Totally agree. Wolf's 51 Merc has the perfect chop and perfect Hart-top treatment. The top and rear window flow is flawless. That picture is taken from a perfect angle. Another 51 Merc that belongs here at the show it Terry Hegman's 51 Merc. This one is so subtile. All angles on this body match, like the slanted B pillars and rear of the fenders. rounded cornerees on teh back of the hood. Fluch fender skirts and front wheel opening lip matches the lip around the taillights. Those rear bumpers and molded in bumper guards are a work of art. V-ed Pontiac grille with molded in bullets, and again on the front those wonderfull modified and molded in bumper guards. The headlights are extenden and frenched just teh perfect amount. the side trim is shortened in the front to create some instand speed and slightly more "weight" in the back Perfection is the only thing I can say about this. One last photo with hubcaps and interior.
I found two more pics of the Fred Monroe-Zeder Chrysler I posted yesterday. I'm not sure why I like this car so much; it's a bit ungainly from some angles, but I like the concept of a huge two-seater. It reminds me of the Hollywood Packards and Caddies of the thirties and forties: acres of steel designed to impress! I did some investigation on Monroe-Zeder and discovered his father was a major engineer and designer with Walter P. Chrysler in the early years and later with Studebaker. Fred Monroe-Zeder, seated at the wheel of the car below was a corporate magnate who went on to design and market a car called the Zeder-Chrysler in 1960. The car was built in Italy and 100 copies were made. 2 Pics of this car, too - what a knockout! Monroe-Zeder later became an Ambassador for the USA abroad. He died just 1 year ago this month. Dave
Hey, thanks FrenZ. You must have recieved the pay-off money that I sent. Seriously, I truly appreciate the enthusiasm that you have for my car. I hope the the finished product can live up to it. Chris
Rik, great pics again !!! Terry Hageman's '51 Mercury is indeed a very beautiful car and I like your description of the car a lot.True passion !!! When I first saw this Merc in the magazines,I was blown away by the incredible craftmansship.As you know the car was pictured in bare metal and this made it easy to see Terry Hageman's absolutely flawless and very impressing bodywork.Just look at those reflections in the paint,The body and paint is so smooth and I guess the effect is even bigger if we could see the car in reality.That Merc is really a tasteful car. I especially like the photo "Perfection is the only thing I can say about this."The chop and the window shape looks so good on this pic.Unbelievable... Retaining the driprail is a must while chopping a Merc and the window trim and belt line trim is so beautifiul.Great car !!! Regarding "Wolf's" Merc,I also think the picture is taken from the perfect angle.That's why I posted it.I think it perfectly shows what chopped and taildraggin' sleds are all about.I love it ! Here's another great looking Merc in progress.Well,actually there are two great Mercs.This thread already contains some other cars of Paul Bragg and he truly is metal working master.His work is worth an own thread.I always like to see progress shots.They are more interesting than the finished cars.This Merc has a nice variation of canted '53 Buick headlights and the Kaiser bumperguard/overrider is an all-time favorite.The car also has the shortened side trim like the Hageman Merc has and the hardtop-conversion looks dynamite although I prefer cars with posts.What would I give to see those cars in reality.Someday I'll make the trip to Paso... And another great looking Merc.I don't know much about the car other than it is from Australia.Found the pic and some others here on the HAMB and elsewhere in the net.Very impressive metal work !!! Nice flowing lines,gorgeous chop,cool stance,good looking grille bar,what more could you ask for ? Those Caddy hubcaps are just beautiful and definitely fit in the "less is more"-theme.Man,Kustoms are just great...
Hey Chris,I received the money.You're welcome. I have no doubt your Chevy will turn out as nice as seen on the pic.The most important thing is already there,the awesome chop.It will take a real madman to ruin the car...
Dave,there's this two-seater Chevy Roadster inspired by concept cars of the early 50's.The car is from So-Cal and you regularly see it at events like Paso and the Antique Drags.The car has a straight 6 Jaguar engine and very good looking body mods.The rear is from a Buick and the car also has the oh-so-nice '53 Stude hubcaps.I guess you will like that car.I don't know if you already know it.For some reason I got no pics of the car on my hard-drive.Got some pics from magazines though.Maybe there's somebody on here who has some nice and big shots of the car.Otherwise I'll scan some pics later.
