Oz Welch of Oroville, CA was looking for a Merc for his friend and ended up with this '51. A lot of small details went into this chop and body work, such as the hood rounding all the way bakck to the door instead of the windshield.
You may notice all that DeSoto chrome, but less obvious is the front bumper. That cutout between the bumper guards indicates this was from a New York taxi...more air flow. Even Oz, a builder and customizer for over 45 years, had only seen a couple, ever.
The owner at the time was known for driving his cars everywhere at any time. One day, a 1-ton work truck took out the passenger side. After insurance played out, the Merc went to auction where Jonathan Fowler of Brandenburg, KY, scooped it up. He was a long time fan of Oz Welch's work and kept in contact as he and Culver Customs repaired the Merc and hand mixed the one-off paint.
This Merc is a Car Kulture Deluxe magazine cover car and this video was put together to promote the feature.