Funny. Back in 1959, when I was 16 years old, I had a 1949 Merc. It was not a radical custom, just nosed and decked. But, it had lake pipes (that were hooked up to the exhaust). The hub caps were Lancers. The spotlights were real Appleton teardrops and they were hooked up and worked. All of the interior window sills were chrome plated along with other interior parts(such as the heater cover). Full laminated blue and white teardrop dash knobs. White and blue Naugahyde upholstery. Silver blue paint. It had the original Merc flathead engine V8.

Now, I am many more years down the line. When I go to car shows I see cars that have all of these same attributes. I could have sealed that car in plastic and brought it out last week and it would fit right in.

I am sorry that I took only one photo of that car. (See avatar.)

If anyone has heard of an old hot rodder by the name of Dick Courtney I have a story. Dick and I worked on the same asphalt paving crew. On one job we were at a local school doing some patch paving. There was a dirt athletic track on that campus. Well, Dick often went to Ascot Stadium to watch the races. My Merc was backing off when I slowed down and Dick said that it was probably retarded timing so we advanced the timing a little. Dick then said he needs to drive it to see if we got it right. We got in the car, Dick was driving, and he proceeded to drive around the dirt track. He then gave it more throttle until we were sliding around the curves with the wheels turned out. Needless to say Dick had a great time while scaring the heck out of me.

Frank Curry, the founder of Curry Enterprises, was a friend of Dick's back in their high school days (late 1940's) when Dick built his first '32 High Boy. I recall meeting Frank Curry when he was with Dick back in the 1950's. I was recently at the Fabulous Fords Forever Car Show in Buena Park, CA and to my surprise there was a nice '32 High Boy on display. It is Frank Curry's.