Friday: Customs

You probably all remember 1949  -  right? While I'm awaiting your answers, I'll begin..........

...........and no, I don't remember it either, but Ford introduced the Mercury in the above ad. It was a big step forward for Ford, but an even bigger opportunity for customizers. There were a lot more of these artists in the '50's, '60's and '70's. They would take a car and add/bend metal until they got their personalized vision of that particular car. Many were quite beautiful while others were quite hideous (beauty in the eye......). But the '49 Merc caught everyone's attention, so much so, that it has become iconic and the most customized car ever.

Here is one of the first chopped top trendsetters, the "Hirohata Merc"..........


Bob Hirohata & his Mercury

Done in the early '50's, it caught everyone's attention, appeared in numerous magazines and helped to elevate the 1949 Mercury's status in the eyes of customizers. Of course, some of those early fifties "greaser", "rebel without a cause" flics also helped. Want to see this car in colour? I thought so.......




Danbury Mint (the diecast company) even did a model of it, which for a couple of hundred dollars you too can enjoy. I have one and it's great.


How about this one.......



Or this one.......




You can even buy a plastic model of a chopped Mercury  -  I have built a couple, one with flames, one without. Funny how one car becomes the customizer's darling. With so many having been done, the personalization becomes not so personal  -  how many ways can you customize one car? Still I find it interesting to see how one car has had so much influence. Sixty years from now, will some other blogger be taking a look back at a recent Corolla?????


Now that the car modelling cat and I have finished the North Carolina State Police car, we are moving on to another project. I have the Little Red Wagon wheelstanding dragster on my table now, so hopefully we can get started on it this weekend.


Until next time........