1952 Mercury
Looks can be deceiving with this Mercury; it has in fact had a drivetrain upgrade and some of the most subtle modifications you’ll have ever seen on a Mercury of this era, as Keith Harman found out…
When you’re lucky enough to own an eclectic and varied collection of highquality classic American cars, it’s no surprise to expect that you might get at least one of them featured in a magazine at some time, but Martin Skipper, of Sandbach in Cheshire, is already batting a much higher average. Retired insurance investigator Martin owns six cool classics in all, and this unusual 1952 Mercury is the fourth car in his collection to grace the pages of Classic American, plus a shoot is already in the bag for feature number five (more on that in an upcoming issue). To date, he’s seen his ’47 Hudson Super Six in the mag, plus his ’55 Packard Patrician and a ’55 Buick Sedan as well. With a Ford Station Wagon and a ’49 Cadillac also in his stable, unusually, Martin has no allegiance to any particular marque, though there is one big difference which really sets the Mercury apart from all the rest of his cars.
While the models mentioned above are either all factory-original, or restored to a show-winning standard, the Mercury stands apart in being the only one of his fleet that has been modified. This is unusual, not only for Martin himself, but in the choice of year and model of the car. We’re all well-used to seeing heavily modified Mercurys. The earlier ’49-’51 body style has been a staple of the customisers’ art virtually since the model was launched… And even before the car’s starring role in both Rebel Without a Cause, and later American Graffiti, many a well-heeled ‘kustom’ enthusiast back in the day collected a brand new ‘Merc’ from the showroom and drove it straight to the California shops of Sam and George Barris and others, for a swift haircut, lowering, custom leadwork and suchlike.
Indeed, Sam Barris himself was probably the first, when he chopped his own new Mercury and set a trend for others to follow. Once 1952 rolled around, however, the model’s clean, squared-off looks and flat panels saw it quickly fall out of favour with the custom crowd who preferred the earlier model. As you can see from our pictures, Martin’s Mercury is no wild custom either – far from it. In fact, with its modest trim level and plain understated paint, it’s only the 15-inch aftermarket chrome wheels which give a hint that this sedan might not be all that it seems.
It’s when you lift the hood that all becomes apparent, the engine bay revealing the very tidy and professional installation of a 1969 smallblock Chevy V8, with the second clue being the very businesslike Hurst manual gear stick inside the car. So, seeing as we’ve already established that the ’52 Mercury was never a favourite of hot rodders or the custom crowd, we asked Martin what the deal was... UU
“I’ve bought and imported several of my cars from Steve Snyder, who runs a classic car company in California called Vault Cars (www. vaultcars.com). I fancied owning a modified car for a change, and as I usually monitor his website, I was intrigued when the Mercury came up for sale.
“I liked the fact that it looked like a subtle ‘sleeper’, but packed the 5.7-litre V8 under the bonnet, plus the fact that it has a Tremec five-speed manual ’box helped too; it’s a lot of fun to drive!”
Martin went on to tell us that the car was built in California and had lived there all its life. The original owner, a Peter Parker from Lynwood, central Los Angeles, had it from new until 1974, when it was sold to a Ronald Lowers, an engineer by trade who, according to the paperwork with the car, undertook a lot of the restoration work, including the respray in the original colour.
It was while it was in Mr Lowers’ possession that the engine and gearbox swap was carried out in 2014, though it’s not known whether he did this himself or had it done professionally. It was sold to Vault Cars after his passing in 2019, making Martin only the third owner.
Martin only bought and imported the car in early 2020, and the registration paperwork went in just in time to get caught up in last year’s first lockdown and the consequent frustrating go-slow at the DVLA. With no word forthcoming from the DVLA after a long delay, Martin finally wrote to his local MP in desperation, and you know what, it worked!
And before long the car was registered and legal, not that there was anywhere to drive it to, apart from a couple of local meets; meaning that, at the time of writing, Martin has driven it less than 500 miles so far.
The trim level name Custom was first introduced by Mercury in 1952 and denoted the lower spec model, with the long-serving Monterey version above it in the line-up of two- and four-door sedans, two- and four-door hardtops, convertibles and station wagons that made up the range.
All of them would have come with just one engine option: the 255cu in flathead V8, though there was a choice of either a threespeed manual or the ‘Merc-o-Matic’ automatic transmission. We’ll never know why the previous owner chose to swap out the original running gear, but as we mentioned previously, the OHV V8 conversion is a very neat installation.
The engine number on the Chevy has been checked and the motor is a 350cu in unit from 1969, and was likely originally fitted to either a Corvette or a Nova from that year. It retains the factory four-barrel Quadrajet carburettor mounted on an alloy inlet manifold, which may well be original GM.
The only noticeable aftermarket parts on the engine are the square breathers on the rocker covers, and the air filter casing which is not quite deep enough for the element itself. Interestingly, the engine is also fitted with a factory GM power-steering pump which works in conjunction with a Borgeson power-steering conversion in place of the factory set-up.
Stock Chevy exhaust manifolds lead into a twin-pipe exhaust system fitted with glass pack mufflers, and that’s about the extent of the under-hood modifications. It even retains a points ignition system, though the carb is fed by an electric fuel pump mounted on the chassis. Mechanically speaking, everything else under the car is factory Mercury, including the original drum brakes, though this is something that Martin may upgrade in the future, and he is looking at a possible disc brake conversion for safety, with an aftermarket servo, or booster on the firewall to reduce braking effort. Probably a logical and desirable upgrade, you’ll agree.
Inside the car, the retrim in factory cloth was also carried out while in the previous owner’s possession and it still looks fresh, if somewhat modest for a Fifties car. We’ve already mentioned
“INSIDE THE CAR, THE RETRIM IN FACTORY CLOTH WAS ALSO CARRIED OUT WHILE IN THE PREVIOUS OWNER’S POSSESSION AND IT STILL LOOKS FRESH...”
the Hurst stick; you can’t really miss it, but the dash has also had a small custom panel made to house the radio, and a pair of Autometer gauges, an oil pressure and a water temp, to monitor the vital signs under the hood. Lastly, there is now a small rev counter mounted in the dash where the clock used to be. While the ’52 might not appeal to our ‘purist’ readers, and may well be overlooked for pots at some American car shows, we bet Martin is looking forward to the fun of driving the Mercury this summer, as well as his envious collection of other cars. Let’s just hope that by the time you read this, we’ll all be able to do just that − get them out and drive ’em! #