Johnny Rosier's 1953 Mercury

The Merc as it looked when it was featured in Car Craft December 1957.

A later photo of the car with pinstriping on the deck lid.

1953 Mercury built by the Ayala Brothers and Johnny Rosier of California Custom Shop in Garden Grove, California. Johnny was a member of the East Los Angeles Auto Butchers Car Club. The car featured a perforated square expanded metal grille chrome plated combined with three 1955 Buick dagmars. The center dagmar was decorated with Oldsmobile Fiesta hubcaps blades. The hood was nosed and the air scoop was removed, giving the car a cleaner appearance. The re-positioned side trim was made from DeSoto components. The air scoops located on the rear quarter panels were made functional and trimmed with Thunderbird trim. The frenched and tunneled headlights were 1956 Packard units. In the rear a 1954 Cadillac rear bumper was narrowed to fit the extended rear fenders. The fenders were reworked in able to install a set of 1955 Lincoln taillights which were molded in. The car was painted in a two-tone blue and gold lacquer and enamel. The interior was yellow and black leather with chrome plated glove box, speaker, and speedometer case. Finally the car was fit with 1953 Cadillac Sombreros, fender skirts, and dual spotlights.

In 1958 Johnny's Merc was nominated as one of 28 "Top Customs of the Year" in Motor Life July 1958, in the magazine Johnny's last name was misspelled "Rozier".

Magazine Features

Rod & Custom July 1956
Car Craft December 1957
Car Craft March 1958
Custom Cars March 1958
Motor Life July 1958
Trend Book 143 Restyle Your Car
Trend Book 197 Custom Cars 1961 Annual