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Aug 5, 2020 · Jim McNiel was a down-to-earth, history-loving, do-it-yourself car guy. He was also, according to Herschel “Junior” Conway and pretty much every other significant member of the custom car community, a savior.
- Bob's First Radical Custom
- Restyled by Barris Kustoms
- Carson Top Shop, Gaylord's Kustom Shop, and Von Dutch
- Sea Foam and Organic Green
- The Kross Kountry Kustom
- Everyday Driver
- Golden Lime Mist
- Runnin Wild
- Doug Kinney Buys The Car For 200 Dollars
- Jim Mcniel's Buys The Car
Bob bought the car after getting out of the Navy in 1952. Before he went into the service he had a mildly customized 1949 Chevrolet that Barris Kustoms had restyled for him. Bob had always wanted a radical custom car, so after seeing Sam Barris' chopped 1949 Mercury, Bob bought a clean low mileage 1951 Mercury that he found in San Fernando Valley. ...
Bob and George discussed a few minor changes to the car. But George had other plans for the Merc. When Bob took delivery of the Merc, he could have sworn that it wasn't the same car that he had left 3 months ago. Every square inch of the Mercury was modified by Sam, George and Frank Sonzogni. Sam removed the B-pillars, cut off and welded the top of...
The build took 97 days to complete, and according to Bob Hirohata it seemed like it sat untouched for 60 days. As the 1952 Motorama was coming up, Bob thinks George wanted to make a good showing as they really hustled to get the Hirohata Merc and two other cars done in 30 days. In an interview Bob did with Street Rodder in 1977, he said that the se...
Unlike other custom cars of its time, the Hirohata Merc was not painted in a dark metallic lacquer. George Barris painted it in right at the beginning of 1952 in a two-tone Sea Foam Green, or Ice green as many people call it with Organic Green below the trim spears. Not long after it was completed, the front bumper guards were sectioned two inches ...
The Hirohata Merc immediately began appearing in magazines and winning car show trophies all over the country. As he wanted to see the Indianapolis 500, Bob took his award-winning custom on a route 66 cross-country trip to the 4th annual Indianapolis Custom Show. The trip was chronicled in the Rod & Custom October 1953 story "Kross Kountry In A Kus...
As the Merc was Bob's only car, he drove it almost every day. Around 1954, Barris did some minor changes to the bodywork and removed the antennas on the rear fenders. George Barrispainted the car Avocado Green.
In Rodding and Re-styling January 1956 there is a letter from Bob Hirohata in the "RODDING and 'Riting" section. In the letter Bob tells how big a fan he is of the magazine, and that he would like to see more customs featured. In the letter, he tells that he owns a 1951 Mercury restyled by Barris Kustoms of Los Angeles, that is painted in a golden ...
The Merc was used in the movie Runnin Wild featuring Mamie Van Doren. It was not the only Barris custom used on the set, Fred Rowe's 1951 Mercury was used as well. Bob sold the Hirohata Merc to Robert Waldsmith in 1955. In 1957, Robert was was hit by a car coming from the opposite direction, the whole left side was banged up. Sam Gates fixed the ca...
After a while, Doug Kinney bought the car for 200 dollars. The gold lacquer paint had cracked a lot from the sun and everything, so he tried to fill the cracks and repainted it in lime green. Doug stored it away in his garage for years. According to Ed Roth the car was then in primer and had a big dent in the hood. When Dirty Doug's garage owner th...
In 1959, 16-year-old Jim McNiel bought the well-used custom car off a lot for $500. He was 16 years old at that time and did some repairs to it and drove the car to high school and everywhere else. The car was put in storage in 1964, when he was married.
Aug 12, 2020 · After 59 years of devoted stewardship of the Hirohata Mercury, Jim McNeil passed away on May 7, 2018. His beloved car is still owned by the McNeil family and is displayed at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Sep 1, 1998 · Jim McNiel's 1951 Mercury Custom has a 1952 Cadillac 331 under the hood with a Isky three-quarter race cam and a dual point ignition. Only at www.hotrod.com, the official website for Hot Rod...
- Gray Baskerville
- 1951
- Mercury
- 1951
Nov 6, 2011 · Freestyle motocross rider Jim McNeil, 32, died Sunday morning during practice for an exhibition that had been scheduled to coincide with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' AAA Texas 500 at the Texas...
View Jim McNiel’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members. A proven technology executive who understands how to translate innovation to inspiration…
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Jan 16, 2022 · The sellers were Scott and Darla McNiel, son and daughter of Jim McNiel, who bought the car in 1959 for $500, saved it and eventually restored it to its original glory before his death in 2018....
