Summary

Originally chopped and customized by the late Dick Dean, the hall of fame custom builder known as 'the man behind Barris' and 'the sultan of chop.' Less than 1,000 careful miles on a complete, 2,000 man hour restoration. Tons of modern upgrades.

Details

The 1950 Mercury known as Wasabi. Originally chopped and customized by the late Dick Dean, the hall of fame custom builder known as 'the man behind Barris' and 'the sultan of chop.' He worked for Barris from the early 60's off and on until his retirement 6 years ago. In 2005 this car underwent a complete show quality 2 year restoration with over 2,000 man hours and over $140,000 spent. The Merc was stripped to bare metal to uncover the body with no patch panels. All of Dean's modifications were left intact but all of the bodywork and gaps were massaged. The paint is a custom mix by Johnny Vegas in a PPG 5 stage Candy Pearl called Wasabi. Cuistom pearl interior was expertly stitched. Powered by a 383cid stroker backed by a 700R4 automatic overdrive transmission. Modern amenities include power steering, power disc brakes, Vintage Air, tilt wheel and amazing sound system with navigation. There is even a backup camera when you put her in reverse. The suspension was completely gone through and was upgraded to an Air Ride Technologies Level Pro system. It rolls on custom billet aluminum rims designed to replicate a 1957 Cadillac hubcap. Less than 1,000 careful miles since completion. This car was sponsored by Meguiars in 2008 in their SEMA show booth. It was also awarded the PPG dream car award at the goodguys southwest national last november 2010.