Man...I'm not a 'kustom' type of guy but damn....When a car is right, it's just plain right. And that Merc is about as perfect as it gets. It just has the perfect flow...from the chop (with driprails) to the skirts, to the perfect tail light. Great car. Dad's a proud guy right now.
Great to see a car that hasn't been on the road in forever finally get a hard push to get it on the road. I hope it will be seen cross country as well! Skip the scallops, it looks great as is!
Thanks to all of you for the kind words. Every resource I have is pushing this to the finish line. After paint is all the little crap, weather stripping, glass, blah, blah. The good news is that it is already bought and in position. White walls will be ordered next week. In 1983 my Dad drove his 51 merc to Lead East in Jersey. A 9 year old kid was so taken with that car. He followed it every where and knew the history. That kid is now grown and a killer pinstripper. I want him to stripe the 49. I approached him about it and he said "I would be Honored", but he might not be able to. We have to wait and see. I love the idea of a full circle story. One artist inspiring another then another kid will see this one and blah, blah.... The best word to sum it up is "Renaissance".
Here she is outside with bumpers and grill. Some pinstriping is really going to blend everything together and smooth it out. The primary color will be "Ivory".
Whats the word I'm looking for? * Awesome * Beautiful * Stupendous * Phenomenal I can't pick just one, so I'll say all of the above.
I have been going through all the old paper pictures and I realized that I have 5 decades of pictures of this project. That has to be a record of some type. A back burner award?
The rear bumper is the front bumper from a 54 dodge. It has had about 8 inches from the center removed. It is capped with a 51 Kaiser plate guard. The exhaust did run through the bullets but we had a problem on a test drive. The exhaust melted the lead work on the rear pan below the trunk. A lot of this car was done in lead. He was an older gentlemen by the first name Shelby. Most body men today have mud dust on them, he was always neat and clean. He sat on a stool while smoking a pipe. I remember watching him as a kid. Just one of the craftsmen to touch this car over the years. A lot of his lead work still remains.
The merc is assembled and is ready to go. Interior and pinstriping will follow. In my eyes she looks great and I know that Dad would love it.
Beautiful car, a red one just popped up on the main drag here in Ruidoso, NM. It's red with spinner hubcaps, 6 inch tall windows, very nice car.
The Jalopy Journal
