John C. Silva, Jr.'s 1941 Mercury

John's Mercury as it was presented in the Souvenir Pictorial from the 1961 Hartford Autorama. Photo courtesy of Kustomrama.

A photo of John's Mercury taken at the 1961 Hartford Autorama. Photo from the Brian Frederick Photo Collection.

Photo courtesy of Anthony White.

A photo of the mercury taken after Lenny Legere bought it from John. Photo courtesy of Anthony White.

Photo courtesy of Anthony White.

Photo courtesy of Anthony White.

Photo courtesy of Anthony White.

1941 Mercury club coupe owned by John C. Silva, Jr. of Peabody, Massachusetts. Built on a 1948 Mercury frame, the body on John's Merc was chopped, channeled and sectioned. The radically restyled Merc featured a custom grille opening that incorporated canted quad headlights and a bullet grille. Power came from a hopped up 1951 Chrysler Hemi-engine. The car was shown at the 1961 Hartford Autorama. It was presented as an award winner in the souvenir program from the show, claiming that it had won several firsts. At the time it was valued at $2800.

John sold the Mercury to Lenny Legere before the build was completed.