For $45,500, Get a Mercamino

"JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!" (jqj213)
12/22/2013 at 09:42 • Filed to: NPOCP, Mercury, Mercamino, El Camino, Custom

Have you ever considered buying a 1950 Mercury 4-door sedan but decided against doing so because it was not practical enough? Have you ever considered buying an El Camino but decided that was bad because it wasn’t retro enough? Then today’s NPOCP may be for you!

The 1950s were a great time. Ant farms. Car hops. Frisbees. And yes, the incredible cars. The base of today’s car comes from this unique era. It was a classic 1950 Mercury sedan. What started as simple yet luxurious set of wheels has been taken and modified to the extreme. Gone are 4 doors, now only two remain. Gone is the trunk; now a truck bed (but more on that later). The front fascia is really all that remains from the Mercury.

The 1980s were a… unique time. Boom boxes. Big hair. Breakdancing (we can blame the boom boxes on that). Miami Vice. And yes, trucks that were based on sedans. The other part of this Mercamino is from here; a 1983 El Camino. They took the bed, roof, and rear window from the El Camino and tossed them into the Mercury.

But it doesn’t stop there. Add in a Ford bench seat (from some classic pickup), a Camaro front clip, a classic Corvette grille, and the dash from a 1960s Chevy van, and this monster now has some added style. But what is the heart you might ask? A Chevy 350 big block. And for sight? Chrysler Corboda head light buckets. The steering column comes from a Cadillac (now it has telescoping and tilting abilities).

The seller claims it was converted only a year ago and has won many awards from best of show to best graphics to best truck. He is not desperate to sell and may end up keeping it as a flower car if it does not sell. Also, if you are interested, he has a 24’ enclosed trailer (apparently it matches the car). Interested? You better hurry, because he is still modifying it as we speak (and that causes the price to go up).

So what do you think? For $45,500, NPOCP?

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and thank you for reading!

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

DISCUSSION (18)

Skif6996 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
12/22/2013 at 09:55

CP. You know how much crack you can buy for $45k?!

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Skif6996
12/22/2013 at 09:56

Well he needs that much to pay off all the crack he bought making this!

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
12/22/2013 at 10:31

I like the overall look, but I believe the vehicle is lacking in some areas.

1. A carbed Chevy 350 2 bolt with a 700r4. In a vehicle that looks to be fairly well put together with an widely eclectic mix of parts, the drivetrain put in is the most cookie cutter beige thing that one could think of. Seriously, this is the go-to combo for many people. I understand it's easy to maintain and cheap to put together, but so does anyone who would be interested in it. For the amount of fabrication that went into the rest of the vehicle; which appears to be good by the way; I would expect something a bit different as far as the drivetrain is concerned. Heck, hit a salvage yard and find an LS series motor from a GM truck/SUV with the transmission, wiring and ECU. Also fairly mundane, but I think the touch of modern would balance the vehicle a bit. After all, it's not a period correct restoration. Something, ANYTHING besides this drivetrain combo, please. Imagine a Ford 5.0 Coyote engine in there......

2. The wheels. I dig dog dish hub caps, but not on this and I believe that the white wall tires make it even worse for me at least. Perhaps something like pictured below with a black side wall and no lettering:

Kinja'd!!!

In any case, CP. Way too much money. At that price it would seem as if the seller is looking to make a hefty profit as I sincerely doubt it cost that much to build unless every aspect of it was farmed out. Divide by 2 at least. Probably come down from that a little bit as well.

Aaron James > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
12/22/2013 at 10:33

I wonder if the extra bodywork on the sides of the 'camino to match the merc' lines is metal or if they just glued some fiberglass on. Metal Work = maybe NP, Fiberglass = Crack Pipe on the Crack House floor. That "350 Big Block" is rather suspect though.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > Aaron James
12/22/2013 at 10:41

To be fair the original Craigslist ad does not call the 350 a "big block."

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
12/22/2013 at 11:17

Do they make a 350 small block? (I'm not good with those kinds of engines)

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
12/22/2013 at 11:19

See I don't know much about those kinds of powertrains so i didn't know if it was good or bad...

I agree with the wheels.. most cars they look cool; this isn't most cars

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
12/22/2013 at 11:20

350 is considered a small block.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
12/22/2013 at 11:31

So whats a big block then?

And I see you are an expert just by looking at your name!

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
12/22/2013 at 11:47

There's some debate.....

As you can see if you read the above, it's not always clear cut. The 350 is considered a small block though.....

Believe it or not the Wiki article on this is pretty good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet…

Rainbow > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
12/22/2013 at 13:09

This was on Atlanta CL a while back and I linked to it there. I wonder why the new owner is selling it so soon. It's only been a year, if that. Probably a midlife crisis purchase or something.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Rainbow
12/22/2013 at 13:12

Thats what I thought because I have seen it before..

Apparantly he needs garage space

Rainbow > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
12/22/2013 at 13:15

Yeah, definitely. And I just looked at the ad and saw that the car is apparently only a year old (as what it is now, anyway). So it must have been more recently sold. I wonder if I can find my original post and see if I mentioned the price. I'm sure the listing is long gone, but I'm pretty sure this guy has bumped the price up a lot from what he payed, actually.

Rainbow > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
12/22/2013 at 13:21

Woo, found it! I didn't include any info, but at least this gives a general timeframe.
http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/interesting-93…

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Rainbow
12/22/2013 at 13:22

Obviously no one wants it

Rainbow > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
12/22/2013 at 13:25

At that price, I don't blame them. Put it at $10,000 or less, and I would LOVE it.

Aaron James > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
12/22/2013 at 14:43

I know, that's why I put it in quotes,

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
12/22/2013 at 14:46

How did that video appear in that comment when I posted it I swear I put this link?

http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/all-ford-techb…