South Australians Amanda Clarke and Daniel Van Geel unveiled Amanda’s 1950 ‘El Choppo’ Mercury custom at Red CentreNATS #10, a car they built virtually by themselves in their shed at home. Here’s Amanda’s summary of what went into the build.

First published in the March 2025 issue of Street Machine

“El Choppo is her name, and she could be Australia’s most chopped Merc!

“We purchased the car approximately five years ago, and it’s since been treated to a body-off resto, including the chassis on a rotisserie.

“My partner Daniel and I did all the metal fab at home, including the paintjob, which we did in an inflatable spray booth, with Trev at Trev’s Signs & Lines taking care of the masking and pinstriping.

“It’s had a right-hand-drive conversion using a ’58 Chevy dash and rack-and-pinion steering with power assist.

“It runs an 8BA flathead motor with Offenhauser heads and twin carbs, and behind that is a C4 auto and 9in.

“Other mods include custom bubble skirts and lakes pipes. The car only left home for trim, exhaust and tuning, with all other work done by us and a skilled group of friends.

“She won Top Custom in the Street class at last year’s Red CentreNATS!”