Lloyd Myers' 1949 Mercury
1949 Mercury convertible owned by San Jose Rod and Wheelers member Lloyd Myers of San Jose, California. Lloyd's Mercury featured a chopped and padded top. The front end was modernized by installing a pair of canted quad 1957 Lincoln headlights. A new grille opening was made and molded in, and a tube grille was installed in the new opening. Side trim from a 1956 DeSoto was used to separate a translucent paint job. The taillights were 1957 Plymouth station wagon lights in a molded setting.[1]
Once completed, Lloyd's Merc was shown at the second annual Seattle Rod and Custom Show in 1959. At the show Lloyd won the "Full Custom Convert" award and the "Longest Distance" award.[2] Dick Page remembers that Lloyd used to drive up from San Jose every year to attend the Tacoma Toppers car show as well as the Seattle Rod and Custom Show.[3] Lloyd's Merc did also attend the second annual Bakersfield Motor & Boat Show November 26 - 29, 1959. Custom Cars July 1960 featured a photo of Lloyd's Merc from the show.[1] Later on the car received a Root Beer brown paint job. Later owner Gary Wise heard that it was shown in the late 1960s in the Seattle area as the "Brown Bomber". [4]
Somehow Lloyd's Merc ended up in Chehalis, Washington. Dick Clark of Olympia, Washington bought the car from Chehalis. Dick wanted to restore the car, but du to health issues he was unable to start it. Gary Wise, also he from Olympia, used to stop by Dick's shop a lot. He knew Dick had the Mercury, and he fell in love with the old custom. Dick refused to sell the car to Gary. Gary asked several times without luck. Later on, around 1993, Gary bought a 1958 Pontiac from Dick, and he asked him once more about the Merc, by then Dick was finally ready to sell. There was a local rumor around town that it may have been a George Barris car. During a car show in Portland, Oregon Gary was able to ask George about it, and he didn't seem to remember anything about it. Someone told Gary that it had been shown in the Seattle area as the "Brown Bomber". He was also told that the top on the car once blew off on the way to a Seattle car show. After that Gary started to research old car magazines. Once he found one photo he started learning more information from other people who were familiar with it. He had the opportunity to talk to Gene Winfield at the Portland Swap Meet, and he pointed out that is was shown in the Andy Southard/Tony Tacker book Customs of the 1950s. After meeting Gene, Gary actually sold him the extra nose he had for the car. It was from the magazines that Gary was able to find Lloyd Myers name. Through LeRoy Silva, another local car guy, Gary was able to get a hold of Lloyd Myers. When Gary bought the car it was in bare metal, and it came in pieces. The front end was retrieved from a field of blackberry bushes. As the "Root Beer Brown" version of the car had the DeSoto trim removed, Gary had to drill up the leaded holes in order to replace the trim. The car also had a few remnants of the brown paint when he bought it. In 2013 Gary was working on returning it as close as possible to the condition the car appeared in the custom car magazines in the early 1960s. The restoration was completed in April of 2014, and the car made it's first appearance at a car show held at the Quinault Beach Resort Casino in Ocean Shores, Washington April 24. At that show, Gary and Sue received the award given by the Casino. Since the show was promoted by Richard Rawlings of Gas Monkey Garage, he was the one who chose the winner on behalf of the Casino. This version featured 1957 Cadillac hubcaps. After driving it for a while, Gary decided to make the ride smoother by adding air suspension.[4]
For Sale
In January of 2015 Gary was ready to move on to the next project, and he decided to advertise the old custom for sale. If you are interested in the Lloyd Myers Merc, please get in touch with us at mail@kustomrama.com, and we will put you in touch with Gary.
Magazine Features
Custom Cars April 1960
Car Craft July 1960
Custom Cars July 1960
Trend Book 197 Custom Cars 1961 Annual
References
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