why not "Gasserize" a 50's Merc...?

I know it's almost religion to slam a 50's Merc to the weeds, do the fender skirt, lake pipes, fat whites thing... but this picture in the cl***ifieds got me to wondering, wouldn't they look great as a big ol' mean g***er??? Anyone ever done one, or got any pictures? Am I going to smoke a turd in HELL for even thinking of something like that?

Not into LeadSleds... won't lie to ya.

 

might be pretty cool. unchopped with radiused wheel wells in the rear. it's not like you'd be killing it. it could be changed to a kustom anytime. it's just a damn car.

 

Eh, I think it's a bad idea, but what do I know. I've seen a small handful of old pictures of shoebox Ford g***ers, but no Mercs that I've seen.

IMHO the g***er style is a fad right now anyway. Why not just work on it, keep it kinda stock, and you'll have no trouble selling it to someone with their own vision when you see something else your more into?

 

"selling it?"
Hell, I'm not even buying it... I was just curious. There are some cars that always seem to get the same "treatment" shall we say... Mercs always seem to be Lead-Sledded. The photo just struck me as a good start of a dragstrip monster, not a flame-throwing blvd cruiser, ya know?

I've seen big old '66 caprice g***ers (long sum*****es), so I was just curious. Yeah, everyone is jumping on the g***er craze wagon, but I've liked them since my dad dragged in the 60's... so I will always have a softer spot for a jacked up, loud, tire-smoker than an in-the-weeds, chopped 50's Merc... but that's just me.

 

I recall similar year Fords raced, but I don't recall a single Mercury modified with all the standard "g***er" equipment (straight axle, no front bumper, fenderwell headers, radiused rear fenders, etc.).

Not that it couldn't be done, but I think you would end up with a car that the wannabees ooh and ahh over, but the guys that read Hot Rod in the 60s look at and say, "huh?"

 

LORD NO merc arnt ment to look like that. Keep them cookie cutter !!!

 

I remember seeing a pro-street Merc during when pro-street was hot. Even durning that time it still looked wrong. Don't g***er it, find something else.

 

Guise...
I think the reason they get the custom treatment is that they are kind of a tank, or at least they give that vibe. That and the fact that a lot of our building trends come from what became forever idolized on the pages of this magazine or that. G***ers were never really show winners, ya know what I mean vern???

My guess is that if you were going to make a g***er out of one it would most probably be set built more along the lines of a 50s type of a g***er, not lifted a bunch maybe an inch or two and no straight axle. Remember when the g***er thing first came about they were more of a street legal dual purpose car as opposed to a dedicated race car.

Here of late we've seen a couple of old real survivor g***ers in the cl***ifieds that were ponchos and oldsmobiles, but they were left over from the '50s and not lifted a ton. I personally like the look a lot better than the stump jumper off road look. Some cars lend themselves well to the mile high g***er look and others just look like some country boy put a car body on his farm truck ch***is, kind of a cow boy cadillac.

 

Bah...

G***er is the new rat rod. I mean, yeah, Im sure back in the day it made sense, does look cool, but I guess Im just jaded seeing "g***ers" pull 16s etc. Ive seen more than a few that move but...Im into the tech end of it, I would love to see a stocker Merc REALLY quiet with say a grand national 3.8 single turbo? Stocker quiet @ idle, but look out when the throttle is hit...would take off sounding/moving like a jet plane.

 

I'm no photo-shopper... but this looks pretty damn mean!

 

Well for one the merc's were to damm heavy to be considered as g***er materal

 

do it do it do it. any body that think a 50 merc must be chopped and dropped is as much a purist as the covette guy's that hate g***er vettes. screw 'em. I think it would look awesome. everyone was digging flamedabone's merc with a blower ( me included, but I don't think he could **** up a car build if he tried. that ****er does good work)

 

I hear ya... I'm not even considering buying this Merc... I just wanted to raise the question, why do they all look the same?

But I was also being a teenager in the 70's when EVERYTHING was jacked up and fitted with the widest rear tires your wages at Sizzlin' Sirloin could afford... tried to get those memories outta my head, but the StreetFreaks just won't go!!!

