1951 Mercury Eight Coupe Custom
Ford products have always been popular targets for customization, but when Ford’s Mercury division debuted the all-new Eight for 1949, it was unveiling a car that looked sleek and modified right from the factory. Of course, this did little to stop artisans like Gene Winfield and George Barris from going even further, chopping, shaving, and lowering their way to the radical “lead sled” look that is still popular today.
This 1951 Eight Coupe is an excellent example of how these iconic Mercurys can be tastefully customized without resorting to the saw and blowtorch, creating a beautiful, period-inspired feel without compromising usability. The body was shaved of its door handles and other bright trim prior to a repaint in black with hand-painted pinstriping. Exterior details include a DeSoto-style grille, frenched and smoked headlamps, black-tinted taillamps from a later Mercury, rear fender skirts, and a split windshield.
The interior features bench seats with white upholstery, black piping, and winged Mercury logos as well as a matching headliner and door panels. Amenities include a Sony CD player, remote-controlled power windows, and a heating/air conditioning system from Vintage Air.
A Budnik billet steering wheel frames aftermarket gauges from Classic Instruments including a speedometer, an under-hanging tachometer, and a six-digit mechanical odometer. The peeling vinyl on the headliner as well as stained carpet in the trunk, which is trimmed to match the interior.
The 389ci V8 features a Holley carburetor on an Edelbrock intake manifold, pinstriping on its air cleaner and radiator cover, Mickey Thompson valve covers, a chrome alternator, and a polished air conditioning compressor. An Ostler & Sons Hot Rods body tag is affixed to the firewall.
Within its era and beyond, the Mercury Eight was popular with customizers. Sam Barris built the first customized creation from a 1949 Mercury Eight; That Eight became the definitive “lead sled”, much as the Ford V-8 (as the “deuce”) was becoming the definitive hot rod. The Eights were among the first models to receive an aftermarket OHV engine swap, since Oldsmobile and Cadillac developed the first high-compression OHV V8 engines in 1949, whereas Ford was still using a side valve engine. Setting a style and an attitude, it had a “momentous effect” on custom car builders, appeared in several magazines at the time, and reappeared numerous times since, earning an honorable mention on Rod & Custom’s “Twenty Best of All Time” list in 1991. The Eight remains a very popular subject for car modelers.
