The Renegade

            “It’s a renegade. It’s a little bit of everything put together. That’s what a renegade is,” said Weldon Haynes as he explained the name of his chopped 1951 Mercury.

            This car that he bought as a mere shell about 10 years ago truly is a little bit of everything with some individual touches thrown in. For example, the car sports Packard tail lights, the fenders, which were straight on the original Mercury, have been flared, the grill was custom made in California. The explanation for these changes is quite simple. “I just think it looks better,” said Weldon.

            “I’m 71 years old and I grew up with customs,” he added, While he didn’t actually do the work on this car he has personally chopped and rodded several cars in the past, including a Ford that is still in his stable. Instead, a good friend of his, who has since “retired” from customizing, did this car.

            Perhaps the most difficult decision Weldon had to make with this car was what color he wanted to have it painted.

            “I didn’t want red. Green doesn’t show up. Black, might as well not even paint it. I wanted something to jump out at you and pop. So I settled on orange,” he said.

            This renegade attitude has worked. In 2005 at the Annual James Dean Run Car Show, Walden’s car was selected to be the T-Shirt car. What that means is that his car was drawn and used as the logo on all the t-shirts and other memorabilia. “I was quite an honor,” he said. “At least I thought it was an honor.”

            He explained that his car was one of between 150 and 200 cars in the Mercury “corral” at the event and the folks in charge decided that it was the perfect model.

            When he isn’t crisscrossing the region watching his son play baseball, Weldon will drive his car to shows. But even when he isn’t able to head out to shows he still drives his chopped masterpiece around.

            “I drive it. I don’t believe in trailers. If you’ve got Hot Wheels you carry them around. A car is for driving,” he said, summing up his personal philosophy.

            “I think having people look at you as you drive it around and give you a thumbs up, to me that’s the best part about it,” he concluded. Spoken like a true renegade.