 

Yes and Yes I like that photo shop pic

 

G***er Merc.... NO! Jalopy Merc.... NO!

 

Yeah.
Why not?

People forget that there were as many 49-50 Merc hot rods as there were customs.
Granted, the hot rod Mercs were nosed and decked, but the important part is many of them had built engines and gave similarly equipped Shoeboxes a bad time.

Sometimes I think we march in lockstep with some of the cars in our hobby.

Chopped and lowered Mercs are great looking, but doing one in hot rod style would make for a really different car nowadays, stand out and still be trad.

Ain't this hobby all about individualism?

 

You ever weighed a merc??

Mine only weighs 3005lbs Thats less than a 5.0 mustang and less than pretty much any Chevelle ever built. my merc will turn a consistant 14sec in the 1/4 and thats with a 302, aod and 3.73 gears ....

There not as heavy as they look.

Bill

 

Exactly. Hot rod mercs and individualsim both.

I look at it this way, I see a lot of stuff I don't like right here on this board but its not my stuff so I don't have to.


BTW guess I missed FlamedABone's blown Merc somebody send me a link. Pulleeze.

 

I dunno-seems like waterskiing behind a destroyer. You could, but WHY? It'd have to be done very carefully, to keep it from looking like a "me too" car.

 

I always kinda liked this one. And Johnny Rocca's Pro Mod was really "neat".

I'll agree with the post above. If you've got the look, you'd better be able to back it up with the performance. But, at least for me, going as fast as you can is what HOT Rods are all about.
Larry T

 

I like g***ers and I like Mercs, but please.......

The Mercs were considered too heavy for g***er material, even 3500lbs of shoebox ford was considered too heavy.

That's why there were alot of Willys, Novas and most anything Mopar. Willys were, of course, body-frame design, but were of light gauge material. The other cars mentioned were unibody, so that's almost like chucking the frame weight right off the bat.

A Merc?? A little too tippy on the scales.

Besides, I think it would just LOOK wrong, but whatever flips your switch.

J

 

as for weight... we're not talking about an actual race car here, but rather a build style.... and I bet a merc don't weigh any more than a 57 chevy.

your photochop shows it wouldn't be a bad looking car. not something I would do even if I had Jay Lenos money, but I'd sure as hell snap some pics of one

for me a merc is too cl***y for a g***er style build. I'd like to see one built HOT ROD style .. fat tires, (not pro street) big motor, louvers, some sort of mags..like Halibrands maybe... no skirts and no whitewalls. and how bout a minimal chop..maybe 2".

 

Oddball kustoms in Toronto has a 50 g***er merc if I'm not mistaken

 

Is a '50 Merc any heavier than a '50 Olds?

 

I'd bet the Olds is heavier by several hundred pounds.
Heavier engine, heavy hydromatic - in most cases - heavier rear axle, correspondingly heavier suspension, heavier seats etc..

Most impromptu drag races between a good running 50 Merc and well tuned 50 Ford V8 - both stock except for duals - was pretty even up.
The Merc had a touch more HP due to it's larger engine, but the Ford may have had a lower rear diff.
Not completely sure there

 

Not all g***ers were lightweight/supercharged cars. Paul Longenecker ran a 60 model Pontiac station wagon and Dave Koffel had good luck with his record holding Packard.

 

Oh SNAP! That's what I was looking for... cool! I knew they were out there somewhere... thanks!

Yeah, don't tell me a '50 Merc is as heavy as the old stationwagons and **** I've seen pickin' them up and puttin' them down in 11-12 seconds for decades.

Heh - four door to boot, that's friggin sweet.

 

Someone posted one on here not long ago and everyone chewed him a new one. I don't blame them.

Remember the Stalone movie Cobra? chillls

 

Or build a cool drag race sled. Check this one out. Ran in England this weekend. Owned by a dutch guy I think http://www.eurodragster.com/santapod/live/2007fiamainevent/pictures/saturday/pic02.htm

 

In a very early issue of STREET RODDER,possibly the first,There was a stock bodied 51 that had cut sheel wells with formula 1's on Bis Ansen Sprints all around.