Phil Turano's 1954 Mercury

An in-progress photo of Phil's Mercury taken after Woody had grafted Packard taillights onto the quarter panels on the car. The photo was taken in front of Ken Bausert's parents house in Richmond Hill around 1961 or 1962. Photo from The Ken Bausert Photo Collection.

A photo of Phil's Mercury as it appeared after it had been painted. Ken can't remember who painted the car. "It could have been Sal Consiglio, as he did my Mercury, but for some reason, I think Phil’s brother Andy had it painted somewhere. Andy drove the Merc a lot after Phil either went in the service or got married.” Photo from The Ken Bausert Photo Collection.

1954 Mercury Convertible owned by Phil Turano of New York City, New York. Paul "Woody" Wood restyled the rear end of the car, grafting Packard taillights onto it. In 2019 Ken Bausert told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that Phil and Andy lived over a store on Jamaica Avenue, near 113th Street, also in Richmond Hill. "Phil and Andy's father owned a store, possibly a butcher shop, and he had a '55 Chevy station wagon that he used for the business. It was a 265 V8 stick shift and pretty fast 'cause the stick station wagons had 4:11 rear ends in them, I think. So, Phil and I are in his dad's car one night on Cross Bay Blvd., and Phil is trying to race anyone who came next to him. Suddenly, he sees a police car coming after him so he turns down a side street where lots of houses are, and pulls into someone's driveway between two houses, and tells me to duck down in the passenger seat, he does the same in the driver's seat, and we lay low while, we hope, the police car passes by. Well, it must have worked 'cause they never stopped or caught us."

The build was completed sometime around 1962. Ken couldn't remember who painted it, "It could have been Sal Consiglio, as he did my Mercury, but for some reason, I think Phil’s brother Andy had it painted somewhere. Andy drove the Merc a lot after Phil either went in the service or got married.”