Comanchero

December 20, 2024

Words and Photos by Brian Holzli with Additional photos by Jaclyn Wiggins (@xoxodollyjphotos) and featuring Georjah Erin (@georjah)

Seven long years..

Travis Lawson bought this car twenty years ago with his dad when they stumbled upon it at car show. What is now arguably one of the coolest Merc’s around, actually started out as a 1950 Lincoln.

Inspired by customs of the west coast, him and his dad set out to build one of the most visually stunning cars we have seen to date. Over seven memorable years, Travis and his father scoured the east coast looking for parts and cars to incorporate into this custom. The back half is the original 1950 Lincoln, the front half is 1950 Mercury. The bumpers are fitted from a DeSoto as well as the grill. The iconic swooping chrome trim on the side of the car that runs into the lake pipes is from a 1953 Buick. The same 1953 Buick and 1955 Chevy donated pieces of it fenders to build the fender flares on the front Mercury wheel arches. One of the features that Travis is most proud of is the incorporation of 1949 Ford marker lights which he hasn’t seen anyone else do.

The custom body work doesn’t stop there. They took a 6” chop out of the roof of the car and created a hard top by removing the B pillar and making custom window frames from steel tubing to fit back glass from a 1949 Mercury. Not only that, but the hood has been nosed and decked with these beautiful “S marks” built into the hood.

The car is painted with a House of Kolor candy red with depth and sparkle for days.

The chromed out engine bay displays a beautiful classic Chevy 383 stroker motor with a TH400 transmission, that is rumored to push out around 475 horsepower. The car rides on air and lays the side pipes right on the ground when parked.

The interior is also completely custom with a dash built from scratch by Travis’ father, custom leather upholstery in burgundy and white and the back seat is out of a T-Bird.

Unfortunately Lawson’s father has passed on but Travis has the memories of building this car with his father and the many touches that he added during the build. Travis builds cars regularly now because of this experience and is currently working on a 1950 Pontiac hardtop and a 1936 Plymouth. With his style and influence we can’t wait to see what he does with these builds as well.

In the future, Travis does plan on repainting the Merc and redoing the interior. He would like to thank his Dad, his mom, and all of the friends that have helped him along the way with the build.

This car won best of show at Still Runs 2024 in North Carolina and also won the coveted “King of the Mercs” award at the Custom Car Revival.

The name “Comanchero” refers to a group of traders in the New Mexico region of United States in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The group were well known and successful because of their allied relationship with the Comanches of the area. The Comanchero were later outlawed for supplying weapons and ammunition to the Comanches after the civil war for their protection against the Government. Travis’ father raced with the Comanchero name on the side of his car, and with their relationship and journey in this build it seems a fitting name for the car. He also refers to it as the Mercster.