1949 Mercury Phantom Wagon Video

 

 

1949 Mercury Phantom Wagon

 

Dave Dolman - 1949 Mercury Wagon 1-of-1 made

 

The best way to determine if you've been successful in creating a "phantom" custom is to have observers ask, "How many of these did they make?"

Any way you want to measure it, Dave Dolman has succeeded in his mission to create an all-steel 1949 Mercury station wagon that looks like something that could have come off the Dearborn assembly line-well, except for the chopped top, shaved hood, frenched headlights, and other custom touches that have become almost standard on a '49-'51 Merc.

Mercury and Ford were transitioning from the woodie to an all-steel station wagon with the 1949-'51 series, with wood frame and paneling applied over an all-steel structure. In the next styling cycle, 1952-'54, the wagons would be all steel with wood trim eventually giving way to woodgrain fiberglass on Mercurys and the top line Ford Country Squire.

A few other projects, consisting of a trio of Mercurys and another station wagon, contributed to Dolman's brainstorm to build Mercury's first steel station wagon. Between acquiring the sad hulk that started it in 1995 and driving out the finished product in 2007, he custom built 1949 and 1950 Mercury coupes, as well as a '59 Mercury wagon and a '55 Pontiac two-door wagon.

The wagon's raw material came to Dave's small shop in Verdon, Nebraska, in trade for some metalwork he had done. The '49 Mercury coupe had been hit in the side and had a tree fall on the roof. He worked on it off and on between other projects over the next 12 years, until the concept had jelled and he grew anxious to see it done. Over that time he had accumulated all the necessary parts-a '57 Ford wagon roof from which he removed about 4 inches of the crown; '56 Ford Ranch Wagon side windows, chopped 4 1/2 inches, and the B-pillars slanted to match the rear pillars; '56 Ranch Wagon liftgate, chopped 4 inches, and a narrowed tailgate. The front of the Merc top was chopped 3 1/2 inches to set the roof height. Dave hand-built the upper rear quarters to mate with the new wagon configuration and capped them with 1952-'53 Merc taillights.

Turning a coupe into a station wagon required lots of additional fabrication, such as the inside quarter panel and floor structure, trim panels, cutting and fitting Ford garnish moldings, and cutting down the top bows to match the lower crown. A '56 Ford wagon rear seat backs up the '65 Buick power front seat. The seats and interior were upholstered with a tuck 'n' roll pattern in keeping with what Mercury put into its 1950s models.

With the extensive fabricating and reshaping done, the rest of the project was more or less customizing routine-building front and rear rolled pans, shortening and fitting '55 Pontiac rear bumpers and '51 Kaiser front bumper bridge, and installing remote door openers and ditching the handles. A '79 Monte Carlo front frame clip provided modern front suspension and power steering and a cradle for the modified GM 350 crate engine and 700-R4 automatic. Dropped spindles and airbags settle the phantom Merc over 14-inch chrome reverse wheels with whitewalls and '50 Merc caps.

So how many steel two-door station wagons did they make? "They" didn't make any, and Dave Dolman built only one!

Dave DolmanVerdon, Nebraska1949 Mercury station wagon

ChassisA '79 Monte Carlo front frame clip was grafted to the '49 Mercury frame and fitted with dropped spindles and airbags. The frame was C'd in the rear and the springs de-arched to drop the rear 9 inches over the '58 Ford wagon 9-inch rearend with drum brakes and Monroe shocks. The frame was notched in the right front for a low alternator mounting.

DrivetrainTechnostalgia Olds valve covers, a fake oil filler tube, and repro dual intake air cleaner disguise the engine as an Olds Rocket V-8. It is actually a GM crate engine from Year One bored .030 over to 355ci and rated at 402 hp and backed by a 700-R4 trans. It's fitted with a Year One cam kit, Vortec heads, 770 Holley 4-barrel on a Weiand air gap manifold, and MSD ignition. The Jet-Hot coated custom 21/2-inch exhaust system flows from cast iron ram manifolds through 30-inch steel mufflers to tips set into notched rear quarter panels.

Diamondback wide whitewall radials are 225/75-14 in the rear and 205/70-14 in front on 14x6-inch chrome reverse wheels. Hubcaps are '50 Mercury with MERCURY lettering added.

