I have always wanted to buy a car and then fly to where it’s located and drive it home. Just imagine the looks that a person would get driving this 1980 Mercury Zephyr Z7 custom home from Port Orange, Florida! This crazy custom is listed on eBay with an $8,900 buy it now price or you can make an offer.
In researching the Zephyr I ran across a car that looked somewhat similar to the one listed for sale here. The other one was shown in a YouTube video and I think it may be the same car before it was further customized into the one shown in the eBay listing. What do you think? And, here is certainly this same car as shown “at the January 21, 2016 “Spring Hill Car Show,” in Weeki Wachee, Florida” in a photo taken by DanTD. It’s fun to see the evolution. I prefer it with wheel covers but that’s just me.
I did a story on a 1980 Ford Fairmont custom exactly one year ago, which is a little scary, seen here on a Barn Finds post from April 19th, 2017. I would have to say that this Zephyr is much more custom and you haven’t even seen the inside yet! The Continental Kit on the Merc is much nicer. I can’t believe that I just said that out loud. Actually, a ton of work has gone into this Zephyr custom, there is no denying that fact. I think that with different wheels it would look a lot cooler but that’s just me.
Whoa, those aren’t Zephyr seats! Nice. I wonder what color the interior was when it was the light blue version? This navy blue interior matches the current exterior accent color perfectly. The seller says that this is an “early 80 Lincoln interior” and those seats look fantastic. The Zephyr would continue on through 1983 and was eventually replaced by the Mercury Topaz. I’m not sure if a Topaz custom would have the same pizzazz but I could be wrong.
The engine isn’t quite as custom as everything else is, but it doesn’t look like any 200 cubic-inch inline-six that I’ve ever seen. This one would have had around 90 hp when new but I’m assuming that it has a bit more horsepower with a few modifications. The side pipes aren’t just for show, by the way, they actually work. What are your thoughts on this build? A lot of work has gone into this one.
There are some interesting styling cues for sure. However, if the Seller is the one who invested all the time and money to get the car to the condition it’s in, even at the BIN price I suspect they are losing their shirt in the deal.
Sorry but not my thing
But someone will be mad enough to drop nearly $9K good luck!
that motor w/a cross-flow head puts out over 500 hp.
Stout bottom-end, top “can’t breath” w/a ‘log’ intake.
Some chop it off & put 1 Keihin/or/Mikuni per cyl…
This car is proof that people have too easy a life now.
If somebody had time to customize this car, they don’t have enough work to do.
Ahhaaa….that’s funny!
Now I know where all the blue wire loom cover ever made actually went. If I was going that “far” to spit & polish the engine, I would have spent the extra $ to build it
I have a car similar to this. It was one of those $100.00 throwaway cars.
When the A/C compressor broke off the front of the engine, I gave up and gave it away.
I didn’t know Huggy Bear was back in town.
I think the builder made an interesting custom out of an otherwise boring car. I agree with Scotty, the wheel covers or a different set of rims would look better.
And now, for my next question……………..
Why?
Obviously the builder has been out in the Florida sun far too long!
Once again I love a trick car but he stopped too short. I was hoping to see a fuel injected 5.0 in there. It would have bolted right in and a harness switch and something to back up the looks. Agreed wheels could be better.
i agree on the 5.0!
im looking at one RIGHT NOW EZACTALY LIKE THIS ONE WITH ho 302 in it same seats all
Where is it located? I lost the car due to hurricane damage. The insurance company totaled it. I never did get to drive it. It was still in the repair shop when it got four feet of water in it. If it’s the same car DO NOT buy it. They had the car for four and a half years and couldn’t get it to run. I doubt if the engine was rebuilt either. I found two cylenders with low compression. The car had electrical problems after they put in a new wiring harnes. The stupid jerks wouldn’t try to find the electrical problem. They kept putting in fuel pumps. Six in all. How stupid is that? Be fore warned don’t buy that car at any price. It also now has a salvage ttitle too. Look for something nice. Good luck.
How much weed does one need to smoke to dream up this idea and then actually follow through with it?
I don’t imagine weed was the culprit here – if so, the guy would have never actually finished the project. (With Led Zeppelin playing in the background: “Dude, I just dropped a washer into the intake! Oh well, that’s a project for some other day!”)
I appreciate the effort, but 50’s style custom mods just don’t work on an 80’s car.
What an extensive amount of work, even the top is chopped. Great skills, poorly executed.
side pipes look stupid and cheap when they don’t run the full length of the rocker panel. They would look better as Lake pipes rather than these cheapies.
Funny, the first picture had me anticipating that it had been turned into a Ranchero-style pickup truck. That might be more appealing, actually…
They made that into one called the Durango.
Those seats looks like they came from a Chrysler New Yorker.
Agreed on the seats. Definitely Chryslet 5th Ave or New Yorker. Dash is stock Zephyr Z7.
lmao
Well, it’s not my cup of tea but, I’ve seen people do much worse trying to execute their vision of a custom.
I had a 55 Chevy Convertible with the same side trim from a 55 Pontiac.
Would love to see this thing in a demolition derby. Cheap parts littered all over the place. Maybe feed it to one of those robotic monsters that eats cars at the same kind event instead.
Sorry, but looking at this awful thing does not make the song line “Crazy ’bout a Mercury….” come out of my lips.
A proverb from the CarGuys Bible: “Thou who dwell in glass garages shall not throwest stones, unless they will adorn these pages with craven images of their creations, so that others might mock them and smite them as they mock and smite others”
Interesting how he had to fill in the front of the side windows, to retain the stock side glass?
