Troy Nedbalek is carrying on a family tradition with his beautiful 1951 Mercury 4-door. His grandfather bought the car new and his father drove the car through high school. Nedbalek restored the car, which had sat in a railroad boxcar for more than 30 years, in tribute to them.
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One of the few cars that looks as good as a 4-door as a coupe, the '51 Mercury opens wide with rear `suicide' doors.
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Nedbalek kept things factory-stock under the hood, with a venerable 255 cubic inch flathead V-8 producing 112 horsepower. Note the offset air cleaner and the 6-volt electrical system.
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In the days before power steering was standard on full-sized cars, the Merc required a hefty steering wheel to get it around the corners. The '51 dashboard was a combination of old and new, with vertical chrome bars picking up the grille bar theme, while a thinner, horizontal instrument panel featured a sweep-style speedometer.
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Nedbalek opted for the same black and white vinyl seating surfaces that his dad had installed when he was the driver of the Mercury sedan. Stylecraft Auto Upholstery did the honors. Rear seat space is amazing by today's standards.
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There's no mistaking an early Merc's front end for anything else; Nedbalek had the chrome plating cleaned up by Robbie's Hobbies for maximum eye appeal.
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The '51 Mercury's stylish vertical tail lights were a departure from the '49-'50 models, foreshadowing the line's fresh new look through 1956.
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Elegantly understated smoothy hubcaps with the Mercury head centers, chrome trim rings and wide whitewall tires fill the car's wheel wells at all four corners.
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The hood ornament reflects stylists' postwar fascination with jet aircraft, with the swept-back wings and flowing fuselage suggesting fluid forward motion.
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The car came equipped with a set of fender skirts, but Nedbalek keeps them stored safely in the trunk until he can find a correct set of gaskets to keep from marring the paint.
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A 1965-'66 Fort Hays Kansas State College parking sticker proves this is the original rear windshield in the Mercury.
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A sparkling reminder of automotive days gone by, Troy Nedbalek's 1951 Mercury was repainted in a bright metallic red by Al Wellman's Body & Paint, matching the original color as closely as possible.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
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