01/17/2022
The Hirohata Mercury Sells For $1.95 Million
This custom car icon is about to change hands for the first time in over half a century.
Update: The Barris-Built Hirohata Mercury sold at Mecum Kissimmee on Saturday, January 15, 2022 for a staggering $1.95 million before fees.
The legendary Hirohata Mercury is nearing its time on Mecum’s Kissimmee, Florida auction block, where it’s a featured piece of the auction company’s capstone sale. Mecum’s sale at Kissimmee not only kicks off the year of collector car trading but is also one of the most important stops on Mecum’s calendar. This makes it a perfect place for pieces of automotive history or highly sought-after machines to find new homes. Joining its ranks this year is Bob Hirohata’s 1951 Mercury.
We took a look at this Barris-built Mercury’s history when it was first confirmed to be headed towards the auction block. As its name implies, the Hirohata Mercury was built for Robert “Bob” Hirohata by the team at Barris Kustoms in 1952. Despite its relatively short time under construction, Hirohata’s Mercury went on to dominate the car show circuit, grace magazine covers, and eventually see some motion picture work. As tends to be the case with custom cars, Hirohata continually updated his prized Mercury—and as is also often the case, these cars tend to fall out of favor as they age, and Hirohata’s Mercury is no exception.
After trading hands a few times, Hirohata’s once-loved Mercury sat at a used-car lot. This formerly groundbreaking custom looked dated, used, and was probably heading in the same direction as other prominent custom cars like the Barris “Kopper Kart” or Ed Roth’s “Mysterion,” and just disappear to time. Fortunately for every custom car-obsessed person in the world, Jim McNiel managed to find the money to buy Bob Hirohata’s Mercury from the used car lot in 1959 and owned it until his death in 2018. Under McNiel’s ownership, the Hirohata Mercury was restored, shown, and won its class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2015.
It’s at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours that Chasing Classic Cars host and F40 Motorsports owner Wayne Carini enters the Hirohata Mercury’s history. While shooting his TV show at Pebble Beach, the Hirohata Mercury’s painter Herschel “Junior” Conway connected McNiel and Carini. Carini recalls, “We talk for a little while and he (McNiel) said, ‘Would you sit in the car with me?’ So, I said sure I’m thrilled to sit in it. He said, ‘I just want to tell you something. I’ve appointed you to help my family sell the car. I’d like to get your permission to tell my family that you will help them sell this car on my passing.’” Carini fired back to McNiel, “Jim, you look pretty damn healthy to me.”
Three years later McNiel’s passing started the ball rolling towards the auction block. Carini didn’t take the responsibility of helping rehome a legendary car lightly. He said, “I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. It’s an icon in the car world and now it’s been given to me as being the person that’s in charge of helping his (McNiel’s) family sell the car. And a lot of weight is put on my shoulders to do the best job I possibly can for the family.”
About the plan to sell this Mercury, Carini said, “We made a decision as to where to sell it. Now, we had a few offers right up front, and the family decided that the best way to make it fair, and for them to possibly get as much money as they could for the car, was to go to auction and give everybody a fair chance at buying it.”
“There is the Hirohata Mercury, and then there are all the others. This is the definitive custom car.”
Wisely, Carini didn’t take the task of helping the Hirohata Mercury trade hands alone. Carini flagged his friend Ken Gross for help. Gross, for the unfamiliar, is not only a renowned journalist and walking history book of car culture; he’s also one of the people responsible for helping cars like the Hirohata Mercury see the green at Pebble Beach.
“I’ve often said, there is the Hirohata Mercury, and then there are all the other customs. To me, this is the definitive custom car,” said Gross. “I say that partly because of its notoriety, fame, movies, Barris, and the rest of it, but it’s just better looking than the others. The combination of this two-tone paint, the Buick side sweep and the way the car was hard-topped… It pioneered a number of features that people copied, but no one copied them quite as well as this car.”
Gross likely thought the same when he and his judging crew had to pick a winner out of a group of some of the most historically significant Mercury customs at Pebble Beach. Gross explains: “First of all, to win the class, we judged those cars using as much of the Pebble Beach judging system… So you can judge a custom car that way in terms of restoration accuracy, quality of paint, and so on and so forth. We had a couple of those cars that were either 99 or 100 points on a standard judging scale. What makes the difference are those three points for field presence, prominence, fame. Those last three points often separate a group of 100 point cars. It’s subjective, but that’s kind of what you have to do because a lot of cars can score 100 points in terms of restoration perfection. So you have to look at those almost intangibles.”
Carini and Gross both had a chance to drive the Hirohata Mercury in the same way that you likely take your weekend car out for a spin. According to Gross, who is also a North American Car of the Year judge, he noticed that he didn’t have any problems seeing out of the car, despite its aggressive chop. “I found it delightful to drive,” he said. “One of the things I enjoyed the most was watching peoples’ reactions to the car. You could not drive by people without them turning around or pulling out a phone for a picture.”
With a pedigree a mile long and a cemented place in history, the question will always turn to price and buyer. Mecum estimates that the Hirohata Mercury will command seven figures, ranging from a cool $1 million to $1.25 million. Obviously, that’s a lot of money. As for the buyer, Gross and Carini agree that it could be almost anyone. While this car obviously pulls on the heartstrings of people who experienced it in real-time, or vicariously through old magazines and films, this Mercury has removed itself from the constraints of being just a car. From sitting on a used car lot and being sold for less than $1000 to its time at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Hirohata Merc has officially become part of American history. It’s a reflection of its time, of car culture as a whole, and is as important to some as a piece of art.
You can watch for yourself Saturday, January 15, at the Mecum auction in Kissimmee, Florida, to see how much the hammer drops for on this historical car.
