This 1949 Mercury two-door exudes classic hotrod style and exemplifies what it means to be a retro-styled custom car. The body has been significantly modified and features more than just a four-inch chop, the door posts have also been angled to provide a slightly different and more streamlined look.

The owner of this car, Steve Aurdal of Chimacum, Washington, was drawn to it based on some of it’s more custom features, but when he was shopping for his car he actually looked at two ’49 Mercurys down at a Goodguys show in California. This is the one he ended up with.

“I looked at this one and a black one,” Steve explained, “but I didn’t like the black one as much and I had a bad feeling about the owner.” A lot of buying a car like this is going with your gut, and Steve made the right choice. He hasn’t regretted that decision even a single second.

The drivetrain is relatively modest and features a stock small-block 350 cubic-inch engine, Edelbrock 650 cfm carburetor, turbo-350 transmission, and a Nova rearend. The interior also features a thoroughly custom look with a custom made steering wheel that has been cut down and shrunk a few inches from the original size. The aftermarket VDO gauges remain in the stock position in the stock dash.

We love Steve’s car, and we’d love to see what you guys are driving out there. If you love it, odds are good that we will too, so shoot us an email with a couple pictures and a little information on your ride, you might just see it here as one of our Street Features. Still a work in progress? No worries, we’d always like to see a project for our What Are You Working On series.