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RacingJunk Find: A Mechanically Cool and Aesthetically Bizarre Survivor 1960s Kustom Creation


RacingJunk Find: A Mechanically Cool and Aesthetically Bizarre Survivor 1960s Kustom Creation

We’re not going to lie here. There are very few 1960s custom cars that we “get”. This is not one of them. While this car is a very awesome study in custom car construction of the era and mechanically it is a really bitchin’ piece with a Jag chassis, four carbed Buick nailhead engine, etc, it looks like something from a bad b-movie set. A star of the show circuit during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations the so called, “Mark Mist GT” has been living a quiet life in storage for decades and is now up for sale for a touch less than $40,000 on RacingJunk.

The car lived a couple of lives before being mothballed. It was original built by Joe Wilhelm of Wilhelm’s Custom Shop in San Jose, California. When first constructed, it had a Corvette 283 with dual quads and a Powerglide transmission. It was shown this was from 1959-1961. The front end treatment on the car was done during this original phase as well. The center grill is from a 1959 Edsel and the slanted headlights on either side were taken from a 1959 Lincoln Premier. The second life of the car was exposed in 1965 when it was featured in Rod and Cusom Magazine. When it reappeared in the public eye, the 1936 Ford was rolling on a Jaguar XK140 chassis, the grill had been cut down, the engine was now a 322ci Buick Nailhead bolted to a Caddy “dual range” transmission, and the tail lights had been changed.

The car is an amazing piece of history that really shows how it was done during the era when there were no “rules”. We’re not mocking the car’s looks or style, we’re just not evolved enough or knowledgeable enough, or into this scene enough to really like it. If it still looked like a 1936 Ford that was on a Jag chassis and had Nailhead power, we’d be falling out of our chairs over the pure coolness.

What do you think? Is this car totally cool? Too weird? Or What?

Scroll down through the photos and then hit the link for the RacingJunk Ad!

RACINGJUNK AD FOR MARK MIST GT 


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3 thoughts on “RacingJunk Find: A Mechanically Cool and Aesthetically Bizarre Survivor 1960s Kustom Creation

  1. Manifestospeed

    Dare to be different . . . X10.

    But why didn’t they chop the top? They must not have heard of the “rule of thirds.”

  2. Robert M

    I first saw this car way back in the ’70’s. I remember thinking “Why would anyone do that?” 40 years later, I am thinking “Why would anyone do that?”
    Maybe some day I will get it….

  3. John T

    it reminds me very much of a custom car around my area that was built in the 60’s from an FJ Holden (Aussie) – very similar treatmend, sectioned, shortened etc – even the colour is very similar – the kicker with this one is that the guy owning it uses it as his daily driver, so I see it out in the rain, at the shops, etc etc

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