Danbury Mint 1949 Mercury Surf Woody

We seem to love “woody wagons”. But a sub-culture, the “surfing woody wagon” has emerged as a wholly different means to make us smile. I mean, who wouldn’t love to own a 1:1 or 1:24th woody devoted to serving the surfing crowd? The sun, waves, cool cars and great era music. DM must think so too. They crafted one tricked out Merc for us to have fun in; excuse me, to have fun with. They started, essentially, with their release, in 2003, of the Bermuda Cream showroom stock Woody Wagon.

They painted this new bad boy in sun-faded flat blue, added a sun screen over the windshield, changed the coloration of the wood veneers and went on a tear from there. As was the key custom of the day, they ‘nosed’ the hood, removing the Mercury badging, then added a wild, “Tiki-face” pinstripe and adorned the center with a surfing girl ornament. The stock license plate bracket was removed and a “Nomads” plate took its place. The fog lights are gone and the license plate frame is now a wood-like affair featuring twin palm trees. The rear California plate says, “Surfs Up”. Those DM boys next added proper surf decals to the non-sliding contingent of rear windows, tossed a Southwest blanket on the front seats and attached a surfboard rack to the roof. They even thought to add bungee cords.

The buggy was further modified from the stock issuance by removing the third row seating, removing the spare tire cover and adding “Baby Moon” hub caps. The antenna still extends and the doors still feature those wonderful internal hinges. But the rear bumpers lost their bumper guards, as the front did, while we see period additions to the interior. Note the bouncing hula girl on top of the dash and the necker’s knob on the steering wheel. One-hand driving is now possible while holding a ‘cold one’. Oh, and to hold the beverage of choice, DM crafted up a little, “Ice King” cooler, cloaked in tartan plaid, and gave us some other trinkets to go with it. There’s a folded multi-colored beach blanket, a, “Sidewalk Surfer” skate board and two pairs of flip flops. Cowabunga dude! (Sorry; got carried away there.)

The model is still powered by the flathead V8 that is in the stock version and it’s wired and plumbed to the nines! The fuel line simulation is grand and the firewall renderings are incredibly detailed. DM pulled no punches here; the ‘surf woody’ has never looked better. Keep ‘em coming DM, you dudes rock!

-Tony F Perrone