Mercury is no more, having been shuttered as was long predicted by many automotive pundits. It was a sad end for Ford’s middle child, which had brief spurts of popularity and momentary flings with “cool.” Mercury’s peak came early in life, during the late 1940’s when car companies were finally ramping up production of cars not based on decade old design (all new car production was suspended during World War II.)
While Mercury may be no more, bits and pieces of its cool image still float around the internet. This heavily customized 1949 Mercury Monterey “lead sled” found up on eBay is a reminder that old Mercs are still plenty cool.
This particular car was built by the “Lordz of Kustomz,” a small custom hot rod shop based in Los Angeles. As with any good hot rod, the old Merc’ motor was tossed in favor of a 350 Chevy small block backed by a 700R transmission.
It’s nothing special in terms of horsepower or sound, but we’re sure it motivates this classic cruiser just fine. More money and time probably went into the four-wheel airbag suspension setup, which allows this old Mercury to get slammed to the ground or lifted up to make it over those pesky speed bumps.
And you’ll be riding in style in the white-on-white interior with custom steering wheel, dashboard, and more. And of course there’s a chopped roof and smoothed-out lines for that classic lead sled look.
Or you would be, if the auction hadn’t ended with only a single bid reaching $1,000. People just don’t have good taste in cars anymore we guess.