What Ever Happened To..........? number 208. 1950 Mercury Owner: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?, ? ? ? ? ? This week's feature car is one of the very first I started researching back when this thread started. I still have a few like this that I'm still collecting information on. I have found enough information on many of them and we've covered a few of them here. On the other side of the coin, I have a few like this week's car that I have dug in deeply to find information on and it seems like there is nothing out there. Sometimes it feels like I'm chasing ghosts. Well, since this one seems like a dead end, it's time to post it up and see if you well informed custom faithful know anything about this mysterious Mercury. The first time I spotted this Merc was cruising through the gates at the Leadsled Spectacular in 1983 in Springfield, Ohio. It's a mild custom having no chop, but many of the body mods make this Merc quite unique compared to so many we've loved and admired over the years. The most unique feature to me is what looks to be a vinyl top. Hard to tell in the picture, but it appears to be white. I hate to even suggest this, but could the top have possibly been silver vinyl? I know that a few cars from the 70s left the factory with a silver vinyl top. Not very common, but I have seen a few. The silver top would have matched the silver paint that was separated by the Buick side trim. Another unique feature was the seldom used '53 Dodge grille. Also notice it had cruiser skirts with three Mercury spears and lake pipes. Hard to tell for sure, but it looks to have a more padded or thicker style vinyl top. I apologize for the quality of all of tonight's pictures, but these still shots taken from frozen video and DVD footage are all I found of this car. The next time I saw this Merc was two years later. It was again cruising through the gates into the 1985 Spectacular, once again in Springfield, Ohio. Matter of fact, the shots look like Rowdie was set up in almost the same spot video taping! This time the Mercury had undergone a few changes. The Dodge grille was gone, being replaced by a Desoto unit. Also, it could just be the differences in the cameras used for taping, lighting conditions, et cetera, but the car looked to be a lighter blue in '85. Was it repainted? Maybe yes, maybe no. I'll let you guys decide. Another change was the addition of rabbit ear antennas just above the driver's side vent window. The lowrider crowd has used these since the 70s. They were mostly for looks, but they did work really well to get local channels when you had a TV in the car. This is the best shot of the top. It really looks padded here. Could this have been a fairly rare Mercury Monterey? I have never seen a rear view of this car, so I have no idea if the trunk was shaved, had custom taillights or any other changes that may have been made. Now, as far as the year of this Merc, I'm just guessing that it was a '50. With no interior shots of the dash, and no good view of the back window, I can't determine if it was a '49 or a '50, so I just guessed. All of you Mercury experts out there may be able to help out in that department. And there we have it. One of many mystery customs that we have covered here that seem to be custom orphans with no owner information, or hometown and state to report on. I've always liked this mild Mercury, so I thought I would post it here in our What ever Happened To..........? thread just because it was too cool to be left out. I hope you guys that live in places where we had to move the clocks ahead are adjusting ok. Fall back is ok, but losing that hour in the spring is a real bear to deal with in the morning. The nice trade off is how much longer it stays light in the evening, and those evenings will continue to get longer for a few months. YES, spring and summer are getting closer every day! Gotta love that! Have a great week! See you next Tuesday! E
Apologize if this was already posted, the #36 w.e.h.t. '67 El Camino is for sale on eBay from Gateway Classic Cars of Scottsdale
What Ever Happened To..........? number 209. 1957 Ford Owner: Jerry Vinje Parkville, Maryland This week's custom is one that I really couldn't find much car show activity on over the years, but I did find the critical information to know who this fine '57 Ford belonged to. Mr. Vinje's '57 Ford only appeared on one KKOA video that I have. Being from Maryland, it makes sense that the show he attended was Sled Scene East in 1992. The car screams late 50s with its scalloped paint job and neat touches like Buick portholes in the hood, '54 Chevy grille and turn signals and the requisite '56 Ford pickup headlight rings. From the rear you can see more great paint work and a set of "Satellite" taillight assemblies. With the taillights, you might think this car looks like it's from the west coast, but with the paint it leans towards the east coast styling. It reminds me of something out of Andy Southard's "Customs of the 50s" book. I guess cool is cool no matter what side of the U.S.A. (or the world) you're from! Moving to the inside is a sanitary yet very functional