Finished for a Friend – a Wild 1951 Mercury Custom
The story of Brian Omatsu’s chopped and wildly painted 1951 Mercury is a cautionary tale, a reminder that if a project takes too long you may never get to enjoy it. That’s what happened to Brian’s friend, Yonny Koyama.
“Yonny owned this car since the late-’80s,” Brian says. “He put it in the shop about 25 years ago. We used to visit it and talk about where we’d take it when it was done. Unfortunately, he passed away about 12 years ago, before it could be finished. I decided to complete the car in memory of my friend.”
The Mercury already had a lot of modifications, including a chopped top with hardtop-style side glass, fadeaway front fenders, frenched headlights, flush-fit fender skirts, and more. It was well on its way to becoming a traditional ’50s-style custom.
Brian wanted to honor that plan, but he also wanted to give it a twist. Rather than a conventional mid-’50s solid-color paint job, he wondered how the 1951 Mercury would look with panel paint and striping, as it might have been done in the late-’50s when painters like Larry Watson began popularizing bolder paint styles.
Brian knew just the painter to create such a finish – Jack Fields at Kraftsman Autoworks in Torrance, California. Jack had Dreamex Body and Paint finalize the bodywork, and then rolled the Merc into the paint booth. Brian’s only directive was that the base color be eggplant purple to match the already-painted chassis. Jack obliged, and then added varying shades of lighter purple panels, fades, and stripes over the top. There are even chrome stripes down the center, plus pinstripes by Malex Pinstriping.
The rest of the exterior is pure ’50s custom, with a ’54 Pontiac grille, ’52 DeSoto front bumper, and ’54 Lincoln taillights. Coker wide whitewalls wrap around steel wheels with Cadillac sombrero wheel covers.
There are a few modern updates underneath, where the original frame is outfitted with a Mustang II-style IFS, four-link rear, four-wheel disc brakes, and an Air Lift air suspension system. Power comes from a nicely detailed 350c.i. Chevy V8 with FiTech fuel injection, Sanderson headers, and a 700R4 transmission.
The interior is as bold as the outside, with T-bird bucket seats stitched in white and purple vinyl by Chuy’s Interior. A pair of Falcon consoles separate the seats, while a ’49 Merc dash has been fitted with Auto Meter gauges, a Cadillac wheel on a tilt column, and a Vintage Air system with controls hidden inside an old dash-mounted record player.
Brian is understandably proud that he has finally fulfilled his friend’s dream, and we can’t help but think that Yonny would be thrilled with the way this incredible 1951 Mercury custom turned out.
Photos by Marc Gewertz
