Eddie Dominguez of El Paso Texas purchased his 1939 Mercury in 1960. The vehicle was already a custom Merc’, which was a cool ride to have especially when you’ve just graduated high school. When Eddie got the Merc, it had been repainted Maroon, the top was chopped about 2 inches and it featured a custom red and white upholstery and a padded top.
After owning the car for more than 40 years it was time for Eddie to let the car go. The new owner was Jorge Zaragoza, a successful rancher and businessman also from El Paso, Texas. Jorge only purchased the Merc’ as part of a package deal for a 3 window coupe. Jorge shipped the Merc’ to California in hopes of selling the car at the 2008 Los Angeles Roadster show, and he did.
Ron Clapper who worked for Jorge at the time, and it was he who brought the car to the show, selling it for Jorge; "I took the Merc to LARS along with a woodie to sell for my then boss. I'm recently retired," Ron told later owner Ronnie Lindblom in 2015. The new owner would be Shifters car club member Squeak, who purchased the car three days after he made his first offer.
Squeek noticed small details of the car which indicated that it was customized in the past, including a sunken license plate. Squeak owned the car for about a year before being talked into selling it to fellow Shifters member, Kevan Sledge. Kevan stored the car for a couple of years before putting some work into in in 2011. After a few years Kevan finally sold the car to Dusters member Ronnie Lindblom of Sweeden. Ronnie plans to restore the car back to its former glory and has even commissioned Kevan to do some work as well. There’s a lot more to cars than an engine, paint, and metal. Every car has a history and it’s always great to see how some of these hot rods came to be.
Photos Coutesy: Ronnie Lindblom, Kevan Sledge,Robert A. Radcliffe III