History What was the FIRST chopped 1949-50 MERCURY

Well I do want to share more of the stories I have heard from Jerry and I will pretty soon.I dont have tons of stories that people would be interested in since Jerry dont talk about customs for very long.I have heard a ton of stories about boxing and some of the fights he was in and how he used his boxing to end them fights real quick,he was not one to play with at all...even to this day at his age he dont take shit from nobody.His stories about that stuff are pretty funny but I dont know if he would want me to repeat em.Most of the stories about cars always end up talking about drag racing and Bonneville,he just dont really care about customs anymore.Oh! .... he did go to Sturgis for the bike show this past year and he had a good time.He liked it because he used to drag race motorcycles and race in different types of motorcycle events,he said he really loved em.

 

Rik,without trying to sound like a you know what but these mercs we are talking about are coupe's not sedan's. sorry man,im sure it was a simple mix up.

I noticed someone recently brought up the Jonnie King interview with George Barris and I havn't listened to it in a while but when you go to the thread it is written how they bought the car brand new and chopped it with only 5 miles on it.I know we have gone over this stuff about when they were bought plenty of times but here is what im getting at..... I went thru my notes of my Jesse Lopez conversations and he has NO memory of Sam owning any merc besides his blue convertible.The reason im bringing this up is because the interview that Johnny did with George is pretty recent and if im not mistaken he is still saying the car was bought in 49.Jesse was around the shop bigtime during 1949 and dont remember it at all.
So I asked Jesse about Jerry's car and he didnt remember it either but he said it kind of sounded familiar to him.So Jesse must of just missed this stuff since he went to Korea.

 

K13..... NO im not saying that Jesse Lopez is claiming that Sam didn't have a mercury.I wrote this to simply add a little more info for the timeline we have been trying to figure out.All this is clearing up is that Jesse was not around when this was taking place since he had already left for Korea.

 

Thanks to John Barris and thanks to Rik for cleaning this up and making it available for us to get made into a poster.I will be making my donation tomorrow.

 

Yeah I know Mercury called them Coupes and the four door Sedan's... but they just never felt as a coupe to me... wont happen again

 

Very cool, thanks Rik.

 

History lesson time !!!!

 

I spoke with Dick Jackson on the phone last Wednesday and brought up this topic. He said Jerry Quesnel's Merc was chopped at the same exact time Sam's was at the Barris shop, and both were finished at the same time...you're talking maybe a few days or a week apart at the most...which is nit-picking if you ask me.

He also mentioned Marcia Campbell had a '49 Merc coupe being chopped during that time as well (not to be confused with her '51 convertible she had later on...) I asked if he knew of any pictures of that, and he said none have surfaced that he is aware of.

I also asked him if there was any sort of "my chop was done first" competitive attitude going on back then, and he said absolutely not. He also said Sam didn't buy his Merc brand-new like many books and magazines have said- he bought it used toward the end of 1950 and it was originally the stock green that Mercury offered in '49 (obviously, he painted it his own custom-mixed dark green after he finished customizing it...)

Dick used to drive Sam's Merc (when it was in primer) to high school sometimes and even told me a story about getting stuck at a RR crossing with a train coming when the battery cable popped off and they couldn't get the doors to open. They were on their way to Carson Tops to pick up a Chevy convertible that was just finished. As a side note, I asked him if Sam's Merc ever had a kustom interior and he said he does remember Bill Gaylord doing some black and white rolls and pleats right before he sold it.

Anyway, Dick Jackson was really close with Sam (like brothers, he says) and began hanging around the Barris shop in '49 and even saw the Matranga Merc being done...he is a priceless source to the real story. I haven't sensed any bias or made-up stuff at all from him...

Jeff, have you heard more from Jerry Quesnel?

 

No I havn't heard any more from Jerry but Dick's take on it sounds real close to the way Jerry talk's about that certain time.Jerry has said many time's that there was never no competition and that is why he don't go out of his way to talk about it and talk to magazines to clear up the story.He said it never really was a big deal.Jerry was also very close to Sam and alway's talks about how great he was,so im sure Dick hung out with Jerry plenty during that time. I have also heard that train track story from Jerry.

This is pretty good that you talked to Dick Jackson because I think his story falls right into the timeline.

 

Yeah! It's a great feeling to talk to these original kustom guys...and it would be cool to meet Jerry Quesnel someday.

Jeff, did Jerry Quesnel mention anything about Marcia Campbell having a chopped '49 Merc at that time as well?

 

No he never did,he just talked about her being around a lot taking pictures.I have never heard of her having a 49 merc.I would think Jerry would of remembered that other early 49. I will ask him about her merc next time I talk to him also I can ask Jack.

It is a great feeling talking to these gent's,almost like a time machine.

 

GREAT info Rob... Please make plenty of phone calls to Dick to ask anything about this period, and the Merc's chopped at the Barris Shop.
Very interesting to hear Sam did not buy his Merc brand new from the showroom.


As for Marica Campbell and a 1949 Mercury.
I'm not aware of this at all. I will ask David a good friend of mine who interviewed Marcia a couple of times if she ever mentioned owning a chopped 1949 Mercury, but I doubt it.

I once received an email from here not to long before she passed away and in that she mentioned this:

"I spend a lot of time taking photos for the Barris boys many years ago. The completed 3 cars for me a 49 chevy conv, a 42 Ford and a 29 model a truck which took 2 batts to start."

