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In The Buff: 1950 Mercury Coupe

front left

Typically, you wonder how much rust and bondo might be hiding under the the paint, but not with this Mercury listed on craigslist here in Sacramento, California. It’s been media blasted and primered so you can see every pinhole and dent. The front edge of the hood will need help. This Mercury had less than 40,000 miles has been off the road since 1974. Disassembly was done within the last year and all the parts appear to be somewhat sorted. The engine has been rebuilt. It’s got 3 pedals. They want $10,000 for this project.

floor

The floor looks very solid. There appears to be a patch piece over the transmission cover. It doesn’t appear to be welded but riveted  or screwed instead.

rear

The trunk also shows lots of rust as well as dents.

engine2

The engine was rebuilt by “a well known machine shop”.

before

This is the Merc before disassembly. As Jesse said in his MGA article“You should never buy someone else’s unfinished project.” As always one has to wonder just why they gave up on this one. Could it be a good thing to see the bare truth of the condition of the body? Do you think there’s any hope here? It’s only got two doors. What do you think it might be worth? I really look forward to your comments on this one. 

Comments

  1. Avatar grant

    I don’t imagine this will last long. I do wonder why they primered before they repaired the rust though.

    Like 0
  2. Avatar Fred

    Probably were not planning to immediately fix the rust and wanted to prevent surface rust on the bare body, which can happen overnight.

    Like 1
    • Avatar grant

      Makes sense.

      Like 0
  3. Avatar jimbosidecar

    Looks like a worthwhile project to me

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Ed P

    What you see is what you get. Nothing seems hidden about this car’s body. I would feel better about this one than something that looks to good to be true. There is rust, but it looks very repairable.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Kevin Member

    I’ve always loved these cars! This one seems to be and honest starter to be an incredible custom or just bring it back to its former glory. With a cool color change of course to cruise around and take the kids to get ice cream. Can’t beat the price. I just wish I could finish my impala to scoop this up. Very cool, thanks for listing it. Long live the the lead sled!

    Like 1
  6. Avatar Bob Hess

    Would have loved to start some of the many restorations we’ve done with a car that good. Must be a sucker for rust.

    Bob

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Mark S

    The seller has done a lot of the hard work including giving you a rebuilt engine. The amount of rust is very minimal it won’t take long to tig in some new metal. It be nice to see this car remain stock just because you see so few of these Merc’s that are. I’ll bet that there are lots of guys seeing this post and wishing they had the means to take this project on including myself, nice find.

    Like 0

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