1949 Mercury Custom, chopped, dropped, frenched and shaved (Ertl, barely!)

This radical custom began as an Ertl 1949 Mercury Custom Rod, but a friend of my friend Frank picked up where Ertl left off and went oh so much further. This is the custom rod Ertl should have built. I just hope the American Graffiti and James Dean Mercury customs come out half as cool as this one. Some of you may know the craftsman too, he runs a die cast salvage yard. Make sure to contact him if you are missing a part or two on your Ertl cars or if you need a few spare parts on a modified car you are working on. His service is great and the prices are reasonable. You can contact Frank at Diecast Auto Sales via e-mail. And as far as the work performed by Frank's friend, well, just take a look. WOW!

What can I say? This thing is downright incredible! These pictures cannot do justice to the paint color or quality. This thing is so smooth and shiny it almost hurts your eyes! The color is somewhere between sapphire blue and a deep purple. At first glance it may not be apparent the amount of work that has gone into this thing. I'll make my best guess what all has been done here. First you will notice the craftsman installed the stock Merc grill in place of the custom grill Ertl used, I think it a huge improvement on this custom.

First, the custom license plates are cool. Maybe they are a readily available decal, but I've not seen them before. Rod Benders sure sounds like a 1950's car club. Notice how all the chrome trim has been removed, even the door window frames have been removed. You HAVE to notice the lowered top. This has actually been chopped. I don't even want to think about all the work involved re-attaching the roof and smoothing out the transitions. The original windshield was lowered into the cowl and the rear window was retained though now it is laying at a much more horizontal position. This thing seems to be gliding forward even when sitting still.

Even the taillight bezels are gone, the mirrors are gone, the gas filler door is filled as are the front and rear roll pans which replace the bumpers. Again, notice the window frames have been removed. When the top was dropped, the sides of the roof were also rolled over and dropped further to narrow the side window opening height. The door handles are shaved as are all the emblems save one and the headlights have been frenched.

I think the tail pipes are new, but I don't have the Ertl custom 49 Merc so I can't double check. This could NEVER be driven in the Midwest, our roads are just too rough and uneven. This thing practically scrapes the ground while sitting still. It sure looks to me that the craftsman has lowered just a touch more than Ertl already had. This picture also gives you a good idea of the shine the paint has. Notice how it reflects the background so well? You can also see here the "side curtains" grafted into the roof to narrow the side window height. An amazing amount of work!

Of course the craftsman didn't stop after customizing the body. The craftsman also did a great job detailing the engine. He left very few details undone. Every exposed bolt head is chromed and the firewall and under hood are all body color. The engine, battery, horns, radiator and just about everything else got painted details. And I thought I was getting pretty good at detailing die cast models but the craftsman has proven I'm just getting started. Wow!

Of course the interior wasn't left unattended. Everything got a nice coating of a light dove gray color including the door panels. The pedals are detailed and all the nice Ertl dash detailing has been retained. I don't know the source of the steering wheel, but it looks like a custom item but maybe it's what came with the Ertl custom. The paint on the interior is very well done and has a slightly dull finish to simulate cloth or mohair. The choice of interior color was exceptional, it contrasts and compliments the outer color so well. Absolutely stunning! I wish you all could see this thing in person.

The wheels appear to be the original Custom 49 Mercury units, but this shot gives you an idea how low the car sits. Notice the stock Mercury hood emblem which is now located on the front fender. It is a nice 1950's touch. Also take notice of the clean lines of the cut and rebuilt a-pillars. The paint color is illustrated well here, it seems to vary from area to area dependent on the amount of light reaching that area. The metal flake is very, very fine and looks great on this scale car. Also take note how smooth the frenching around the headlights is.

Leaving no stone unturned, the craftsman even detailed the tires with a little "dirt" in the tread to make it look authentic. The lake pipes are a nice touch and the craftsman obviously retained them from Ertl's original design. All in all, quite an impressive custom job!