 

No problem, guys...the fact that some of these guys are still around is awesome.

Yeah, it struck me as being odd when he mentioned Marcia Campbell having a '49 Merc...I tried to kind of press on that without questioning too much in a rude sense...but I will see what I can dig up the next time I speak with him. I owe my friend Octavio the credit of putting him on the phone. I've met and talked with Dick in person at a couple of shows over the years, but never really talked heavily about the early Barris days until recently over the phone.

Jeff, did you make it to Brad's Fire Party? Jack Stewart and his wife were there. Any chance Jerry Quesnel will be down in SoCal anytime soon?

 

Thanks for the great input Rob. We needed some more "food" on this subject now!
I really want to believe Dick on this, but I think it is strange that Marcia didn't mention the 49 Merc when she wrote Rik...maybe it wasn't completed while she owned it, and then she "forgot" all about since she never actually drove it after the chop... I'm just guessing here now...

 

No problem, Sondre! I'll keep you guys posted

 

I always thought the original chopped and channeled Mercs were called Hudsons.

 

Today I was working on a project and was looking a bit more closer to some of the Marcia Campbell photos of Sam Chopping the Jerry Quesnel Merc. I was actually looking more in the background of these photos than at the Merc itself, when I noticed something that I had never noticed before... and even though I have looked at those photos a lot of times for various projects I had never noticed that the Jack Stewart 1941 Ford is in the background of a couple of photos.

We all know that the Jack Stewart 1941 Ford was mostly built at the Ayala shop, but George Barris finished it for Jack. And we also know a few dates when certain things where done to this car. So with the Jack Stewart 1941 Ford in the background I can now say that Marcia took the photos of Sam chopping the top, or at least with Sam finishing the metal work on the top after the end of January 1951. So we now that the chop was not done before January 1951.

Jack Stewart entered his 1941 Ford in the 1951 Hot Rod and Motor Sport Show at the Los Angeles National Guard Armory held at the end of January (25-28) He showed the car there with white out windows since he did not have an interior in the car yet.

Well in the photo below we can see Jack's 1941 Ford in the background, with a full interior. Jack never mentioned when he did the upholstery on his car, but I know this must have been after January 1951. Next time I talk to Jack I will ask if he remembered when he had the 1941 Ford upholstered. It must have been in the beginning of 1951, since later that year he went to Korea, and George Barris sold the car for Jack to Jim Skonzakis.





And here is another photos... and the guy in the Ford could even be Jack... but its fuzzy and hard to tell.

 

Rik..like i told you earlier today, you are a true detective!
no doubt this is the stewart ford.
there's not much room in the car, so it really looks like the seat is out..it would be almost impossible to keep your head down like the guy in photos does. unless he is laying flat on the front seat...
maybe they are working in the interior or wiring at the time that Marcia was in the shop.
here's a picture of the room inside the car
-palle

 

Wow good work Rik! And I think it is quite important in dating these things.

It looks to me like, in the second picture, the person is leaning across the seat towards the passanger with his arm over the back of the seat to get a look at Marcia taking the picture.

So even say we give Jack a week from the armory show to get the interior in his car, although one would think if the time frame was that close he would have had it done for the show, that leaves two weeks until Sam's car was done and in paint at the Oakland show. There is no way he didn't already have his chop done by this point in time. It may not have been in paint yet but one would think the metal work had to have been done.

 

Very interesting finds Rik, so it seems like Dick was correct when he said they were done at the same time.

 

Very cool detective work, Rik! I never noticed Jack's Ford in the background either...that face is kinda creepy- like those ghost pictures online that you stare at for five minutes before seeing the face

 

The face seen in the window of the Stewart Ford could very likely be Nick Matranga. Nick told me he was hanging out at the shop regularly when Jerry's Merc was being worked on. It should be noted however, that the image is a reflection of the person standing to the right rear side of Quesnel's car looking at the Stewart car, not a person inside the Stewart car. That would require a revision of the laws of physics as well as human anatomy.​

 

Great point David.......did Nick talk anymore about Jerrys car?

 

The door's open.he's probably sitting on the floor board with feet on the ground.

 

I really wish we could find out more about this convertible Mercury that Marcia had in the early 50s.

 

This is the only Mercury that Marcia had as far as I know...

(Photo by Suzanne Irvin)

 

I dig this picture ^^. Rik, Rob and I were talking about this at Bills birthday party the other day and the subject came up about her mercury.Rob was also talkin about some details from his talks with Dick Jackson.Some of that has to do with the White Ghost and how soon he was cruising the streets.

 

this may already be a dead subject, but there is no way that the face in the window of the Jack Stewart car is a reflection.

if you look at the light source, its from behind the camera. now look at the cast of the shadow on the face in the window. NOW look at the glare above the A pillar, the glare on the upper edge of the door and the glare on the belt line.

it all points to a consistent light source at the time of the photo.

dude (whoever he is) was inside the car!

 

I agree the person is in the car, it is not a reflection. But he is not sitting on the seat. He is on his belly on the seat or something like it and then looked up just when the photo was taken.

 

Decidedly,
The guy in the window is Chuck Barris,
Because he was a circus contortionist,
And he worked for the CIA…
~Michelley ​