Customizing by definition means taking something and making it different or unique and improved, and Terry Hegman's '51 Mercury is the recipient of all that and a whole lot more. Terry's ride is also a lesson in patience and proof that such greatness cannot happen overnight, or even over a couple years. Terry's own story goes back to the '50s when he was a kid and saw his first customized Mercury cruising down his block. It was an experience that forever hooked him on customs. He would sneak his pocketsize rod magazines into elementary school classes and dream of the day when he could have a custom of his own. As the tastes and styles of the early '60s changed, Terry stayed true to his custom car yearnings and was eventually cruising in his own mild custom '50 Merc. He also tried slicing a top on another Merc, but found the task to be too advanced for his skills at the time-a situation that would be much different later in his life.
As the 1960s drifted into the '70s, Terry became more involved with his work as a custom painter of psychedelic vans and wild street machines, among other things. At the same time, he honed his skills at massaging metal and eventually made a shift from life on the East Coast to the West Coast and hung up his paint gun to become one of the most talented metalmen in the country.
At the end of the 1990s, Terry faced the new millennium with a very strong desire to build a Mercury that would use a majority of his favorite custom tricks he had so long envisioned. Step one was locating a car. Being on the West Coast, it didn't take long before an absolutely rust-free, never-cut '51 Mercury was sitting in his driveway.
Terry got the project started by changing the front fender lips and yanking all the springs and setting the suspension up with wood blocks to achieve the desired ride height. This gave him just enough inspiration to take the big leap of slicing the top, which happened late one night after working on customer projects. When Terry stepped in the shop the next morning, he instantly knew he had a problem-the top was not cut enough. That night he chopped it again "until it looked right," which translates to approximately 3 inches in the front and 4 inches in the rear.
For the next seven years, Terry was making constant progress on the '51, refining and customizing bits and pieces to achieve his vision. "I always had something on the bench," Terry says of the work on the Merc. That time was spent on details some may never even notice, like the N.O.S. side trim he made better than factory by removing the slightest imperfections and redoing the sloppy factory folded ends with new ends meticulously welded in place and then smoothed to perfection. On deciding what should and should not go on the car, Terry says, "It's just stuff I liked, and I've always believed less is more." A partial list of additional work that could only be spotted by the most knowledgeable includes reworked and modified bumper guards and massaged inner window frames that were chrome-plated once they passed Terry's inspection.
The time finally came when Terry had massaged every inch of the Merc and sent the pieces off to be painted or chrome-plated. Doug Jerger at Squeege's in Arizona handled the rich blue metallic paint while Christensen's Plating worked on the shiny stuff. As the pieces went back together, Terry's life-long dream was being realized. The whole thing came together when friend Tom Sewell in Cambria, California, stitched up the crme and blue interior in the classic style used in the early days by the Carson Top Shop.
You might think the story ends when Terry carefully cradles the car from show to show on a quest for trophies to applaud his fine workmanship, but actually nothing could be further from the truth. "I built this car to drive it," Terry says, and so far he has put over 3,000 miles on the clock. When asked how long it took to work the bugs out, Terry says he's still working on them. Hard to imagine this car ever had any bugs, but that's all part of being custom.
Terry Hegman Fountain Valley, California 1951 MercuryDrivetrainTerry's whole intent when building his Mercury was that he would drive the wheels off of it when it was finished. For that to happen, a nice reliable drivetrain would be the only option. A stone stock 1998 Chevy 350ci/300hp small-block keeps the maintenance to a minimum, and he mated that to a '69 Camaro three-speed manual gearbox with overdrive. Dressing up the engine is a set of chrome-plated 1953 Oldsmobile valve covers and matching air cleaner. Finishing off the power package is a 9-inch Ford rearend fitted with 3.50:1 gears.
ChassisThe chassis was one of the major components to receive the least customizing. Up front the mods were limited to a pair of dropped spindles and clipped coils while the rear uses de-arched leaf springs and 3-inch blocks with a C-notch to allow full travel of the rearend.
Wheels & TiresDayton 215/75R15 wide white radial tires wrap around a set of steel wheels wearing a set of perfect, yet unrestored, '53 Oldsmobile flipper hubcaps.
Body & PaintWhat Terry looked to achieve with his car was to combine all the best elements of his favorite early customs into one car. Starting at the front of his '51 is a pair of frenched '54 Mercury headlight rings flanking the shaved hood with rounded corners over a molded '49-50 Mercury grille surround housing a '54 Pontiac grille. Moving back on the front fenders is a pair of '57 Plymouth front fender lips Terry elected to use because he felt the more commonly used '52-54 Merc/Ford lips are too large and stick out too far. The doors were shaved and above them the top was chopped-3 inches in front and 4 inches in the rear. More meticulous than some, Terry kept all the original components like driprails, wind wings, and stainless window trim intact during the chop process. At the rear of the roof, Terry swapped out the '51 rear window for a '50 unit, which makes it flow much better with the chopped roof. The trunk was shaved and a pair of '54 Mercury taillights was fitted as an homage to the early work of the Barris brothers. Once the owner handled all the bodywork, the car was taken to Arizona so Doug Jerger at Squeege's could spray the multiple coats of rich metallic blue paint, a color borrowed from late-model GM pickups. After the paint was dry, all the brightwork, such as the massaged N.O.S. side trim and bumpers with the shortened and massaged bumper guards, was reattached one last time. The finished product is simplified automotive beauty at its best.
InteriorTerry worked hard to keep the integrity of the period car inside the Mercury by only modifying what was necessary and maintaining the look and feel of the early customs. A Lincoln steering column with a restored '51 Lincoln steering mated to it (with a custom skull horn button) sits under a fully restored original dash. The original front seat has been lowered just slightly to match the chopped top, and custom wood panels and the rear seat make up the rest of the interior by Terry. Covering the interior is custom stitching by Tom Sewell in Cambria, California, that perfectly evokes the style and simplicity of the early jobs by the Carson Top Shop seen in all the golden era customs. Final elements are more of Terry's handiwork, with the highly massaged and chrome-plated window frames and the one-off rear speaker grille in the package tray.