The Old Man and his 56 Merc-Part 5

It's Friday.  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  

The registration/tag on the side of the body says it’s a Medalist. They only made the Medalist in 56 and 58. They made less then twelve thousand of these cars if it is a Medalist in 1956.

The Old Man and his 56 Merc-Part 5

I had the Merc for 4 years now and I drive it all the time. She’s just one of those cars that seem to drive no matter what and starts no matter what. She’s a beautiful car and is fun to drive.

Hope you enjoyed this weeks Joyrides Art Co feature.  Thanks to Bill Edwards for letting me come down and shoot his car.  Also, Thank you Denise for being our beautiful model for the night.  She was such a hit even the cops stopped by to see what was going on, and thank you Liz for doing the make up and helping out.

I am working on a few more features on some bikes and will post them as soon as I get them done.  Thanks again for logging in and checking out my work.  I appreciate it.

-Mark Kawakami

The Old Man and his 56 Merc-Part 4

Here's a few photos to feast on today.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Tomorrow will be the final entry on Bill's Merc.  Enjoy the holiday.

Gymkhana-Ken Block Racing

Ken Block is one of the co founders of DC Shoes. Check out his amazing driving.

The Old Man and his 56 Merc-Part 3

This Merc has a 312 V8 with tri power that I put on it. I got three old 94’s on it. It’s got a 3 speed standard stick transmission with an overdrive. Most of the Merc’s were automatics so the 3 speeds with the overdrive are rare. Not too rare, but kind of rare. I finished the interior; I also did the headliner and the side panels.

I cleaned it up a little bit, put skirts on it and put the right kind of caps on. Original 1956 Mercury caps are on the car now. It also has air bags and keyless entry.

The bumper is what you call a bumper/grill combination. This is more or less your stock version. It used to have two big knuckles, one on each side, and only three teeth. They took the knuckles off and it has nine teeth now. Everything has been shaved on the car such as doors, hood, bumpers, etc.

Tomorrow a few more pics of the car and Friday will be the last entry into this Week long showcase.  Bill will talk about it being a Medalist and how he feels about the car.

The Old Man and his 56 Merc-Part 2

Today's post Bill talks about how he got the Mercury

Bill Edwards 56 Mercury
I was building a 51 Ford Shoebox for four years and I took pictures of it to the swap meet where I usually sell parts. A guy seen the pictures and wanted to look at it. So he came over to check it out and drive it. A few days later I heard back from him and he wanted to make a trade. So he came over with the Merc and we made the trade with a couple dollars added to it and with that I bought a 64 Riviera (another project car that Bill is currently working on).

Tune in tomorrow as Bill talks a little bit about the car and some of the modifications.

Flying Dutchman Cover Photo

Amazing Shot.  Flying Dutchman photo. Check out his blog.

The Old Man and his 56 Merc-Part 1

- Bill Edwards
When I was shooting John Edwards 52 Panhead I saw this beautiful 56 Mercury. John had told me it belonged to his Dad and that he got it in a trade. I asked John to ask his Dad if he would be interested in having me photograph it and a few weeks later John called me and said his Dad was into it. So I called Bill and set a date for the shoot. The following photos are the shots from that day.

A little bit about Bill Edwards
Bill works in construction and does concrete and brick work for a living. He also does beautiful stone work on homes. Bill got into surfing as a young kid. The way I like to say it, “Yeah I was involved in sports, I surfed in High School. If the sun was out and the weather was nice I was out there surfing Huntington.” My buddies just had old cars, some of them had hot rods, you know, something that we could shove the big 9 foot surfboards in. I had a 47 Chevy Panel, 49 Chevy Panel, half a dozen 55 Chevy’s, immaculate 58 Impala hard top and 57 Fords, all kinds of stuff.
In the mid 60’s he got a little involved with motorcycles.

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2.

Bill Edwards and his 56 Mercury

Monday I will post pictures and the feature story for Bill Edwards 56 Mercury. Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday.  

More Planes

The Boeing B-52 "Stratofortress" is in it's 56th year or operation, the B-52 is a prime example of engineering longevity.  As a long-range bomber, it adds to the three-pronged defense of our nation today.  It is capable of flying at high subsonic speeds at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and can perform strategic attack, air interdiction, offensive counter-air and maritime operations.

Lockheed Martin F-16C "Viper", also known as the "Fighting Falcon", the  F-16 is a compact, multi-role fighter aircraft that has been a stalwart fighter in the Air Force inventory, having proved itself in air to air combat and air to surface attack. 

North American P-51D "Mustang" with excellent range and maneuverability, the P-51D operated primarily as a long-range escort fighter and a ground attack fighter-bomber during World War II. 

Globemaster III

A few more shots of the massive Globemaster III from Sundays Long Beach show.

Dive Shot

Sitting at my desk where I should be doing work but as  always I get side tracked.  Here's another shot that I took last week while diving.  Supposed to go diving this morning but plans got changed.  So instead of being down on the ocean floor grabbing lobsters for dinner I'm here in the office working.  

Smiley Tattoos Liz

Liz wanted a tattoo on the middle of her upper back.  So she called Smiley and made a appointment to get it done.  These are photos from a few months back of Smiley at work.  If you want a tattoo and done right and look nice, call Smiley.  One of the best tattoo artist out there.  You can call the shop at 714.534.7166 or walk in to make a appointment at 9141 Garden Grove Blvd in Garden Grove Ca.  If you want to see more pics of his work visit the Saints & Sinners myspace site.

Working on the outlines.

Smiley at work.

Doing the outline.

Laying down the color.

Finished tattoo.

Wednesday-No Post

Working on updating the Joyrides Art Company website so I didn't prepare anything to post today.  Tune in tomorrow.

Boeing C-17A "Globemaster III"

A high-wing, four engine, T-tailed military transport aircraft, the C-17 is America's last remaining in-production transport built at Long Beach Airport.   It can carry roughly 169,000 pounds,  fly long distances and land in remote airfields day or night. 

The landing gear is crazy.

The mother is f#@!ing huge.

Wings Over Long Beach-Sunday

Went over to LB Airport to see some of the Airforce Military planes on display.

Tail shot of the Boeing KC-135R "Stratotanker."  The end piece with the "452" on it is where they refuel planes in mid air.

The Boeing KC-135R "Stratotanker" has been in service since 1957 and provides core aerial refueling support for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.  The KC-135R is also capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients.  It is a variant of the Boeing 707 and 720 series commercial airliners.

New Surfboard

I got a new board from Aftermath Surfboards a few weeks back.  I finally got around to ink a new design on the board.  Now I just got to go get a traction pad, leash and fresh new wax.  Thanks Jim McGrath of Aftermath Clothing for the hook up.

The final design.  I just need to spray a clear coat on it, put a new traction pad on and wax it up.

Spent Friday night drawing it up and Saturday afternoon inking it in.

Now I got to check surfline.com to see if there is a swell on the way to try it out.

Doug Dorr-FInally Friday

The last installment of Doug Dorr's 58 Pontiac.

This is his inside door handle.  Doug is the creator of the "Kool Tools."  He's always at the car shows selling a ton of these things.   Check out his myspace site. You can buy stuff from him there.  http://www.myspace.com/dougdorr.

Thanks again for tuning in this week.  Have a good weekend and I'll dig something out for next week to post.

Doug Dorr 58 Pontiac-Thursday