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1949 Mercury
Peachtree, NC

This article features Lloyd Cash and his 1949 Mercury 2 door Coupe. Lloyd, who is a relative of Johnny Cash, was born in Gainesville, GA. He was in the banking industry and moved around the Southeast in his career. Lloyd retired as a bank president in Tennessee, and moved to Peachtree, NC.

Lloyd’s car is a California built car that was sold to someone in Tennessee and ended up in Franklin, NC, where Lloyd purchased it. The car is a 1949 Mercury 2 door Coupe that has had extensive customizing done to it. The top has been chopped 2” in the front and 5” in the rear. The car was lowered in the back to give it a more sleek appearance. The hood, trunk and doors have been “shaved”, which means the emblems, locks and handles have been removed and filled in, which was popular in the 50’s, along with the chopped tops. Lloyd opens the doors and trunk electronically like cars are currently equipped. The car has Frenched (resessed) headlights and tail lights, with the taillights being from a 1939 Ford. The grill is from a 1953 Desoto and was a classic fit for this model car. The car has the long fender skirts called “cruiser skirts”, and has the traditional bullet type spot lights on the windshield post.

The interior has been fitted with Mustang bucket seats in the front with the standard Mercury bench in the back. The steering column has been changed to a tilt wheel setup out of a late model car. All the gauges are stock and the dash is the original metal dash and has an under dash air conditioner installed. The upholstery is brown and buck skin colors in leather and cloth.

The car is powered by a 327 c.i. Chevy Corvette engine with modified heads, a mild cam and a 4-barrell carburetor. The headers are stock corvette and exit through a dual exhaust system. Power to the wheels is through a reworked Turbo 350 automatic transmission to the Cooper tires on steel rims fitted with Cadillac hubcaps. The car is fitted with a Chevy II Nova front end, 4 wheel disc brakes and is painted a 5 stage yellow pearl Cadillac color. Lloyd and his wife (who recently passed away) named the car “little Darling”. Lloyd has been a hot rodder for many years and has had several cars. He is now working on a Chevy Camaro that may find its way into a future article.