Curves: Custom 50’s Merc and Pinup Masuimi Max

Posted by GreaseGirl on Nov 26, 2009 in Art & Photography | 4 comments

2010 Pin up Girl Wall Calendars

Yucca Valley may be a bit off the beaten path. Some might just call it a road-trip checkpoint rather than a destination. Maybe after you see this 1950 Mercury built by The Hot Rod Shop in Yucca Valley, you might turn this checkpoint-town into a destination-town of your own.

Not only does Toby Stanford, owner, put out some damn good lookin’ cars for customers, he’s also got quite a collection of his own. Lucky for all of you he let us, including the lovely pinup model Masuimi Max, take a peek around his garage.

Other than the beautiful lines we all drool over when looking at a well-chopped Mercury, one of the first things you might notice here is this Merc’s subtle yet striking paint job. No, your eyes are not tricking you. It is black on black – gloss flames on suede paint. For all the attention that’s been given to primer jobs as of late, this is a new twist to an old classic. And while you may have seen one or two other such jobs, Toby assures us that when he finished this car in December 2007, it was the first he’d ever seen of its kind. Who wouldn’t want to implement this idea on their own hot rod, though?

This Mercury has a few other goodies as well. Start with a 6” chop, DeSoto grill, stock bumpers, and frenched headlights and antennae. Throw on some Pontiac taillights in the rear. Add Mustang front seats, a continuous console, and a ’59 Chevy steering wheel along with plenty of pinstriping done by Ben Demon on the interior. But even with all its good looks, this Mercury’s built with driving in mind. So under the hood you’ve got a simple 350 Chevy giving ya power, backed up by a 350 transmission and a Ford 9” rear-end. In addition this car is bagged on all 4’s.

Until he sold it recently, Toby says the Merc was his errand-running car around town. And although Toby didn’t have plans to sell it, when someone comes knocking on your door wanting to give you money, it’s hard to turn em’ down. Unfortunately the new owner isn’t enjoying the car as much. As Toby quotes, he’s “too afraid to take it out.”

Let’s hope that on the next try Toby will keep it and continue rollin’ around the streets of Yucca Valley. Or, if it’s not him, we’ll see more of the cars put out by The Hot Rod Shop of Yucca Valley out there driving.

“I don’t draw them out the way some car builders do,” says Toby. “It’s just the way I figured it up.” Well Toby, we like the way you figure it, and hope we get to see more of The Hot Rod Shop’s work in the future.

This isn’t the only car in Toby’s shop. From this shot outside, you can see a few of the trick rides he’s building for himself and customers. You can see just about all of them in the pinup model picture page.

There’s a few more pics of his work in pinup picture gallery for Masuimi. These 3 look so great, I had to show them here. (the t-bird in the back’s not bad either!) Click on any of these pics to see it full size.

Special thanks to Toby for opening his shop to MyRideisMe.com and Mitzi from Mitzi and Co. pinup photography. Then, of course, thank you to pinup model Masuimi Max. Book her for an appearance or photo shoot (she does all kinds, not just pinup!) at her sizzling hot website IamTrouble.com.

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