Vehicle Description
This custom Mercury Coupe has an amazing history and was not driven
from 1971-2012. This car had the same owner from 1953 until 2012,
when the Mercury was sold out of the owner's estate in Indiana.
Carl Thomas Drag raced this Mercury from 1953 to 1970 in the
Midwest, primarily Indiana and Ohio. Originally it was raced with
Flathead power, but under the hood resides its last power plant,
installed in the late '60s, a 307ci small-block Chevrolet with
Rochester mechanical fuel injection and ignition from a 1960
Corvette. There is a custom adapter and scatter shield to mate the
engine to the stock Mercury bellhousing. The engine is backed by a
T10 4-speed manual transmission with a Hurst shifter. It features
an early Chevrolet posi-traction differential rear with a 3.73
gear. This car really runs out well and has great power, still
pulling at 6,500 rpm. The engine was built for rpm, not torque.
This car still wears its tires from 1970 on Astro chrome wheels.
Rears are Mickey Thompson red line cheater slicks. The lacquer
paint and interior were refinished in the late '60s. Still showing
great with little wear, the interior features custom diner-style
copper and white glitter material on the seats and the front
buckets are from a �65 Chevelle. The paint was fully sanded and
buffed to show-quality and looks amazing, a testament to its
careful storage over the years. The chrome is very nice throughout,
with only minimal flaws from age. A solid car with all-original
floors and trunk, this car won tons of trophies and awards in the
'60s, including an NHRA Division 3 class winner award. It was also
the Ohio-Indiana Champion. Comes with the jacket awarded to Carl,
along with his old helmet with assorted trophies. This was a
street/ strip car; it was street driven to races and also was shown
in car shows. A few years back, the injection was rebuilt by a
specialist, and the brakes and clutch were replaced so it could be
street driven again, with only about 50 miles since.
