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.
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