Lloyd Myers' 1949 Mercury

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This color photo of Lloyd's Merc appeared in the book Custom Cars of the 1950s. Photo courtesy of Andy Southard.
Lloyd's Merc at a San Mateo car show. This photo appeared in Car Craft July 1960. Photo courtesy of Car Craft Magazine.
Lloyd's Merc at the second annual Bakersfield Motor & Boat Show November 26 - 29, 1959. This photo appeared in Custom Cars July 1960. Photo courtesy of Custom Cars Magazine.
This photo of Lloyd's Merc from the 1959 Seattle Rod and Custom Show was printed in Custom Cars April 1960. At the show Lloyd won the "Full Custom Convert" award and the "Longest Distance" award. Photo courtesy of Custom Cars Magazine.
This photo of Lloyd's Merc appeared in Trend Book 197 Custom Cars 1961 Annual. Photo courtesy of Trend Books.
Photo courtesy of Trend Books.
Scan provided by Dick Page.
A photo of the rootbeer brown version of the Merc. This photo came with the car when Gary Wise bought it, and it was possibly taken at a Seattle car show. Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
A photo of Gary Wise in the Merc. This photo was taken around 2003, after the running gear had been installed and the body had been mounted on the frame again. Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
The Merc as it sat in 2013, while Gary was restoring it back to how it appeared in the early 1960s. Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
The Merc as it appeared in late October of 2013. Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary Wise, provided by Sue Wise.
Gary completed the restoration of the Merc in April of 2014. It made it's first appearance at a car show held at the Quinault Beach Resort Casino in Ocean Shores, Washington April 24. Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
At the Quinault Beach Resort Casino 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 and presented it to Gary.Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
A photo of the Merc taken at the Little Creek Casino Cruise In in Shelton, Washington in July of 2014. Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.
Photo courtesy of Gary and Sue Wise.


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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