“Model railroading is certainly one of my favorite hobbies but not my only one. I also love old cars.

When I was a teenager growing up in Northeast Texas during the late fifties there were only two ways you could ever hope to get a date. The best way was to play football on the local high school team, but I was too small and certainly not athletically gifted. The only other way was to have a really cool car. Thus, began my life-long passion.

I have had many cool cars over the past 60 years. My first, which my father bought for me when I was 15, was a 1948 Ford convertible. As I recall, it cost about $200.00, and needless-to-say, I wish I still had it. Like most other old car fanatics, I mourn the ones that got away.

In addition to that old Ford, I remember most fondly my 1955 Chevrolet Bellaire, my 1960 MGA roadster, and my 1966 Mustang.

My current “money pit” (my wife’s description) is the 1951 Mercury you see in these photographs. It is without a doubt my favorite and I will never sell it. I can’t because my 17-year-old daughter wants it when I am too old to drive.

I have owned the Mercury for about eight years. It was in remarkably good shape when I bought it. The previous owner was still driving the car almost every day, and it had been very well maintained.

I have done some body modifications but nothing too dramatic. I lowered the car a little and added a custom grill, lake pipes (side exhaust pipes), spotlights, reversed chrome wheels with baby moon hubcaps, and a custom interior.

All these modifications are period correct (they were popular back in the 1950’s).

One of my favorite photographs is the one in which my car is parked beside a yellow “lead sled”.

Believe-it-or-not, the yellow car is also a 1951 Mercury. It has been chopped (a section removed from the top), channeled (the body lowered on the frame), and extensively customized. “Slammed to the ground” is the popular term used to describe cars modified to this extent. What a contrast. Actually, I like my Mercury better.

When I first restored the Mercury, it had a Flat Head V8 which made about 110 horsepower and a three-speed manual transmission with over drive. It did not have power steering, power brakes, or most importantly if you live on the Texas Gulf Coast, an air conditioner.

About four years ago I decided to modernize the car. I had a front clip fabricated that includes independent front suspension, power steering and power disk brakes. I

replaced the Flat Head V8 with a new 350 cubic inch Chevrolet V8 (almost triple the horsepower of the Flat Head). The new engine is mated to an automatic transmission.

I converted the electrical system from 6 volt to 12 volt and installed an aftermarket air conditioner.

The original AM radio still works, but it takes about three minutes for the tubes to warm up. So, I had a new sound system installed.

The result is a car that is much more fun to drive. I try to drive it at least once a week, and until recently, I took it to one or two local car shows a month.

Most of the photograph I have included were taken at one of the local shows called “Cars in the Park”.

You will probably not be surprised to learn that the Mercury attracts a lot of attention.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share one of my other hobbies with you.

Bob”

A huge thanks to Bob for sharing his other hobby with us.

What an utterly beautiful car!

Please do leave any comments below.

Best

Al

PS If you’d like to see Bob’s model railroad, it’s here.