interior. This is the kind of upholstery you wouldn't have to worry about too much if you drove the car everyday. Under the hood are plenty of neat finned goodies and a nicely detailed V8. If it goes as good as it looks, this is one fun cruiser! I did a lot of online research on this car and practically came up empty. I believe that I found Jerry's hometown and state, that being Parkville, Maryland, but I'm not 100% certain. Picture sites turned up nothing, and my magazine collection didn't have anything either. The one bit of information I did find was in my trusty KKOA books. On page 110 of the second KKOA book (2003) there is a great shot of Jerry's Ford. Not much to go on, but at least it is a little clearer than my frozen DVD stills. I seem to remember someone posting a picture of Jerry's Ford in one of our discussions here on the HAMB. It was either a thread with pictures from an east coast show, or possibly in the "Kustom Blues" thread. I searched that thread back almost 40 pages and after close to three hours of doing that I gave up. Maybe one of you custom faithful out there will remember the car. I know we have a lot of custom folks in Baltimore and the surrounding Maryland area. Maybe one of them will chime in with more information. I hope more comes to light on this car, as I'd love to see clearer shots of it, and find out a little more on Mr. Vinje. I guess that's about all for tonight. Before I sign off, I want to wish everyone out there the best as we are dealing with the Corona virus all over the world. Don't panic, and follow the steps with the hand washing, limited time with people and so on. We're all gonna get through this--don't let it get you down. That's all I'm going to say about that as the HAMB is a nice place we can all gather to forget about things for a while. Have a great St. Patrick's Day and stay safe! I'll see you next week! E
No idea of the car's where abouts but I saw a recent picture of Jerry on a Facebook page that Anthony White moderates. Sent from my LGL158VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Classified listing from 10/03/2019: Other photos here: http://www.greaterdakotaclassics.com/sold/soldcars/57_ford.htm "2 Door Sedan Beautifully customized clone of the Buddy Alcorn car built by Dick Jackson of Compton, Ca. in 1957 that appeared in the 1958 Custom Cars Magazine, (I have the magazine). Painted maroon with gold scallops and pinstriping, restyling included the installation of a reworked '54 Chevy grill, installation of a Fairlane 500 rear bumper, removal of exterior door handles in favor of electric solinoids, frenching the headlights and installation of chrome rims from a '56 Ford pickup, Buick portholes inserted into top of hood, Dodge Lancer hubcaps, side mounted lake pipes, lowered front and rear, tuck and roll interior, dual dummy spotlights, wide whitewall tires, AM/FM Cassette radio, and many other 50's touches."
Wow Sancho, you did I again! I'm still amazed at how you find information. If I read the ad correctly, it was sold. I wonder where it ended up. E Looks like you were right Mick. The car was based on "Peep's" car. The custom folks here on the HAMB really know their stuff! E
I received a nice informative message from my buddy @John B. He did some searching on Facebook and found some information about Mr. Jerry Vinje. Here is a picture of Jerry with a few friends. Jerry is the guy with the cane. Apparently he is still doing very well and is currently working on a '49 Mercury convertible. John also found a few pictures of some other cars Jerry owns or has owned in the past. A super clean, mild custom Mercury four door: .....and a very nice, really red Ford pickup. A special thanks goes out to John B for the information! E
. Just got back to reading this thread and what pops up but Lynn Finlayson's shoebox Ford pickup... One year while we were attending the Counts Rod Run in Rapid City with our radical '57 Chevy we ran into a problem...!!! We'd put in a used 283" in the radical '57 Chevy and drove it from Denver to Rapid...as distance of 400 miles...just as we were pulling into the rod run grounds, we heard an ominous noise coming from under the hood...yep, spun bearing...wasn't going to be able to drive the car back home... !!! Lynn had trailered his Ford pickup to the Counts and offered to put the wounded '57 on the trailer and that meant we (my bro, my son Chris and I) would have to drive the shoebox pickup to his home in Alliance, NE...!!! The "trucks" interior was crowded and very hot for the 300 mile trip...we made Alliance about 10 PM...dropped his truck off and my son Chris, and I hopped into the '57 which was still on the trailer and rode the rest of the way home in that...finally got home to Denver about 2 AM...what an adventure, definitely "fun" with cars"..!!! R-
I wanna make sure we give credit where credit is due. The picture of Jerry and friends was taken by Mike DeGroat who had bought a 54 Mercury convertible off of Jerry. The other two pictures were posted to Facebook by Jerry's daughter Michelle. I'll keep mining Facebook for information to keep you all from having to venture into that wasteland.
