Uniquely American in many ways, the custom car craze truly found its calling in the late 1940s, blossoming throughout popular culture in the following decade. For many owners, the restyled early postwar Mercury coupes have been the way to go for these changes, and the 1949-1951 cars quickly became an open canvas for custom “lead sled” ideas. That stated, the 1951 example coming to Kissimmee early next year may have had a larger bearing on that reputation than any other vehicle, as it is considered to be the purest initial refitting of this model. Always associated with the hobby’s most famous names, this is the Bob Hirohata Merc. Referred to as the most famous custom of the classic era, this car’s history is well-known, documented through the pages of numerous magazines during the past 70 years. In 1952, young Bob Hirohata had just returned from a stint with Uncle Sam’s Navy to his SoCal home and a 1949 Mercury that featured some mild customization work done by the Barris brothers, Sam and George, prior to Hirohata’s expense-paid travel. Started in the war years, when Hirohata had actually been among the Japanese-American citizens the Roosevelt Administration interred, the Barris custom business was now growing rapidly in its new Lynwood, California, location. As soon as Hirohata saw Sam Barris’ just-chopped ‘49 Mercury, he sought out and bought a basically new ’51 version. He took the OEM gem to the Barris shop and told them to go all out with a radical (meaning chopped, channeled or sectioned) customization. The Hirohata family’s flourishing downtown Los Angeles parking lot business meant he had no problem affording to commission the work. Not only did the Barris crew agree, but they also decided that Hirohata’s car would be used to showcase their business skills at the 1952 Motorama car show to be held in November. It took 97 days to complete this effort, and the result was unlike anything that had been seen before. With George’s design work, Sam Barris first removed the B-pillars and then welded the top frame of the doors onto the roof, creating the first-ever 1949-1951 Mercury hardtop redesign. With 4 inches removed from the roof height up front and 7 in the rear, the car took on a very streamlined appearance, especially with the stock rear window raked over to match the roofline changes. A further A-pillar change and curved channel door framing resulted in a fresh door shape, and a butted, V-type windshield finished the cab changes. Next came George’s decision to lengthen both the front and rear fenders, adding in frenched, current-year Ford headlights and Lincoln tail lamps. The effort became more seamless by removing the factory chrome trim, door handles and drip rails, rounding the decklid and extending the filled, peaked hood down into the grille, which was created by splicing three 1951 Ford grilles together.
