Custom Car Chronicle
Paul Bragg

Paul Bragg 1949 Mercury

 
 
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After  Paul and Pat had settled in their new home Paul continued to work on his 1949 Mercury. He narrowed an 1954 DeSoto grille so that is now has 5 teeth, and replaced the stock flat parking light lenses with bullet shaped units from an 1960 Chevy (white back-up lights). At the rear Paul created new taillights using a set of 1954 Buick bullet taillight lenses sitting in a molded round rod surround. Very simple, but very effective. The lip around the taillights echoes the shape of the lip on the trunk. Details like this make Paul’s work so fantastic. The car had been lowered Once all the body work was done Paul installed dropped spindles on the front and cut the sprints. At the back he stepped the frame and to make sure the drive shaft had enough travel space he raised the tunnel. Once Paul was happy he primered the whole body, installed a set of Appleton Spotlights, and 1957 Cadillac hubcaps on the wide white wall tires and used the Merc as his daily driver for some time.

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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-28The 1955 Pontiac over rider is installed on the rear bumper, 1951 Mercury skirts added and the front section of the side trim has been shortened. Door popper buttons were installed in the side trim on the doors.
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In 1982 Paul decided it was time to finish the Merc. He had always loved green’s and settled for a two tone green which he custom mixed. The main body in an wonderful olive green, and below the side trim a dark green. This would optically lower the car a bit more. The colors on Paul’s mercury as just as subtile as the rest of the work on the car. Nothing to really stand out or shout, just the right amount of perfected restyling. Paul used a set of 1951 Mercury skirts and the rear bumpers was dressed up with a 1955 Pontiac overrider. The side trim on Paul’s Mercury looks stock, but the section on the front fenders was actually replaced with a shortened section from a second set of trim pieces for the rear quarters. Flipped one side to the other, this way Paul’s Mercury now has completely smooth no “mercury” letters on the trim on the front fenders. The interior was done in a nice tuck & roll light tan color. The stock dash was painted dark green. Paul debuted the finished Mercury at the First West Coast Kustoms show at Lake Nacimiento in 1982.

CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-19The car with its fresh paint waiting to be finished.
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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-20All finished parked in front of Paul’s B&B body Shop.
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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-33Paul’s Mercury at the WCK Lake Nacimiento, Ca show.
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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-21This photo shows the Paul rounded the hood corners with the absolute perfect radius for this <erc. The 1952 Mercury headlights look perfect and so does the molded in grille surround. And the narrowed 1954 DeSoto grilles its at the perfect spot in the grille opening.
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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-22This photo above shows how the rip of the truck was repeated on the taillights. 
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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-24The 1954 Buick taillights look right at home on Paul’s Mercury. Notice the rounded corners on the trunk and molded in splash pan.
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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-23The side view shows how nice the body on Paul’s Mercury flows from front to back. It also shows the shortened rear section of the side trim used on the front fenders. 
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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-30It does not really matter from which angle you looks at Paul Bragg’s Mercury. It works well from every angle.
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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-29The 6 page article on Car Kulture DeLuxe shows the beauty of Paul’s 1949 Mercury.
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The car has been finished since the early 1980’s and is now ready for a few smaller updates and some paint restoration. The Mercury was invited to the mercury Gathering at the 2009 Sacramento Autorama, but Paul mentioned he needed to do too much on the car, especially matching the paint for some touch ups that it would be impossible to get it to the show. He instead took his equality nice 1951 Mercury Convertible which we will feature here on the CCC in the near future.

 

CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-27A few years ago Paul took his Mercury out of the garage to check it out in natural light again. The body is very dusty here, but everything is still looking very good.
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CCC-paul-bragg-49-mercury-31I took this photo of Paul an Paul’s 1949 Mercury in late 2010.
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In 2010 I had the pleasure to visit Paul Bragg at his home shop in Paso Robles. Palle Johansen and me were in California for our Jack Stewart Ford research trip and Palle had planned a meeting with Paul to discuss how he should restore the lead work on the Jack Stewart Ford the best way. Paul being one of the very best metal man gave Palle some very useful tips. While we were there Paul showed us around and also showed us his 1949 Mercury. The car was in his garage, and could not be taken outside at the time, but it was still and amazing moment to see this car in person. Hopefully Paul will get around to touch up the paint on his old 1949 Mercury soon and be able to show the car around at local shows again for everybody to enjoy.

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Rik Hoving

Rik is the CCC editor in chief. As a custom car historian he is researching custom car history for many years. In 2004 he started the Custom Car Photo Archive that has become a place of joy for many custom car enthousiasts. Here at CCC Rik will bring you inspiring articles on the history of custom cars and builders. Like a true photo detective he will show us what's going on in all those amazing photos. He will write stories about everything you want to know in the realm of customizing. In daily life Rik is a Graphic Designer. He is married to the CCC webmaster and the father of a 10 year old son (they are both very happy with his excellent cooking skills)

10 thoughts on “Paul Bragg 1949 Mercury

  • Great post Rik! I love Paul’s work and it is always great to see it highlighted. Any word on his ’41 or Pat’s ’54 lately?

  • Eric, there will be no part two. There is a second page to this article, you can click on page 2 at the bottom of this page, where it says continue on page two!
    This is someting new I tried here on the CCC site… Since there was so much material on Pauls Mercury.

    Rik

  • Great pics and loved the 2 page article as well Rik.
    A great example of an extrememly well done Merc.
    Torchie.

  • Rik..you know how i feel about this one. the best executed 49 ever. the chop is perfect, and the rest of the car is not overdone anywhere. and i have a soft spot for green colors. i would love the hubcaps where 3-4 years earlier though. ..thanks for showing those early photos, really great to see
    but is there any car done by Paul that isnt just perfect!? no
    -palle

  • Green shades have always been my favorite colors. Except olive green.
    When this car was new, I thought olive was just about the worst color for a custom. But, wow – does it look good to me today!

    It’s funny how people have such strong feelings for color and how those feelings can change over time.

  • Like Palle, I’m very tired of ’57 Caddy hubcaps. But, for whatever reason, I actually like them on this car. Maybe because the car is so subtle they actually work? Usually when I see ’57 Caddy caps on a Merc, there will also be lake pipes, flamed paint, big Desoto grille, fuzzy dice, etc. Not to mention bullets in the center of the cap. Like I said before, they are good for me on this one. However, I agree, older model caps would look very nice.

    Thanks for all the great build photos, too, so we can see how the cuts were made.

  • Now… an example of a wonderfully planned and executed “early style” custom built in the not so great taste wasteland of the 1980’s. This is a superior effort indeed.

  • I’m stopping in just to get motivated and inspired by Paul’s incredible work…any word on how he and his wife are doing? I haven’t seen him for years because I just don’t get up to the shows in his area.

    BTW, I can’t believe it has already been 11 years since you and Palle did the Jack Stewart Project trip…crazy!

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