Introduction by Rob Fortier
If you've seen one chopped Merc, you've seen 'em all ... right? Nope, not by a long shot. Considered by many to be the staple of customs, the '49-51 Mercurys are and may forever be ranked right up there with a '57 Bel Air, '67 Camaro, and, yeah, the venerable '32 Ford-belly buttons to some, dream cars to others ... many, many others. Steve Silver is definitely one of the others, one who's had the fortune and opportunity to make that dream a reality.
Steve Silver had the fortune of growing up in Southern California at the dawn of the golden age of customs-but as a pre-teen, watched from the seat of a tricycle rather than a tuck 'n' rolled bench seat. Nevertheless, he's got vivid memories of an era that many of us young'uns can only, well, dream about. And rather than interpret those recollections and firsthand experiences, we'll let Steve take us back in time and follow the tracks that led to the making of his '51 Merc.
"In the mid '50s, I was living with my mother in Wilmington, California, which was the heartland of custom cars long before the so-called lowrider. It was at that time that we young kids would go to L Street, off of Avalon Boulevard, to watch the cars from Long Beach and San Pedro parade down the street on Saturday nights. I was so interested that I joined the Jr. Road Kings, which was connected to the Road Kings Car Club; I even had a jacket.
"But in 1953, I moved to Phoenix, where my father lived. Shortly thereafter, I had my eyes on a brand-new ('53) Chevy 150 two-door ... it was owned by my brother, who had just been drafted. In 1954, he reported to duty, and I was left babysitting this stock sedan. Well, I had the keys, and my friends and I thought we knew how to customize. Immediately we tried to lead in the hood and ended up warping it. After that, I had others who knew how to use a torch assist in the bodywork. The cars back then were daily drivers, and primer was the order of the day ... primer on the hood, trunk, taillights, and headlights. What is so surprising when you look back at it was that the modifications were not overdone, and the result was a car that could have cruised Bob's Big Boy in Glendale.
"I worked in Hollywood one summer at a top shop and went over to Hollywood Boulevard near the freeway where Von Dutch was working. At lunch time, he pinstriped the car for me for $20. The car appeared in the local newspaper as a radical custom. In fact, it was also written up in our high school paper in l956. You will find the language of this era interesting. White 'skins', 'kemp', and other words were used to describe it. It also had a Tijuana tuck 'n' roll, with dice and all. Although the engine was still the stock inline-six, it had a '37 LaSalle transmission, which used a golf club handle as a shifter.
"After high school, I had to get rid of the Chevy when I went off to college. Fortunately, I'd befriended Rod Palmer, now the owner of Arizona Street Rods. We hung around together and often cruised Central Avenue in Glendale. Fast forwarding to 1998, I expressed to Palmer an interest in building a '32 Ford roadster, which we did using an all-steel original. The Merc would come next.
"I always liked the tailfins of the '51 Mercury, and thought Palmer and I could build a period-perfect custom. I think we did so. It took almost 50 years for me to build the Merc I wanted back in the '50s. For those who lived in that era-and in that area-we all remember cruising down Central Avenue and hanging out at Bob's Big Boy, which was owned by three fellows who worked for the owner of Bob's in Glendale and started the chain in Phoenix. (Years later, I represented them in selling the chain to JB's). As some may know, Arizona was always influenced by California, but it usually took a few years for us to adopt what was going down on the Coast."