Showcase
1950 Leo Lyons Custom Mercury
Owner: Undiscovered Classics
History of This Car
In 1950, Leo Lyons had a dream of building a 2-seater coupe of unique design. His initial plans called for building 10 identical cars, so he set to work learning how to weld and shape metal under the guidance of custom car designer Sam Barris.
Leo also called on the legendary metal-shaping firm “California Metal Shaping” to both design and build the doors, hood, and top. Leo Lyons “Ultra Modern Mercury” debuted in 1959 – nearly a decade after being started. In early 1960, it was featured on the cover of Trend Inc.’s “Custom Cars” magazine, along with a feature article.
In Trend Inc.’s 1961 Custom Cars Annual, it was again recognized as one of the most significant custom cars built to date with a two page feature article inside. Only this car – Leo’s prototype – was built.
Vintage Photos
George Barris Photography – Taken 1959
Disneyland Car Club Day – September 5, 1959
Car Shows Attended
Disneyland Car Club Day and Autocade – September 5, 1959
George Barris’ Bakersfield Motor & Boat Show – November 26-29, 1959
Vintage Articles
Modern Articles
In Print
Lead Weight
Merc Customs Roll Into Pebble Beach
Old Cars Weekly: May 26, 2016
Concepts Beyond Detroit
Amelia Island Concours d’elegance 2016
Old Cars Weekly: March 10, 2016
Ultra Modern Merc: Leo Lyons 1950 Mercury Dream Custom
Kustoms Illustrated: Issue 47, Summer, 2016
Just Cool Cars: Ultra-Modern ’50 Mercury Win Hearts
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
USA Today: October 3, 2015
Leo Lyons Custom Mercury – Pebble Beach
Right at Home
Graham Kozak: Autoweek Magazine
September 14, 2015
Fiberglass Forever
Tampa Bay Times Business: September 6, 2015
Those Marvelous Mercury Lead Sleds
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Program: August, 2015
Push to Pebble: 1950 Leo Lyons Custom Mercury
Old Cars Weekly: August 6, 2015
Book
Overview:
Leo Lyons spent nearly 10 years bringing his vision to life – with some impressive help. Sam and George Barris were involved, California Metal Shaping created several of the panels and Ford Motor Company was on-board bringing Leo’s vision from dream to reality. Quite a story!
Edition: First Printing
Size of Book: 13 Inches by 11 Inches
Binding: Spiral Bound
Number of Pages: 102 pages
—– Click Here To Read This Book Online —–
If you are interested in a purchasing a print edition of this book, please e-mail us at Undiscovered.Classics@Gmail.com Cost is $99 with free shipping to the continental United States. Additional shipping cost elsewhere.
Scale Model by Esval (1:43)
For those of you who like one-off cars, you can have for your very own a 1:43 scale model of this custom car built by Esval as shown below. Cost is $99 with free shipping to the continental United States. Additional shipping cost elsewhere. E-mail us at Undiscovered.Classics@Gmail.com to purchase your model.
Art
Click Here To View Leo Lyons Customer Mercury Art Available at FineArtAmerica
On The Web
1950 Leo Lyons Custom Mercury Restoration – Ten+ Autoweek Articles:
Lead Up To The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
Graham Kozak – Autoweek Magazine
November 13, 2014 to September 2, 2015
Video
Just Cool Cars: Ultra-Modern ’50 Mercury Win Hearts
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
Viewing Time: 3 Minutes
USA Today: October 3, 2015
Video Interview With Leo Lyons
Interview with Leo Lyons – 2013
First of More Interview With Leo To Come
Concours d’Elegance Appearances
Concepts Beyond Detroit Class (Two Cars)
Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance: Official Press Release
Two Cars Attending: 1961 Covington Tiburon; 1950 Leo Lyons Custom Mercury
March 10-13, 2016: Amelia Island, Florida
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
1950 Ultra Modern Mercury – Leo Lyons Custom Mercury
Museum, Event and Exhibition Appearances
Sarasota Classic Car Museum
(Multiple Years)
On Display: Multiple Cars – 2008 to Present
Visit Link Above to View Cars
DuPont Registry Show
March, 2016
Exhibited: 1950 Leo Lyons Custom Mercury (restored)
Corporate Office: St. Petersburg, Florida
DuPont Registry Show
October, 2013
Exhibited: 1950 Leo Lyons Custom Mercury (unrestored)
Corporate Office: St. Petersburg, Florida
Music Video
1950 Leo Lyons Custom Mercury – Released 2015
In our Leo Lyons Mercury video, the viewer sees historical photos, “as found” photos, restoration in progress photos and “finished” photos. All set to your favorite music – “Happy” by “Pharrell.”
The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance (2015) group released this to the public first, and then we updated the video for the Leo Lyons debut at the 2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
Click the image below to start the video – or the link below the image – and have fun!
