Einar Valsjø's 1952 Mercury

An early photo of Einar's Mercury taken during the restyling. Much of the work on the car was done outside during the winter. This photo was taken in Ilsvikøra. Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

A photo of Einar's Mercury taken before he painted it in 1965. Unfortunately it was involved in an accident, and the third brake light was removed. Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Mud flaps was required "safety equipment" at the time. Without these you could loose your license plates. Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Einar with the Mercury in 1966. Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

The interior featured Volvo Amazon front seats with Recaro/123GT tilting. Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

After Rolf Rönning crashed the car into his garage door he had to rework the front end. The reworked front featured a narrowed grille opening and grille. When this photo was taken the roof had also been painted black. Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

Photo courtesy of Einar Valsjø Custom Cars.

The Merc as it sat in 1979 when Inge Busch owned it. Photo courtesy of Inge Busch, from Gamle Bil,Mc bilder fra Trondheim og Midt-Norge.

Photo courtesy of Inge Busch, from Gamle Bil,Mc bilder fra Trondheim og Midt-Norge.

Photo courtesy of Inge Busch, from Gamle Bil,Mc bilder fra Trondheim og Midt-Norge.

A photo of Per Ivar Auranaune with Inge's Ford. Photo courtesy of Inge Busch, from Gamle Bil,Mc bilder fra Trondheim og Midt-Norge.

Photos of the car taken in the 1980s, when Ola and Geir Jonassen owned it. Photo courtesy of Frode Willmann, from Gamle Bil,Mc bilder fra Trondheim og Midt-Norge.

Einar's old Mercury as it appeared in 2019 when it was advertised for sale on Finn.no. At the time the car was located in Selbustrand, Norway. Photo courtesy of Vika Auto, from Finn.no.

Photo courtesy of Vika Auto, from Finn.no.

Photo courtesy of Vika Auto, from Finn.no.

Photo courtesy of Vika Auto, from Finn.no.

Old photos that came with the car when it was advertised for sale in 2019. Photo courtesy of Vika Auto, from Finn.no.

Photo courtesy of Vika Auto, from Finn.no.

Photo courtesy of Vika Auto, from Finn.no.

Photo courtesy of Vika Auto, from Finn.no.

Photo courtesy of Vika Auto, from Finn.no.

1952 Mercury owned and restyled by Einar Valsjø of Trondheim, Norway. Einar built his first car, a 1951 Chevrolet, in 1963. The Mercury was bought after the Chevrolet was completed, and much of the work on the car was done outside during the winter. Einar remembers that he often froze into the ice under the car while working on it. The Merc was nosed, decked and shaved for door handles. Dual antennas were sunken into the rear quarter panels on the passenger side of the car, a common Trondheim custom touch in the 1960s. The front bumper was removed and replaced by a rolled pan, and a 1954 Chevrolet grille bar was installed inside the modified opening. Canted quad headlights were grafted onto the front fenders for a more radical and modern look, a common Scandinavian 1960s custom touch. The rear bumper and taillights were removed, and the rear fenders were finned, extended and fit with tunneled taillights. A rolled pan replaced the rear bumper. Early photos of the car, taken before paint shows the Merc with a third brake light molded into the centre of the pan. The third brakelight was removed after the car had been involved in an accident. Under the hood, the stock flathead V-8 engine was scrapped in favor of a bigger 312 V8 engine from a Thunderbird. The interior was done in black and red leather. Red rolls and pleats covered the door and kicking panels, and the center section of the seats. The front seats came from a Volvo Amazon, and they featured Recaro/123 GT tilting. Einar's Mercury was completed in 1965, and according to Knut Svea it was the first custom car north of Sinsenkrysset in Norway.

Kjell Arntzen bought the Merc from Einar around 1971 - 1972. By then the car had been painted red. The next couple of years, Kjell drove the car all over Norway and Sweden. It was his first american car, and he also hopped up the engine a little. Kjell was living the dream, and the he used the Merc all year around. After owning it for two years, he wanted a 1957 Ford Fairlane, so he sold the Mercury to Rolf Rönning in Malvik. Rolf crashed the car into his garage door, so he had to rework the front end. The reworked front featured a narrowed grille opening and grille. Sometime after the accident, the roof of the Merc was painted black. It went trough several owners in Malvik. Inge Busch bought the car from Jan Strøm around 1977-1978. He paid 7500 NOK for the old custom. Inge traded the Mercury away in 1979. In the 1980s it ended up with Ola and Geir Jonassen. It was later restored back to original configuration.

Advertised for sale by Vika Auto

Late summer of 2019 the car was advertised for sale by Vika Auto in Selbustrand, Norway. Somebody had started restoring the car, and the body had been lifted off the chassis. All rust was replaced and repaired, and the car came with most of the original parts. Listed on Finn.no, the asking price was 99 999 NOK.