Starting with a '49 Merc coupe, Dolman chopped the windshield and doors 3 1/2 inches, then grafted on '56 Ford Ranch Wagon side windows chopped 41/2 inches and slanted the B-pillars forward to match rear corner posts. The '56 Ford wagon liftgate was chopped 4 inches and the tailgate was narrowed at the bottom and fitted with a '56 Merc emblem. A '57 Ford wagon roof was modified to remove about 4 inches of the crown and pie cut front and rear to mate with the other roof components. Dave built new inner quarter panel structures and floor panels to accommodate the '56 Ford wagon floor pieces and seats. From about 18 inches behind the doors, the upper quarter panels were hand-formed to blend into the wagon roof and mount 1952-'53 Mercury taillight assemblies. 1955 Pontiac rear bumpers were shortened and fitted with bolt holes filled. The '50 Merc front bumper was narrowed and tucked closer to the body, with a '51 Kaiser overrider reworked to fit. Both front and rear pans are rolled below the bumpers. The grille is a '49 Merc with the center piece removed and bars added to fill. Headlights are frenched Lucas units. Side molding is '50 Merc with reworked Ford wagon stainless beltline moldings. The gas filler door is custom built, and the hood is filled and peaked. All glass was made by Hill's Glass, Falls City, Nebraska, including curved liftgate glass from Dolman-made templates. Yellow and vanilla two-tone paint was mixed by Auto Tool and Paint, St. Joseph, Missouri. All body and paint work is by Dave Dolman and wife, Shirley. Pinstriping is by Roger Nunn, Lincoln, Nebraska.

InteriorDolman fabricated many interior trim panels, floor panel inserts, and door scuff plates. He reworked '56 Ford wagon metal rub strips on the floor and rear seat back, garnish moldings, and headliner bows. A 1965 Buick donated the power front seat and door armrests containing power window and seat controls.

Larry Cummings of Countryside Upholstery is responsible for the neutral-tone Kalfskin tuck 'n' roll upholstery, headliner, and beige nylon carpet.

A '74 GM van tilt column is used in conjunction with Bob Drake-supplied original style pedals. Stewart-Warner gauges were reworked to fit the stock '49 dash, and an extended panel was added to hold the stereo, air gauges, and controls.

 

 

1949 Mercury Phantom Wagon - Dave Dolman

 

There’s no denying that a ’49 Mercury was, and still is, the epitome of “cool.” Didn’t that Hollywood icon, James Dean, make that fact known to all in the movie “Rebel Without A Cause”? Didn’t those two Barris brothers from Lynwood, California, start a craze that continues today – chopping the top of a ’49 Mercury coupe? Didn’t Dick Dean,the Sultan of Chop, build several and make them famous? Isn’t the Hirohata Merc one of the most famous Mercury’s in the world?

Ok, don’t send us hate mail, we know the Hirohata Mercury is a ’51 model, but there’s no denying that the ’49 through ‘51 Mercury is one of the most recognizable cars in the world. It ranks right up there, along with a 1932 Ford and a 1957 Chevy.

History

For our history lesson on this icon, in 1949 there were four basic body styles produced: a four-door sedan, a two-door sedan (and often referred to as a sport coupe), the convertible and a wood and metal bodied station wagon. To make all of us yearn for the good old days, prices began at $1,979 for the two-door sedan, and rose to $2,716 for the wagon. Don’t you wish you could find one for that price today? If you did, what you’d likely get would be what was left after it had been at the bottom of a lake for 50 or so years. Which would probably be not much.

A total of 301,302 Mercury’s were produced for the 1949 model year. Of that, only 8,044 (according to the Classic Car Database) were station wagons. That fact alone makes them quite rare. However, the wagon featured here was not one of those 8,044 produced by Mercury, believe it or not, this one actually rolled of the assembly line as a sport coupe, and we’ll have more on that in a minute.

Dave Dolman of Verdon, Nebraska, owns, drives and built the wagon featured here. In 1996, Dave started on the Mercury after accumulating enough parts. Suffice to say, what was left of the Mercury was in very sad shape. The car had been hit in the side and a tree had caved in the roof. Dave had taken it in on trade for some other work he’d performed. It was in such bad shape that friends told Dave that he’d never finish the wagon. Several times over the years it seemed that they were correct. Dave eventually made them eat their words.