Frankly I’d take a Durango before this one but it is interesting and if youhave nothing else to do in your life paint it a solid color (not White) do whatever else it needs and drive it. It’s restrained and bizarre at the same time.
C.Jay, is that your Durango?
We have 5 or 6 of us Durango owners here on Barn Finds.
Jeffro, what are the odds of 5 of us having Durangos with only 212 built?
No, it’s a internet photo. I would own one if I found one.
I think a Subaru Brat would be a neat toy.
I owned one, but not for long – maybe about 5 months. The straight 6 would bog down at about 50 mph. I had other cars, and decided this one would go. I didn’t make much on it. The next guy flipped it. And I believe it went from Colorado towards the East, but not sure. It was the same color accept it had a dark maroon over a lighter maroon. I put 8 hole wheels on it which looked good. The tail lights on the tail gate were a little strange. I really liked the fiberglass bed, and the Ute felt light.
Strangely, I don’t dislike it… compared to some other customs that have graced BF, it’s tastefully done.
The Durango, is super cool!
This is certainly better than that awful 4WD bustle – back Seville featured a while back.
C.Jay, a Brat with STI running gear!
And yes the Durango is super cool. I will post pictures when mine is completed.
MarkS. How is your Durango project progressing? (Mark is the closest in distance that also has a Durango)
Why all the negativity? I actually like looking at this more than just about any ’80s era American car in stock form. They didn’t call it ‘Malaise Era” for nothing! I think it is well done. Maybe not perfect but who wants a perfect car – you can’t drive one as then it quickly becomes less than perfect. While not my style and I wouldn’t want to own it, that doesn’t matter – the world is a better and more interesting place because of it! Thank you builder!!
Agree. The builder obviously has skill.
Right on brother.
This car looks so cool! i love it. They should have made a coupe vversion of the Fox Marquis that donated it’s front clip to this car. The styling really flows. I would do without the continental kit, but it doesn’t look bad either.
I like the styling of the 50’s, too. On a car made in the 50’s. This thing’s an abomination, and sits as proof “just because one CAN doesn’t mean one SHOULD”. If I had the ways and means, I’d have a Fairmont/Zephyr 2-door or an ‘84-86 Marquis/LTD 4-door sleeper in my garage—a subtly built 5.0 or even an Ecoboost, 5-speed, 10-hole alloys or turbine wheels off a Fox-body Mustang or Capri, essentially stock interior with a good stereo, and factory style paint in beige/chocolate brown, navy/baby blue or white/cranberry. Even better…the same build on a white ‘85 LTD woody wagon!
To me this guy is the real deal. He did a lot with a little. That car is all skill with a limited budget. Cheap car cheap parts and a lot of fabrication. I suspect that’s why he stuck with the standard engine. He has my respect. He should be working for a fab shop not a regular body shop turning out mass production.
This thing is a scream. For once a continental spare looks like it’s actually integrated into the design.
I actually like it, 6 and all: a perfectly eccentric thing to do. Looks well done and with the owner’s personality injected throughout.
Somehow it all works.
Besides, it’s not like the idea hasn’t been attempted before: take a mainstream car and luxe it up to the max: Versaille, Cimarron, GM’s Ns.
Far better executed than some of the butchery seen out there. Anything outside the 350/350/Hemi mindset seems destined for abuse.
It’s nice to see something so outside the mob think and well executed.
I like it- certainly more than some of the other custom builds previously featured. The only changes that I’d make would be to lose the side pipes and then lower the front and/or raise the rear as the rake is reversed in the photos.
Ummmm….the builder definitely had some skill. The way the tail lights (maybe from a fox chassis “Ford Continental??”…back when they were strangely trying to drop “Lincoln”) are incorporated and some of the other treatments. I mildly customized a Fairmont Futura once but no chopping or anything to this degree so I can’t completely dislike it because of that. (btw I have searched in vain for pics of my former car…”Futura GT” – white car, sold years ago at a Rod Run or similar in Tennessee) Those are definitely Chrysler New Yorker seats and maybe Chrysler wheels? With those wheels and seats, I call it a “Merchrysler”. I do like seeing the small body LTD and Marquis front ends adapted to Futuras and Z-7’s. This looks like a school project that a very talented student did to showcase his talents…he happened to have a Zephyr in his back yard to use for his canvas. A potential waste of a good fox, but definitely a conversation piece! Could you imagine if you had a Zephyr Z-7 or a Futura in your back yard “waiting to be fixed up” and your wife secretly sent it in to the show where they customize and restore them?? Walk out blindfolded and find your baby molested like this? Now that would be a funny episode (if no blood was shed). Live and let live – someone loves this car and they have a right to.
Still ugly.
I own this car now and I’m making more modifications to it. It is presently in a shop in Daytona Beach. It’s getting a new heart transplant. The new engine is a rebuilt 1995 Mustang GT 5.0 fuel injected engine. Also all new A/C components. Oh by the way it also gets a rebuilt automatic transmission with a floor shift and console. I agree the wheels have to go. Might also add wide whitewalls to give it the old school look. You haven’t seen the last of this car yet. I’d like to know more history about who built the car and where it was built.
I still own this car. It has been in the car shop since July 2018. That’s over three years to change the engine and transmission . I still haven’t driven the car yet. I think that’s a bit much, what do you think. I plan to sell the car as soon as I get it back. I’ve lost interest in the car and have moved on to other projects. I’m going to check the progress today and see what they have done. I’m sure it will be more excuses and lies. I don’t want to mention the name of this lousy car shop. If interested in the car, give me a call. 386-446-2770
I hate reading stories like this…
Either someone is in business to get things done for people, or is just playing around, wasting time and money.
Good luck Bill, it sounds like you need it!