THIS HARD-TOPPED 1951 MERCURY HAS LONG BEEN CONSIDERED THE DEFINITIVE EARLY “LEAD SLED” Customizing techniques such as lowering and de-chroming, applying metallic paint in deep tones, reshaping fenders, altering grilles, top chopping and even sectioning—excising a strip of metal from the center of the body for a lower silhouette—grew in popularity. After a fender was reshaped, or a hood or decklid ornament was removed, the hole filling and finish work were accomplished by tinning, then smoothing over holes and panel joints with melted lead filler, hence the derisive term “lead sleds.” Custom techniques, applied correctly, transformed the look of an older model, making it appear streamlined, more attractive, and when a modified engine was installed, improving performance. Adapting trim, fender skirts, grilles, hubcaps and bumpers from more expensive brands made low-priced Fords and Mercury’s appear sleeker. Soon people began customizing brand new cars. When Sam Barris chopped and lowered his nearly new ‘49 Mercury coupe, transforming a chunky design into a dramatically modern show car, he began a trend. Almost overnight, as several more “hammered” coupes emerged, the radically chopped and lowered Mercury became a poster child for the burgeoning custom car movement. Countless artisans modified Mercury coupes, but only a few cars achieved lasting fame. For 1951, performing what today we’d call a “facelif t,” Ford Motor Company stylists extended the rear fenders and redesigned the grille on the 1949-1950 Mercury, for an even more distinctive silhouette. Customizers immediately began work on the “updated canvas.” This hard-topped 1951 Mercury has long been considered the definitive early “lead sled.” Put ting it another way, there were and still are a lot of Mercury customs. But this is the best one, and then there are all the others. The Hirohata Mercury won its class in Bob Petersen’s 1952 “International Motorama,” and it was featured in Rod & Custom magazine in 1953, when its owner boldly drove it cross-country from Los Angeles to a major Hot Rod and custom car show in Indianapolis where it won “Best Custom,” of course. It’s difficult to describe the stunning effect this radically restyled Merc had on the customizing community, let alone the people who saw it cruising the streets of Los Angeles, appearing at car shows and starring in the Hollywood B-movie “Running Wild” with Mamie Van Doren arguably upstaging the film’s “blonde bombshell” starlet.
