This car has been built in 1950 – starting from a 1946 Mercury chassis – by Lloyd Templeton and his sons. It’s also known as “Bob Hope Special” because it was supposed to have been used in a film with Bob Hope, a film which remained a project. This car was also shown at the third annual Motorama in Hollywood where it won the most original custom car class. It has also an interesting history as after some owners, it came back in the hands of its builder, L. Templeton who bought it back in 1972 and kept her until he passed away.

Interiors are simple: apart from the period tuck-and-roll trimming, it features an aeronautical cockpit with many instruments spread along the entire width of the dashboard. Interiors are really small compared to the overall lenght of the car.

The 1948, 239.4 c.i. Mercury engine was designed by Templeton to run both gas and alcohol: it features some rare Speedway finned high-compression cylinder heads and a Fenton dual intake manifold: it was rated at 200 h.p. We must say that, as this car was sold in 2009 by RM Auctions at $148,500, in U.S. inflation runs really fast: find it for sale at $350,000 here in Clearwater, FL.