Mercury 8 Custom, Red, for sale in Charlotte, North Carolina, for $76,995.

Rarely does a car come along that displays such design, grace and taste. This 1951 Mercury is what customizers everywhere try to capture in their "one of a kind" show pieces.

The owner wanted the clean, simple styling of an early - 50's custom and he kept this car true to this tradition. The custom build involved cutting the window pillars down 4" vertically and fitting it with a one piece removable
top. The windshield glass was v-butted together at the seam. The top was constructed out of 1/2"x 1/2" steel stock, hand formed, and rolled to the desired contours. Built up with layers of aviation wire, padding and burlap,
the top was then covered with white convertible top material - the same as a carson style top. The rear quarter windows slide into a small channel located in the body. The hood was then filled and the peak extended down
into the hand-formed grill opening. The upper lip of the grill opening was formed by rolling a piece of stock steel and then welded into place.

An extensive amount of molding work was done around the hood and grill opening to smooth and blend the contours. The floating grill bar was made from two halves of an early Chevy bumper guard which were welded together and chromed. The front fenders were extended 5" to accommodate '54 Buick headlight units and slanted slightly forward to visually peak the fender lines. A '53 Chrysler front bumper was smoothed and a '52 Kaiser
bumper-guard was incorporated.

A bold move was made by removing the stock dog leg in the Mercury's door. This created the long and sweeping fade-away fender line that is such a strong element of the car. This involved hand rolling sheet metal to perfection to achieve the desired horizontal slant while still maintaining the contour of the body. Then the section was welded into place. You'll notice that the fender line continues to slant downward towards the rear of
the car. This required the reworking of the entire quarter panel. This design feature creates the tapering swoop that has come to define the Mercury's "speedboat" stance. Following the classic tradition, with a very
subtle touch, is the use of a '54 Mercury fender openings which were grafted onto the car adding a rolled loop to the wheel opening. This visually lowers the car and creates a leading edge for the side molding to follow.

The door handles were removed and fitted with electric solenoids. The push buttons are operated by the touch of a shoe and located in the lower rocker panel. The gas door was filled, smoothed and filler tube re-routed into the trunk. The antenna was frenched into the rear fender to keep lines clean. A piece of sheet metal was formed and fitted to fill the opening between the rear deck lid and the rear seat to keep surfaces smooth with top off. The builder incorporated '53 Buick side trim into the design. The fender skirts were hand built to accept the rear portion of the Buick trim and to follow the fender line slope rearward. Visually, this creates a line beginning with the front opening and continuing through the tapering side trim and ending rearward of the skirt.

The tail end of the car was finished by removing all trim from the trunk. The rear fenders were extended to accept the '54 Mercury taillights. The rear bumper comes from a '54 Lincoln with the addition of the Kaiser bumper,
a handmade license frame is attached to the bumper. Stainless steel exhaust pipes were frenched into the lower edge of the bumper.

This masterpiece is painted House of Color "Candy Brandywine"over a gold under-base. This is reminiscent of a candy apple.

An extensive amount of molding and shaping took place under the hood. A new smooth firewall was fitted along with hand built fender wells.

The car is powered by a '57 Chevy 283 - completely rebuilt and blueprinted.  It has custom fabricated headers routed to the exhaust. It has a chromed water pump and alternator fuel pump wire was used to dress up the engine. The block is ground smooth and painted Candy Brandywine. There is no better way to top off an early small block than with six (6) Strombergs sitting on top of an Offenhauser intake manifold. A '58 Olds shifter was adapted to the 350 turbo hydromantic transmission. A '58 Olds steering wheel and column are also used.

A '69 Chevy Z-28 front clip with disc brakes was sub-framed to the original '51 Mercury chassis. The rear clip is from a '76 Monte Carlo that was grafted in place then c-notched to achieve the low stance. The car rides on
205/75R15 Diamond Back AS4 with 2 3/4" white walls. Cadillac Sombrero wheel covers are a signature of this era. The upholstery is pleated white leather tucked and accented in wine colored piping. The front seat is an early
Cadillac while the rear seat was custom made to fit. Leather pleats continue on the door panels and inside the trunk.

The craftsmanship throughout this car was never compromised. If you are looking for the best of the best - then look no further and call us today!