Thanks! I love that car as well and I shot the photo of Wolf´s Merc at A-Bombers Old Style Weekend last year. Here is a photo of another great Merc, scanned from a 80´s issue of "Bilsport Magazine". The grille, wheel opening and side trim combination of this Merc is just perfect. The only MINOR drawback is the Kaiser overrider, that looks a bit too heavy on the front bumper (great for rear bumpers...). I do not have any further info about the car and I´ve only seen this photo of it. The photo is a bit battered but has been on my garage wall for at least 15 years...
The info I have is that this picture was taken 15 years ago in Springfield Ohio.I was there and this guy was from Canada. I havent seen or heard of him since. This cat had his shit together.
That is indeed a wonderfull custom. I really like it especially the leaned forward B pillars, very nice touch. I alway loved teh look of a 46-48 Ford convertible with a nice chopped Carson style top. This one is from the 50's and has a very nice front end treatment. Another one. Here is a picture of the Two Seater TheFrenZ mentioned earlyer. Looking good in black primer. I think this one of the best looking '36 Fords around these days should also be at the show. Its ofcoars 50Fraud's '36 coupe chopped by Donn Lowe.
Thanks for the tip. I started to post that I didn't know the car when Rikster posted a pic. Yes, I have seen it - well, pictures anyway. And I do like the concept. I wonder if the owner plans come color - flat black looks great on hot rods and works-in-progress - but I think this car need a bit of glamor and drama that color would provide. Dave
Another Custom that really belongs at the show is the Ray Goulart '50 Olds. A very conservative "mild" custom with a lot of very nice small details. I never get tired looking at this cool custom.
I had another look at that black boattail Chevy and it reminded me of another car I love: Harley Earl's Buick Y-Job. Harley Earl began as a customizer in the twenties, building cars for Hollywood stars of the time like Tom Mix and Fatty Arbuckle. He was hired as a "consulting engineer" by General Motors and produced the 1927 LaSalle. It was a smash and GM promoted him to head the "Art and Color Section" which eventually became their design center. Herer are some photos of the Y-Job Buick designed in 1937. Earl used this car as his personal transport for many years. Check out the details: power top, hide-away headlights, the bumpers, the chrome "aero" trim, taillights, and the grille. All custom work in 1937 - almost every feature made it to production on some GM vehicle 15-20 years later! This car was WAYYYY ahead of its time. Now look again at the grille.This theme started a Buick tradition in the fifties that has lasted to the present. The current Buick Park Avenue uses the same vertical bar styling today! Dave
I think the single bar grille is a '49 Pontiac grille bar with out the vertical bar. I too like that best so far. And the boattail is actually from a 40's Buick..
Theres a couple of cars that I feel deserve to be included. If I had a scanner, I would post some pictures. The first would be Cliff Inman's 57 Chrysler built by Joe Wihelm. That car is so neat and clean, I honestly cannot think any way to improve upon it. The second would be LeRoy Goulart's 50 Ford. LeRoy's Ford was built in the late 50's when it seemed that quite few cars were getting really guady. Even though his Ford had some of the "more is better" elements, for some reasome it really works for me. It feels very well balanced and that lime-gold color is awsome. If someone has pictures of either of these two cars, I would love to see them here. Chris
Here are a couple of picture of the Goulart's Ford... it sure is welcom at the show. Doory I dont have any good enough photo's of the Inman custom at this moment to post. Early version Second version
RPW,this really is a nice Merc ! Again "Wolf's" Merc.I know you often hangout together and I reckon you know pretty much about this car.What are Wolf plans for paint and grille insert or is this top secret ? Thank you !
Thanks Rik !!! This is the car's version I was talking about.I think it's a pretty cool car and has very harmonic body mods which do flow from front to back.Very well executed and I followed the progress of the car over the years in the magazines.Really would like to know how the car looks now.The front reminds me of Johnny Zaro's '41 Ford Full Custom.
Guess this is a 52-54 windshield, maybe the whole front of the roof? Looks pretty good but what about the driprail does it just fade or is it just this pic that makes it look like it?
I love this thread... I have to submit my buddy Skip's 57 Ranchero. Shaved, Split, Tunneled, Dumped, and wrapped in Satin Lavender... If you see him at Viva Las Vegas tell him Rad Red said hi! ~red
Thanks RPW! Yeah I see now that they are blended together, looks good. Even if a split windshield has its charm, a one piece cleans up the design a bit.
I just took a look at zman's VLV topic and I couldn't believe my eyes...The Garcia/Valencia Chevy with Matranga-like side windows and trim.I thought you guys would appreciate to see how the car looks now.Although I REALLY like suede paintjobs,just imagine the car painted some dark glossy color,totally rubbed out...heart attack !!!
The Jalopy Journal
