1953 Mercury Drawing

Some cars just give you a tingle when you look at them. The design is just right. For me, one of those cars is the 1953 Mercury Monterey. The rounded boxiness captures the flamboyant height of design of the 1950s, and gazes forward to the kooky appeal of the boxy 1980s. Here is a 1953 Mercury drawing.

The car appeals to me both from the front and the side, but separately. The flat boxy front with its wide mouth grille is muscular and confident, while the side is simple, elegant, and well-proportioned.

I wanted to capture both perspectives, so I opted for a front-3/4 view, biased toward the side. Like the Packard, these cars are uncommon to see in hot rod or racing form, so I chose a straight axle gasser which emphasizes the car’s aggressive face.

I did some heavy customizing to the Merc. First, the car rides on mismatched wheels, which indicates that perhaps the rear wheels are swapped at the track for drag slicks mounted on steelies. The front wheels are Cragar SS, more frequently mounted to 1960s and 1970s muscle cars.

The side skirts are reworked with simpler trim and the elimination of trim on the rear fender haunches. The front fascia is entirely redesigned: on the factory car, the front bumper and front pan are a single integrated piece. I’ve separated them and smoothed out the bumper making it a straight piece.

Finally, I’ve added “255” lettering to the door representing the 255-cubic inch flathead V8 under the hood. The engine is fed through a large frabricated hood scoop.

I used my typical process on this 1953 Mercury Drawing. First, I outlined the the car using pencil on toned gray paper. Next, I used Micron pens and Sharpie markers to retrace and block in darker areas. Finally, I used Posca white for the contrasting shiny areas.