Rick D’Louhy and I specialize in writing stories about locating handcrafted cars of the 1930s through the 1960s. The stories we uncover never fail to impress about a car owners, their dreams, perseverance, and fortitude. The fact that so many cars were actually finished back then astounds me to this day.
While many handcrafted cars built over the years may not be ones that we recognize for their design and quality, some were made with sound vision, a good plan, lock-tight precision, and involved all the right people. The Leo Lyons Custom “Merc” was one such car.
In 2013, I began looking for a piece of automotive history that could double as my daily driver; something special to drive around my home in Tampa, Florida. Every day I peruse a number of automotive websites—my favorite is H.A.M.B., or Hokey Ass Message Board, a companion website to Jalopy Journal.
I was directed there by Kustomrama, another website on custom cars, which had posted a car for sale on H.A.M.B.—the striking Leo Lyons Custom Merc. What’s more, it was the cover car of the February, 1960 issue of Custom Cars magazine. The car was reasonably priced, in nice condition, but in need of a full restoration. With Rick’s support, we purchased the car from now good friend Craig Hahn.
The radical Mercury was not hiding; instead, it had been posted on several Internet sites, but surprisingly only Hacker appeared interested in owning the car. GEOFF HACKER
Hacker purchased the Mercury custom, then showed it to original builder Leo Lyons, who built the car more than half a century earlier. GEOFF HACKER
And then our research started. Who was Leo Lyons, and what happened to him?
With little effort, I found Leo in his hometown of San Bernardino, California, and did he have a story to tell. He shared that the Merc took nine years in planning, design, and construction. When I asked him about the “donor car,” he stopped right in his tracks.
“Donor car?” he asked. “There was no such thing—with Ford’s support, I bought all parts for my car new, including the chassis!”
It turned out that Leo had struck a deal with Ford, which provided 10 sets of 1950 Mercury body panels that Leo and his entourage used to build 10 identical custom cars. I then asked who had helped him build his car, and learned another surprising fact. He said that his friends George and Sam—the Barris brothers, an early California customizing team—helped him perfect his craft. Sam, in particular, helped him learn how to lead and braise metal so that extensive modifications could be made throughout the body.
“Anybody else help?” I asked Leo again. “Yes,” he said, “California Metal Shaping custom built and fit the hood, doors, and top.”
After learning the significance of the car, Rick and I chose to ship it to the Los Angeles area and reunite Leo Lyons with his custom car—the first time he had seen it in nearly 50 years. Jay Leno sent his crew there to film the event, and we hope to share that video in the near future. In the meantime, restoration of the car began in late 2013, and we hope to have the car in show-ready shape by late 2014.
