This car is so big, it must have its own post code.
The following is from http://www.barnfinds.com/bob-hope-special-1948-mercury-custom/
It’s not a barn find, but we had to feature this car because it is so unique. This custom creation was built by Lloyd Templeton back in the 50s.
It won many awards in it’s day and Bob Hope even liked it so much that he asked for permission to use it while in California. Lloyd eventually donated it his church after which it passed through a few hands, got restored, and was offered for sale on Ebay, with an incredible buy it now price of $225k!
Lloyd nicknamed this car the “Templeton Saturn” because he thought it could run circles around the competition.
The car did win many awards including “Best all Around” at the 1951 and 1952 Minneapolis Motorama.
It was also featured in a few TV shows and has been used by many companies, politicians, and celebrities for promotional purposes.
This beauty is a conglomeration of many different cars. It started life as a 1948 Mercury sedan, but then Lloyd built a custom body using body panels from many different cars.
The fenders are from a 1949 Chevy. A hood from a 1936 Ford was used to create the boat tail rear and the seven foot long hood was from a 1936 Chrysler.
Power came from a flathead V8 which was modified to create 200 horsepower. The engine features dual Strombergs, aluminum heads, and a three speed manual gearbox with an additional two speeds in the rear end.
The seller claims that this car could reach speeds of 105mph!
This is an amazing part of hotrod history which deserves to be preserved.
The asking price makes us a little queasy, especially considering that the last time it changed hands in 2009 it sold for $148,500. Thats a nice little return on investment!
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