw cap and one inlet on top. I think that rules out it being a Ford right? Because the Fords had 2 upper hoses if it was a v-8?

anyone able to ID this radiator?

Steve
Hosting- 8th annual Nostalgic Show and Go! March 27-28, 2010 Phoenix
www.nostalgicshowandgo.org

 

Then perhaps you are thinking too much......

I never expected to be insulted by simply asking what something is that I found.

Steve
Hosting- 8th annual Nostalgic Show and Go! March 27-28, 2010 Phoenix
www.nostalgicshowandgo.org

 

applekrate is a Pontiac guy, I don't ***ume he would know the sheet metal.

i think applekrate is afraid of legal issues, so maybe someone else should get the parts and hook up all the merc guys.

 

C'mon T, there's plenty of car guys out there that cannot ID cars they weren't interested in...

Could that be why the HAMB has tons of "What is this...???" threads...???

To put this in a bit more perspective, I couldn't tell you the difference between a '33 Ford and a '34...or a '61 Imperial or a '64 Imperial...there are cars some of us just weren't interested in...knowing about them, learning about them or what size engine they came with...

R-

 

Just move all the parts at night and have the pile near your truck one early morning.If you get caught play dumb .You found them in the woods. It's trash If you found 100 bucks in the woods you would put it in your pocket.

 

Steve, I know you from other sites so I know you aren't BS'ing.
If you want to get an idea of worth, just go to that famous auction site and plug in 50 mercury.
As said, it would be in your monetary interest to make sure you can grab it legally, and do it ASAP.
Guys, if you have any Pontiac questions, especially about the M/T hemi heads for them, Steve is the guy to ask....

 

It's almost your duty to pull that stuff out of there. Don't let that stuff go to waste.

 

Steve is not a ********ter. Ask him something about a Pontiac and you'll find out what kind of car guy he is.

 

Seriously, as someone with a pathological need for money--on account of it lets me eat--I would be all over that sheetmetal, like stink on a monkey.

What everyone else has said is right: that stuff has probably set out there for years, and if it hasn't, who cares?

Get you a truck and a good cordless sawzall , and head out there after dark. Anyone asks, I'm sure you can talk your way out of it--I mean really, how hard could it be?

You're just some poor guy who found some stuff. Besides, you need what, three hours to get all that stuff loaded. Three hours tops. What are the odds that you'll get nabbed?

You need three hours to bag all that stuff--and if someone really wants to set a trap for you and wait, they need to be watching that sheetmetal 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Thnk about it. Hell, I don't even have a '50 Merc and I'm tempted to tell you that I'm interested in that stuff.

 

This car is a rusted mess and even though the doors were rough they were pulled to be fixed for a four door converted to a two door I am more than sure the guy that done this would have loved to had those doors and quarter panels , sorry for the bad picture .

 

Yes but YOU COULD tell it was a 33/4. And come on.......a 49-50 Merc is about as distinguishable in this hobby as Pam Andersons ***s are to *******!

Not disparageing the OP, just kinda baffling

For the record I think I got $70 for the lower qtr I sold. Prob could have been higher but I let it go with the first person with cash.

 

I dont know Steve but I can tell you there are still things on the desert that havent sunk in for 100's of years. Time moves real slow here. What is gone in Ohio in 50 years wont have "patina" here. Also when traipsing around the rez, its 1850. Thats the laws they can use. Cattle rustlers still get "cut down."

 

It looks like they begun to chop the top, because its cut at the A-Pillar. Very cool find Steve.

 

I would have no reservations about taking them off Indian land.

 

I would not have recognized those parts either. I can recognize the car when I see one together though. Like it's been said, some guys focus on certain things and block out a lot of the rest. The only thing I would have known is that it was a Mercury by the trim and that was a party spot at one time. You see all those beer cans? Either they partied right there or dumped 'em there when they were done. If you end up hauling that "trash" out of there make sure take those cans and whatever else is down there too. That way if anyone asks it won't look so fishy and its just good karma, or living right or whatever makes you feel good!

 

Would it make a difference if it was fenced with no tresp***ing signs? I mean how much trouble can a guy get into taking abandoned parts? If it isn't a deal why not do the rescue mission in daylight? If anyone asks play dumb and explain to them that the parts might look like **** but are really quite valuable.

 

Here is the last 2 pictures I took Sunday of my finds.

First one is a deck lid. maybe off of the merc?
The next is another fender. looks like early 50s or late 40s something. It was mostly underground and I could not pull it out with my hands. I was able to lift it up and take a quick pic.

Again, if you look at the beginning of this thread, I stated it was probably something early 50s or late 40s. I can tell eras of cars but, my knowledge of them prior to '55 is limited. further, i am more of a racer/hot rodder type and That car is more of a custom type.
I've attended nostalgia drags since 1990 and do not ever remember seeing something like that on the strip.
I don;t follow the customs though I respect all types of hot rodding, I am more into power than chopping tops, etc. to each their own.

Further thinking now makes me wonder if more of the car is indeed in the area. There is a bunch of growth all around. maybe the frame and some drivetrain is there too? It is strange that the parts got separated a bit in 2 groups. I cannot explain why, perhaps indian kids moved the stuff around? also strange that none of it looks like it has been vandalized. I just don't know.

Steve
Hosting- 8th annual Nostalgic Show and Go! March 27-28, 2010 Phoenix
www.nostalgicshowandgo.org

 

If you're concerned with theft, it's not that hard to track down land ownership via town or county property maps, see if they'll let you look at the tax maps - some towns even have them online now, so you can do it at home - and track down an owner that way. Although if it's on highway ROW, then it may as well be curbside trash waiting for someone to clean it up - it just happens to be on a highway not maintained enough for someone to have already done so.

 

I know where there is a 49 coupe back in the woods. Sunk in the ground about 6". I will do my part to save the environment and haul that trash out of there. Of course, our rust in northern NY is a lot different than out that way.

 

The trunklid is definitely a Mercury piece. The fender I can't really tell.

I wasn't accusing you of stealing, and I'm not really aware of how stuff degrades in your area. Also, I think this stuff should be saved, because it's desirable stuff and you could make some money.

I was just saying that I'd check into it a bit before I pulled it all out of there.

So will the stock ram air air cleaner ***embly go on my '72 GTO 455 if I have a later model HEI distributor on it? Is there a certain carb I need to get the hood pan to line up with the air cleaner, or will pretty much any quadrajet work? I genuinely would like to know.

 

I am in need of that quarter panel.

 

In a nutshell, it all fits your ram air air cleaner- HEI and most any Q jet carb will work. I have 2 455HO Ram Air GTOs, a '71 and a '72.

Steve
Hosting- 8th annual Nostalgic Show & Go! March 27-28, 2010 Phoenix
www.nostalgicshowandgo.org