Fortunately, Dave had owned several other Mercury’s before he tackled this one, so he knew the inner workings of the model. This Mercury is not a kit car, it was built the old fashioned way –scouring the junk yards for parts and putting them together by hand in a pleasing way.

Dave makes his livelihood rebuilding cars for other people so the years pass quickly in his shop. After starting on the ‘49, Dave was interrupted several times by building and finishing a customer’s ’49 Merc coupe and a ’50 Merc coupe, redoing a ’59 Mercury station wagon and  modifying a ’55 Pontiac two door wagon. Ten years later, in 2006, Dave finally found time to work on his own wagon again. In the meantime, he’d scrounged a ’57 Ford station wagon roof and some ’56 Ford station wagon parts including side windows as well as the windowed liftgate and tailgate from the same car.

Adding The Sheetmetal

First he needed a newer chassis for all the metal he was going to add. The built chassis consists of a ’79 Monte Carlo clip with 2.5-inch dropped spindles, air bags, a 1.25-inch sway bar, and Wilwood disc brakes. Around back, a nine-inch Ford with wagon drum brakes was used. A GM crate engine of 355 cubic-inches and a 700 R-4 automatic transmission was set on the mounts after an Olds faux valve covers and a ’53 Cadillac air cleaner were added.

When it came to the sheet metal, the floors were the first to be added, stiffening the body – they came out of a ’56 Ford wagon and were fitted masterfully so the wagon look wouldn’t be lost in the process. The ’57 Ford roof was deskinned and five-inches were removed from the crown, flattening the roof. It was also narrowed six inches to fit on the 3.5-inch chopped windshield frame.

Braces were added to support the length of the top and the ’56 Ford wagon side windows were chopped 4.5-inches to match the new angled front pillars. The Merc then needed new quarters in order to match up to the Ford side windows so Dave hand-built the quarters and added ’52 Mercury taillights to them.

 The liftgate may look stock, but it is certainly not. It was modified by adding metal to the top of it and narrowing the bottom of it. That accomplished, the liftgate fit the tailgate and worked perfectly. Just below that, a new pan was rolled and a pair of ’55 Pontiac split bumpers were fitted, a license plate box was added and the exhaust pipes were relocated to the quarter’s sides behind the rear of the wheelwells.

Inside, a tilt column was pirated from a ’74 Chevy van and topped with an Impala steering wheel. The front seat is from a ’65 Buick Electra, the rear seat is out of a ’56 Ford station wagon and both are covered in Kalfskin Beige leather.

Dave hand built the rear interior quarter panels out of aluminum and had them covered in a tuck n’ roll pattern using the same Kalfskin leather. Larry Cummings of Countryside Upholstery in Humboldt, Nebraska did the headliner, carpeting and the interior. The stainless “rub strips” on the interior floor are courtesy of the ’56 Ford wagon and add a finished look to the rear of the Mercury.

Even though it took Dave better than 12 years (actual build time was 2.5 years) to put his vision on the streets, the car looks as fresh today as it did eight years ago. The good news is that Dave and his wife Shirley are no strangers to road trips. Every time Dave drives his wagon to a show (the latest being to the James Dean Festival in Fairmount, Indiana, in late September, 2016), he’s always asked the same question: “How many steel bodied two-door station wagons did they make?” Dave’s answer: “They didn’t make any, I built the only one!”

One thing is certain. The 1949, 1950 and 1951 Mercurys were hot when they were new, and remain a must have for any serious collection, no matter which model is desired.

Interior is done in true kustom style rolls and pleats altho the rear area is simply done in vinyl. A Buick gave up its power seat. The chromed "rub strips" in the cargo area are out of the same Ford wagon that gave up its roof.

 

The Mercury taillights fit like they were made for the car. Not many people notice the re-formed fuel door or the exhaust outlets at the rear of the car.

 

 

Closer to finish, most of the mods have been done and the car is in primer. The engine compartment has been painted body color and the new whitewalls and chromed rims add a bit of spark .