Very cool pictures guys! Until Bill posted the first pictures of the shoebox pickup I'd never seen it. Something like that would be a kick to cruise around in. I dig it! Anyone know "What Ever Happened To..........?" it? E Great story Roger! Thanks for popping in. Hopefully once we're allowed to do car stuff again our paths will cross. Hope you and Dan are well! E
stanlow69, 54delray, thanx for posting pix...54 delray, where'd you find that pic...??? Yep, that's the radical '57 sitting next to Lynn's pickup... Denver friends there were the Wards-their Merc and Deuce are also in that pic, didn't know they were coming up until we saw them there....!!! And that hadda be in 1984 or 1985...!!! When I said Lynn's "pickup" was crowded I meant three of us sharing the front seat and I was so close to the steering wheel I could barely move-like an adult trying to ride a child's tricycle-elbows and knees all over...and the seat was stationery...there was literally no room...riding 300 miles to Alliance in the pickup was literally a sweatbox...!!! R-
Lynn just sent me some pics of Slik 50 and few of the Ford pick-up last week because I reached out to him about what magazines or movies Slik 50 had been in. The Shoebox pickup had a swamp cooler on it ... shoulda stopped and put some ice in it Roger.
I have a positive I.D. on Dirtbag Bob now ...Bob Lindeman and his wife Rosie lived in Dodgeville, WI back in the 80s when they had the '54 Ford Glasstop. Unfortunately, Bob passed away maybe 10 years ago.
I now have a positive ID on the owner / builder of The Wanderer '54 Ford glass top. Phil "ACE" Iterbide's step daughter Melisa confirmed that Bob and Rosie Lindeman of Dodgeville, WI created The Wanderer back in the 80s when Bob was employed as an upholsterer at Ace Auto Upholstery. Melisa is certain that Bob passed away shortly before Phil did so that'd be probably 10 years ago now.
Thanks for the confirmation @a990hemi! I'll update the post. Sorry to hear that Mr. Lindeman is no longer with us. Rest in peace..........E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 210. 1951 Mercury Owner: Bill Hayes Franklin,Virginia This week's custom is one that was built in the early days of the custom renaissance. I have featured many cars that were built during this time that, although not totally traditional, are still important to the history of customs that brought the traditional custom full circle to where we are today. Bill Hayes found the car in the woods and bought it. He spent a year getting it into the condition it was shown in the first KKOA book (1993) on page 113. But that is only part of the story.......... I apologize for the "run" in the scan on Bill's Mercury. The car was on the inside page by the spine and it didn't scan very well. I believe I found a typo in the description. It says that Bill found the car in 1990. Well, I found the car in an earlier version than the one pictured in the book at the 1983 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio. So I'm guessing the paragraph should have read 1980 instead. Bill's '51 in '83 was a beautiful candy red with some unusual horizontal patterns on the sides. It had many traditional customizing tricks done to it, but, being the 80s, he decided to put dual stacked square headlights on the car and the super unusual choice of a '75 Ford Torino Elite grille. Put the unusual mods out of your mind and look at the chop and roof line. On these aspects, Bill nailed it! The quality of the body work and paint looked top shelf as well. Unfortunately, these are the only good shots of the car on the video. At this time, the rear styling remained a mystery. The next time I saw the car was on the 1987 Sled Scene East video. The car looked unchanged, but there were even fewer shots of it. Bill participated in the old KKOA big show tradition of "How Cool Can you Cruise?" and I managed to get a few shots of Bill strutting his stuff. These pictures are really not very good at all. These were shot on my TV while the tape was rolling. It was the only way to take pictures as when I froze the tape on my old VCR the whole screen just blurred out. Sorry folks. After the '87 Sled Scene, the