The Hirohata Mercury Sells For $1.95 Million
This custom car icon is about to change hands for the first time in over half a century.
Update: The Barris-Built Hirohata Mercury sold at Mecum Kissimmee on Saturday, January 15, 2022 for a staggering $1.95 million before fees.
The legendary Hirohata Mercury is nearing its time on Mecum’s Kissimmee, Florida auction block, where it’s a featured piece of the auction company’s capstone sale. Mecum’s sale at Kissimmee not only kicks off the year of collector car trading but is also one of the most important stops on Mecum’s calendar. This makes it a perfect place for pieces of automotive history or highly sought-after machines to find new homes. Joining its ranks this year is Bob Hirohata’s 1951 Mercury.
We took a look at this Barris-built Mercury’s history when it was first confirmed to be headed towards the auction block. As its name implies, the Hirohata Mercury was built for Robert “Bob” Hirohata by the team at Barris Kustoms in 1952. Despite its relatively short time under construction, Hirohata’s Mercury went on to dominate the car show circuit, grace magazine covers, and eventually see some motion picture work. As tends to be the case with custom cars, Hirohata continually updated his prized Mercury—and as is also often the case, these cars tend to fall out of favor as they age, and Hirohata’s Mercury is no exception.
After trading hands a few times, Hirohata’s once-loved Mercury sat at a used-car lot. This formerly groundbreaking custom looked dated, used, and was probably heading in the same direction as other prominent custom cars like the Barris “Kopper Kart” or Ed Roth’s “Mysterion,” and just disappear to time. Fortunately for every custom car-obsessed person in the world, Jim McNiel managed to find the money to buy Bob Hirohata’s Mercury from the used car lot in 1959 and owned it until his death in 2018. Under McNiel’s ownership, the Hirohata Mercury was restored, shown, and won its class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2015.
It’s at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours that Chasing Classic Cars host and F40 Motorsports owner Wayne Carini enters the Hirohata Mercury’s history. While shooting his TV show at Pebble Beach, the Hirohata Mercury’s painter Herschel “Junior” Conway connected McNiel and Carini. Carini recalls, “We talk for a little while and he (McNiel) said, ‘Would you sit in the car with me?’ So, I said sure I’m thrilled to sit in it. He said, ‘I just want to tell you something. I’ve appointed you to help my family sell the car. I’d like to get your permission to tell my family that you will help them sell this car on my passing.’” Carini fired back to McNiel, “Jim, you look pretty damn healthy to me.”
Three years later McNiel’s passing started the ball rolling towards the auction block. Carini didn’t take the responsibility of helping rehome a legendary car lightly. He said, “I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. It’s an icon in the car world and now it’s been given to me as being the person that’s in charge of helping his (McNiel’s) family sell the car. And a lot of weight is put on my shoulders to do the best job I possibly can for the family.”
About the plan to sell this Mercury, Carini said, “We made a decision as to where to sell it. Now, we had a few offers right up front, and the family decided that the best way to make it fair, and for them to possibly get as much money as they could for the car, was to go to auction and give everybody a fair chance at buying it.”
“There is the Hirohata Mercury, and then there are all the others. This is the definitive custom car.”
Wisely, Carini didn’t take the task of helping the Hirohata Mercury trade hands alone. Carini flagged his friend Ken Gross for help. Gross, for the unfamiliar, is not only a renowned journalist and walking history book of car culture; he’s also one of the people responsible for helping cars like the Hirohata Mercury see the green at Pebble Beach.
“I’ve often said, there is the Hirohata Mercury, and then there are all the other customs. To me, this is the definitive custom car,” said Gross. “I say that partly because of its notoriety, fame, movies, Barris, and the rest of it, but it’s just better looking than the others. The combination of this two-tone paint, the Buick side sweep and the way the car was hard-topped… It pioneered a number of features that people copied, but no one copied them quite as well as this car.”
Gross likely thought the same when he and his judging crew had to pick a winner out of a group of some of the most historically significant Mercury customs at Pebble Beach. Gross explains: “First of all, to win the class, we judged those cars using as much of the Pebble Beach judging system… So you can judge a custom car that way in terms of restoration accuracy, quality of paint, and so on and so forth. We had a couple of those cars that were either 99 or 100 points on a standard judging scale. What makes the difference are those three points for field presence, prominence, fame. Those last three points often separate a group of 100 point cars. It’s subjective, but that’s kind of what you have to do because a lot of cars can score 100 points in terms of restoration perfection. So you have to look at those almost intangibles.”
Carini and Gross both had a chance to drive the Hirohata Mercury in the same way that you likely take your weekend car out for a spin. According to Gross, who is also a North American Car of the Year judge, he noticed that he didn’t have any problems seeing out of the car, despite its aggressive chop. “I found it delightful to drive,” he said. “One of the things I enjoyed the most was watching peoples’ reactions to the car. You could not drive by people without them turning around or pulling out a phone for a picture.”
With a pedigree a mile long and a cemented place in history, the question will always turn to price and buyer. Mecum estimates that the Hirohata Mercury will command seven figures, ranging from a cool $1 million to $1.25 million. Obviously, that’s a lot of money. As for the buyer, Gross and Carini agree that it could be almost anyone. While this car obviously pulls on the heartstrings of people who experienced it in real-time, or vicariously through old magazines and films, this Mercury has removed itself from the constraints of being just a car. From sitting on a used car lot and being sold for less than $1000 to its time at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Hirohata Merc has officially become part of American history. It’s a reflection of its time, of car culture as a whole, and is as important to some as a piece of art.
You can watch for yourself Saturday, January 15, at the Mecum auction in Kissimmee, Florida, to see how much the hammer drops for on this historical car.
