1950 Mercury - Resurrection Of A Custom

Being a product of a Los Angeles childhood, Condren Hampton's youth was peppered with lowriders and custom cars. Growing up, he dreamed of someday owning a custom car of his own; in particular, he wanted a chopped and dropped '50 Mercury. Years later, in a rather somber set of circumstances, Condren found himself poised to buy just such a car. It turns out that a relative of his wife Amber, Big Bill Cunningham, had just passed away and Bill's wife Connie wanted to sell his Merc, but preferred to keep it in the family. Condren wasn't in the position to buy at the moment, but with the insistence of his wife, he was soon on his way to Indiana to organize the details of getting his new birthday present home.

Big Bill's Merc was no stocker, and as it sat in Condren's Southern California garage, it was already a mild custom with plenty of pedigree as a '50s-style custom. It had been nosed and decked, the doors were shaved, the lights frenched, and it also had the stock Mercury Flathead under the louvered and rounded hood. The car was a sitting time machine, but Condren was after something he could drive in today's Southern California traffic, as opposed to the cornfields of Indiana. It was time for the old custom to receive an upgrade.

The first thing on the list was to upgrade the chassis. Condren wanted the car to sit on the ground, but still be realistic to drive. To that end, it was brought to Rod Tech, where the car received a Mustang II front clip and a Ford 9-inch rearend hung on adjustable airbags by Ponch at Bag Man. The front clip upgraded the stock Merc drum brakes with Mustang II disc units, as well as a rack-and-pinion steering box. Rod Tech then dropped a 350ci small-block Chevy between the stock Merc 'rails backed by a 700-R4 overdrive trans, completing the modernization of the chassis.

Since the Merc had already received the custom treatment before its journey to California, there were really only a couple things to do to make this Merc a full "kustom with a k." Bill's version used a '54 Chevy grille with a few extra teeth, but Condren had found what he calls his jewelry. A pocked and thoroughly beat '53 DeSoto grille was picked up for $1,200, and, after another $1,700 worth of polishing, plating, and coercing by Charles Sihilling at Sihilling Polishing, the new grille was slid into place in the Merc. The next course of action was to lower the lid. Chopping a 50-year-old virgin Merc is no small feat, and Condren decided to leave that task to the pros. The Rod Tech crew of Bill Brown and Todd Olympius, joined by Tom Rodriguez and Rob Simms at Cypress Auto Body, lowered the Merc top 4 inches in the front and 5 1/2 inches in the rear. Rob and Tom also fabricated a pair of flush fender skirts for the rear before blocking the body and spraying the black paint.

Before heading over to the upholstery shop, Rod Tech dropped in an ididit tilt column topped by a LeCarra steering wheel. The dash was completely restored, and new VDO gauges were dropped into place before the entire car was rewired.

The personalization of Condren's Merc was now well under way when the painted custom rolled into Costa Mesa Auto Upholstery. The Merc had so far succeeded in staying with a '50s vibe, thanks in no small part to whom Condren likes to call his "street rodding consultant," Doug Bryant. So it was agreed a white vinyl tuck 'n' roll interior would only be fitting. CMAU fabricated a custom back seat before covering every square inch of seat and panel in white vinyl. Rod Tech had incorporated a center console in the Merc's design, so that was covered as well. Gray wool carpet was pulled over the floor to keep the well-trodden areas easy to maintain, as Condren plans on driving his kustom.

When Condren started, he already had a great foundation laid for him-an adolescence surrounded by lowriders and custom cars, an original '50s custom, a talented team of craftsmen, and, last but not least, the woman who made it all happen, his wife Amber. Remember that it was Amber who convinced him to buy this birthday present in the first place; and, after all this, all she ever wanted was flamethrowers! Needless to say, she got those flamethrowers (one on each tailpipe on the Merc), but the Hamptons also won a trophy for Koolest Kustom at one of the first events they attended. Surely Big Bill Cunningham is proudly smiling down on his recreated custom.