car was absent from car shows for a while. Maybe Bill was at many shows, but if he was, he never got caught on video. The last sighting I found of this car was at the 1993 Sled Scene East show. Since Bill was from Virginia, it made sense that he attended this show. For many folks, it was a tradition with east coast sledders for years. I can't say when the car was redone, but it was prior to the 1993 printing of the first KKOA book, and the '93 Sled Scene East show. For this paint job Bill went all out in true 50s style, although the square headlights and Torino grille remained. The body was white (possibly with pearl?) with a super nice layout of gold scallops outlined with red pinstriping. I don't want to start a whole big thing here, but you have to marvel at the work it took to install the Torino grille in the Merc. The peak to match the grille and the rounded hood lip was a ton of work. It is definitely not traditional customizing, but who ever did the work was a true master of metalwork! From this angle, the car looks great! Still puzzles me why Bill used the grill and headlights that he did, but it definitely made the car standout. After all, it was the 1980s! Ok, now to the back. Here Bill stuck to traditional styling and it is all true 50s classic touches. We finally get to see the stacked and frenched '59 Cadillac taillights and the clean look of the shaved trunk lid. The scallop job on the whole car was superb! Moving along we get to see some interior shots. Somewhere down the line, the '51 dash was changed out to a '49. Great choice as the '49 Merc dash was a styling masterpiece by the Ford/Mercury factory. It was so different from the '50 and '51 dash. Bill's had clean white paint with no striping or anything. I wonder if he ever had someone get after it and lay some lines on it. We may never know. For the seats Bill went with nice and clean looking white vinyl with a diamond stitch pattern. It is still something you don't see much of today, but it seems to be making a comeback. It is very sharp looking without the labor intensive pain of real tuck 'n' roll. After the '93 Sled Scene East, the car seemed to go away. Did Bill put the car away for someday? Maybe it was wrecked and a different front clip was installed with a new look that made it so you couldn't tell it was Mr. Hayes' Mercury. Maybe it was sold and re-done by a new owner. The possibilities are endless. So what did happen to Bill's Mercury? Let's see what comes up! Well guys, here we are in some strange times. Most of the country has been ordered to stay home, incomes have been threatened and life as we know it has really changed. I hope that everyone is well and that you aren't stressing too much. Hang in there, we're gonna get through this. You have to know that He is still in control and there is a reason for this, although we have no idea what it is. You all stay safe out there! We'll see you next Tuesday! E
Jim The Alliance Ford made into a Eanchero was parked just a couple cars away from me at the 1986 Last Pass and the wood fence right behind it proves to me where you took this picture
Here is a side shot I took at the 83 KKOA in Springfield, dont remember ever seeing it in white. is there 2 different cars with similar paint? Something funny going on here 49 or 51? must be 2 different cars.
I noticed that in the white version it looks like it has a laid down 51 back window, where in the maroon version it has a 49 back window. wonder why he chose to make that modification while re doing the car but left that horrible grille and headlites in..... there, I said it.... LOL
Has to be a 49 with 51 quarters added, but that window has me confused too! Maroon version has 51 front bumper, sunken antenna is in the same place on the 51? That would be a lot of work to add, wonder if its scallop paint or?? We need a better picture here for sure.
I've been following this thread for years, and have learned a lot about the unsung heroes of our hobby through it. I also agree this custom deserves to be remembered. But with those seventies styling elements, is this the right forum to do it in?
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