1949 Mercury Eight – Tovar’s Merc

The Tovar family is no strangers to the world of lowriding. In an almost iconic way, they’ve built their family name into something of a brand, and throughout the past few decades the four brothers have literally bombed the pages of LOWRIDER.

Whereas they’re known best for building Chevys, this time around they’ve switched the game up by building their first Merc/Ford. And here’s the kicker: it’s been Eddie Tovar’s dream to do so.

Looking back, Eddie still remembers the day he first laid eyes on the Merc. Eddie was sitting on the couch with this father and family as they watched Rebel Without a Cause, a film featuring James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo. In that film, he saw the black 1949 Merc and he vividly recalls the details, “It was skirted down, wide whitewalls, nosed and decked, and I never forgot that custom car.” With the death of their father, the images of the 1949 Merc in the movie really stuck with him. “I always wanted a Merc but I either couldn’t find one or when I could I couldn’t afford it.”

A few years back, Eddie had his green 1948 Fleetline at the Long Beach Motorama. As he walked around the show with this wife he saw a lineup of about 15 Mercs from 1949-1951. “They were all chopped, except for a black one. That’s the one that stood out to me the most.” After that show, Eddie got home and went straight to the computer and began searching for one. He found this one up in San Jose, California, but before he could buy it he needed to take care of two things. The first was to get the OK from his wife. “She knew that the Mercs did something to me and how I felt about them, so she gave me her blessing.” The second thing was that he didn’t have enough money to buy it, so his brother, Michael, stepped in and made sure Eddie had the additional funds to purchase it. The very next weekend Michael, their friend Nacho Camarena, and Eddie all went up to San Jose to see the car. With no motor, transmission, and the necessity for a full restoration, it was still a solid project car but they still picked it up, and after a lengthy five-year restoration we now have this amazing creation.

Tovar’s Merc

Vehicle Year/Make/Model
1949 Mercury Eight

Owner
Eddie Tovar

City/State
Hawaiian Gardens, CA

Club
Tovar’s

Engine
283 small-block Chevy and turbo 350 transmission rebuilt by Ed Johnson of Hawaiian Gardens

Body/Paint
Eddie did the bodywork himself and Gato of All Glass & Upholstery in Long Beach, CA, sprayed the Dakota gray two-stage PPG paint that was provided by Ricky Garcia

Suspension
2.75-inch body drop, four-link triangular rearend with stepdowns, bridged, C-notched, tunneled, 2.5-inch dropped front spindles; two old-school lift gates with cast-iron block pumps, four Italian dumps, stainless steel hard lines with 6-inch cylinders in the front and 12-inch in the back; all powered by three group 24 batteries

Interior
The interior had to have been completely modified to accommodate the body drop. This was done by shaving 2.75 inches off the seats. Herick of Jaime’s General Upholstery in Hawaiian Gardens re-stitched the interior back to its original shape.