So you have to look at those almost intangibles.” It’s subjective, but that’s kind of what you have to do because a lot of cars can score 100 points in terms of restoration perfection. Those last three points often separate a group of 100 point cars.
What makes the difference are those three points for field presence, prominence, fame. We had a couple of those cars that were either 99 or 100 points on a standard judging scale. Gross explains: “First of all, to win the class, we judged those cars using as much of the Pebble Beach judging system… So you can judge a custom car that way in terms of restoration accuracy, quality of paint, and so on and so forth. Gross likely thought the same when he and his judging crew had to pick a winner out of a group of some of the most historically significant Mercury customs at Pebble Beach. The combination of this two-tone paint, the Buick side sweep and the way the car was hard-topped… It pioneered a number of features that people copied, but no one copied them quite as well as this car.” “I say that partly because of its notoriety, fame, movies, Barris, and the rest of it, but it’s just better looking than the others. To me, this is the definitive custom car,” said Gross. “I’ve often said, there is the Hirohata Mercury, and then there are all the other customs. Gross, for the unfamiliar, is not only a renowned journalist and walking history book of car culture he’s also one of the people responsible for helping cars like the Hirohata Mercury see the green at Pebble Beach. Carini flagged his friend Ken Gross for help. Wisely, Carini didn’t take the task of helping the Hirohata Mercury trade hands alone. “There is the Hirohata Mercury, and then there are all the others. I’d like to get your permission to tell my family that you will help them sell this car on my passing.’” Carini fired back to McNiel, “Jim, you look pretty damn healthy to me.” I’ve appointed you to help my family sell the car. He said, ‘I just want to tell you something. Carini recalls, “We talk for a little while and he (McNiel) said, ‘Would you sit in the car with me?’ So, I said sure I’m thrilled to sit in it.
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While shooting his TV show at Pebble Beach, the Hirohata Mercury’s painter Herschel “Junior” Conway connected McNiel and Carini. It’s at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours that Chasing Classic Cars host and F40 Motorsports owner Wayne Carini enters the Hirohata Mercury’s history. Under McNiel’s ownership, the Hirohata Mercury was restored, shown, and won its class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2015. Fortunately for every custom car-obsessed person in the world, Jim McNiel managed to find the money to buy Bob Hirohata’s Mercury from the used car lot in 1959 and owned it until his death in 2018. This formerly groundbreaking custom looked dated, used, and was probably heading in the same direction as other prominent custom cars like the Barris “ Kopper Kart” or Ed Roth’s “Mysterion,” and just disappear to time. Our Favorite Rods and Customs from Autorama 2020Īfter trading hands a few times, Hirohata’s once-loved Mercury sat at a used-car lot. As tends to be the case with custom cars, Hirohata continually updated his prized Mercury-and as is also often the case, these cars tend to fall out of favor as they age, and Hirohata’s Mercury is no exception. Despite its relatively short time under construction, Hirohata’s Mercury went on to dominate the car show circuit, grace magazine covers, and eventually see some motion picture work. As its name implies, the Hirohata Mercury was built for Robert “Bob” Hirohata by the team at Barris Kustoms in 1952.
We took a look at this Barris-built Mercury’s history when it was first confirmed to be headed towards the auction block. Joining its ranks this year is Bob Hirohata’s 1951 Mercury. This makes it a perfect place for pieces of automotive history or highly sought-after machines to find new homes. Mecum’s sale at Kissimmee not only kicks off the year of collector car trading but is also one of the most important stops on Mecum’s calendar.
The legendary Hirohata Mercury is nearing its time on Mecum’s Kissimmee, Florida auction block, where it’s a featured piece of the auction company’s capstone sale. Update: The Barris-built Hirohata Mercury sold at Mecum Kissimmee on Saturday, Janufor a staggering $1.95 million before fees.
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