1955 Mercury Monterey, total high dollar frame off restoration in about 2003

1955 Mercury MontereyThis car has a lot of curb appeal. It was at the Run for the Sun show in Myrtle Beach last weekend and drew a lot of observers. I sat and watched as people would catch a glimpse and head straight for it to get a closer look. I had several offers to buy it and thought I had a deal with one gentleman. but his wife apparently stopped him the next day. A dealer wanted it to flip in a coming show in Daytona. He said he sold one that was not as nice last year for $28500. but he wanted too much room for his profit. The car was a total frame off restoration in about 2003. All work that was done in the restoration appears to be high quality. The car has held up very well over the years. I bought the car at auction in Utah in 2010. The auction was for a portion of the collection of the Ford dealership owner from Vernal. UT. The paperwork I had at the time said the car also belonged to Ardell Brown. a collector and classic car dealer from Salt Lake City. You can Google Mr. Brown. I have owned. collected. and restored over 50 cars in my life and this is the highest quality restoration I have owned. This car was professionally restored with a lot of money. The car has the original 292 Y-block engine and Merc-o-matic transmission. It currently has about 93800 miles on the odometer. which is still functioning. The car was converted to 12V by the previous owner. probably during the restoration. Due to how well the engine runs. I assume that it was rebuilt at the time of the restoration. I replaced the transmission pan gasket a couple of weeks ago and the inside of the transmission looked pristine. I previously owned a transmission franchise and can tell that there are very few miles on the transmission. There was no settlement in the pan and the internal parts had zero varnish. The transmission also shifts flawlessly. It has the highly desirable and expensive dual Spot light/side view mirror option. The interior is in nearly perfect condition and was done by a highly skilled professional. Look at the pictures and see how straight all the lines and piping are. The car runs and drives beautifully down the road. I drove about 15 miles. of highway and local streets. to the recent show and it rides really smooth with the new radials. Here are the things that I have done since owning the car. Installed new wide whitewall radials last week. They have about 40 miles on them. They are Diamondback II from Diamondback Tires (based right here in my current home town)Installed a Pertronics Ignitor III ignition and coil in the later model distributor. Installed a Holley four barrel in place of the original "tea pot" carburetor. I customized the adapter to mount the carb on the original manifold. I was also able to use the original linkage. The oil bath air cleaner was gutted and a modern element filter is mounted inside. This gives the appearance of still running the original oil bath. I replaced the double pumper fuel pump with one from a Ford FE to solve the common vapor lock problem with the older style pumps. The oil filter was converted from the canister to a modern spin-on type. New Champion aluminum radiator. The original brass developed a leak while in storage. it did not overheat. Installed new flex fan. It has a recent synthetic oil and Type F trans fluid change. The roof was repainted about a month ago as well as some minor touch ups on the yellow around the passenger headlight bezel. The color match is perfect. I have touched up the engine enamel around the front of the heads and intake. but have not re-detailed the engine. All of the original parts are still available and included in the sale. The car is in great shape. but does have very minor flaws due to the age of the restoration. This car will no longer win major car shows but will still due great at smaller shows and cruise-ins. I welcome any inspections that you may want to make. I have the car for sale locally and reserve the right to end the auction early. I will start the auction at the dealer offer price. with no reserve past the original bid.