Per Ivar Kolgrov's 1948 Mercury

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Per Ivar's Mercury in 1963

1948 Mercury Convertible restyled in the early 1960s by Per Ivar Kolgrov of Oslo, Norway. When Per Ivar bought the car it was a rust bucket with a bad interior, and a worn out engine. Per Ivar began his build by replacing all off the rusty panels on the car. When the rust was fixed, he went on to fix and replace mechanical parts such as the front suspension, drive shaft, and more.

The rear of the car, including the fenders and the trunk were cut down. The stock taillights were replaced by 6 round taillights sunken into the rear fenders. The backup lights were borrowed from a Dodge Dart, and the parking lights from a 1957 Ford. The rear bumper was removed and replaced by chromed pipes. The front fenders were cut down and fit with quad headlights from a 1964 Fiat 1500. The stock grille was replaced by a homemade bar grill featuring chrome and copper inserts.

The car was fit with a removable steel top featuring a Plexiglas sunroof and rear window. Green Plexiglas was used in the sunroof. The top was padded and upholstered in leather-grain vinyl.

Inside, the Mercury got a 1958 Ford steering wheel and white and Teal Ford Crown Victoria seats.

The engine, a 1956/1957 Ford 312 CID V-8 had seen better days, so Per Ivar decided to bore it out. The stock heads were shaved for better compression, and Per made his own manifold using 3 dual Holly carburetors. The hopped up engine was hooked to a 1954 Jaguar Mark VII transmission. To improve the road handling the car was lowered 1 inch in the front.

Once completed the car was painted white. The build took a little more than one year to complete.

The car is still around, and is currently located in Bergen, Norway.

July 2009 the Mercury was advertised for sale on AutoDB. The asking price was 150 000 NOK.