1951 Mercury Series 1CM Custom Hardtop Coupe

Upon his discharge from the Navy in 1952, Masato 'Bob' Hirohata began planning his new custom Mercury. After buying a low mileage 1951 Coupe that he found in the San Fernando Valley, he took it to the Barris brothers, and three months later collected his dream, the 'Hirohata Mercury.' Every square inch of the car had been modified. It was the first chopped 1951 Mercury. The B-pillars were cut away and it was converted to a fixed hardtop, then cut 4 inches in the front and 7 in the rear. The rear window was set at a rakish angle and at the front a V-shaped windshield was fitted and the A-pillars were modified to fit the new door shape. The body was modified, the corners of the doors and trunk rounded, the dash and glovebox pinstriped by the legendary Von Dutch, and the interior decked out in a custom rolled-and-pleated upholstery job. It was topped off by an 'Ice Green' paint job. The resulting car graced the cover of magazines and today is THE icon of Southern California custom car culture of the 1950s. It is one of 30 vehicles listed on the National Register of Historic Vehicles.

The build took 97 days to complete and it took the custom world by storm winning many awards at shows across the country.

A couple of years after getting his driving license, the car's current owner bought the car in 1959 and has owned it ever since. It has now been restored and has been shown at custom car events all over the world.