The best-known custom car of all time is going up for auction

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If you’re a fan of custom cars, get your bidding card ready. The original Hirohata Merc, widely considered the most important custom ever built, will be heading for the auction block early next year.

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The Barris-built car will be a featured vehicle in Mecum Auction’s sale , scheduled for January 6-15, 2022 in Kissimmee, Florida. No estimate has been set on it, but some experts are guessing it won’t go below US$500,000, and could top a million.

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The best-known custom car of all time is going up for auction Back to video

In March 2021, it was reported the car was going up for private sale , offered by the family of Jim McNiel, its late owner and restorer. That apparently didn’t happen, as Mecum’s description of the car says it’s been in the McNiel family since 1959.

It wasn’t the first Mercury to be customized, but it’s believed to be the first ’51 to have its top chopped — the roof removed, the pillars cut down, and the roof welded back on for a lower profile. Over the years, it also became one of the best-known customs.

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It was built by George and Sam Barris, at their Barris Kustoms shop in Los Angeles, for Bob Hirohata. They’d already done a mild makeover on a 1949 Chevrolet for him. In 1952, Hirohata bought a used 1951 Mercury and handed it over to them to turn into a full custom. This included extending the front and rear fenders, a grille made from three Ford grilles, Buick trim, and a Cadillac engine.

Hirohata entered the car in shows, and it made the covers of several hot rod magazines and was even in a movie, but he also drove it as a regular daily vehicle. He sold the car in 1955. In 1981, he was gunned down in his driveway, execution-style, and his murder was never solved.

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In 1957, the Merc was involved in a crash and rebuilt, but then deteriorated as it was passed through other owners. Sixteen-year-old Jim McNiel bought it in 1959 for $500 and fixed it up. Five years later he put it in storage, and eventually the car was considered “lost,” to the point that in 1985, someone built a clone of it to honour its place in custom-car history.

That prompted McNiel to give the car a full restoration that was completed in 1996, and took it back to how it looked in 1952. It got just as much attention as when it was first built, including being on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. It was restored again in 2015 and won its class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. In 2017 it was added to the National Historical Vehicle Register , and its eventual buyer will own one of just 29 cars on that list. We’ll be keeping an eye on the auction to see how much this piece of history ultimately brings.