Two door station wagons have always been cool in our book, and this 1955 Dodge Coronet Suburban is definitely cool. In very reasonable original condition, this wagon needs some help! Vandals broke the windshield, and the front floors need a little work, but otherwise this is a very solid wagon. Priced at $4,500, this would be a fun project to get running and enjoy. Find it here on craigslist out of Carson, Washington.
Taking a look under the hood reveals a decent condition engine and bay. There is some form of dried vegetation around the intake manifold of the 270 cubic inch V8 engine known as the “Red Ram V8”. Shifting is controlled via a dash mounted automatic shift lever. Looking to be complete and ready to run, this Dodge has been parked for “several years” according to the seller. But at which point we assume the car was running and driving. The engine and bay itself look very reasonable in need of a good cleaning.
The interior is in quite good shape, looking to really only need carpeting. The seats front and back are in excellent condition, as is the dash itself. We are curious to the extent of the rust in the front floors of this Dodge as not much appears to be visible from the photos. The seller has gone to the trouble to purchase a new driver floor, and claims that he will purchase the passenger side as well. The exterior reveals a lot of original paint, and no real rot to speak of. Teal and dark blue in color, the dark blue has succumbed to the elements and much of the dark blue section has surface rust. This surface rust looks non-threatening and could be handled in many different ways. All of the common places to rot look very nice, including the rockers, and the lower quarters. There are some small rust spots at the very bottoms of the front fenders, but otherwise this is a great looking project. Vandals are always doing things that we wish they hadn’t, but we do wish that the vandals had focused their interests on something else far away from this Dodge. But we suppose a broken windshield isn’t the end of the world, and it can certainly be replaced.
With a lovely patina, a cool two door configuration, and a high potential to be a driver, we are loving this 1955 Dodge Coronet 2 door Suburban. Would you save this classic Mopar wagon?
My buddy owned this ’56 Suburban a few years ago, on a Ramcharger chassis. He didn’t build it, just owned it.
Looks a lot better than me for being the same age. Pretty sure this engine was painted at one time, as the Red Ram 270 ( not to be confused with the “Super Red Ram 270 hemi) was silver ( and had “Red Ram” on the valve covers.) I really like these mid-’50’s Chrysler products, although, this may be a gas hog as is. Slant 6 anyone? Nice car. I’d leave it as is, although, it would look more complete with the “Getaway” Flathead 6. Cool car, love the 2 door wagons. http://smclassiccars.com/uploads/postfotos/1955-dodge-coronet-2-door-hardtop-red-ram-v8-engine-auto-trans-wide-whites-10.JPG
Hold me back. The rust on the roof pillars and quarters is weird . How could the color oxidize n rust but the lower color stay more or less recognizable? Rats nest in the manifold? Lots of unknowns for the price
That IS kinda weird that the paint in the middle of the car, the smallest area, oxidized away, but not the areas more exposed to elements, such as snow,. Navy Blue, & Mint Green … the 50s sure had some unique color combos!
My guess is the dark blue was more translucent than the light green, and as a result more prone to failure from sunlight exposure the same is true of colours such as red, orange, yellow.
Neat car. I liooked up Carson, WA where its located, and it almost couldn’t be any farther out in the sticks . . .
It’s only an hr east of Portland…….I would hardly call that the sticks…….
Yup…..hoping someone buys it so I don’t have to fly to Portland and rent a trailer to bring it back to SoCal.
My dad had the Plymouth version of this wagon that he got for a work car when I was 14 or so. It had the pushbutton tranny which I liked; and I got to learn to drive in that car. It gave way in 1963 to his ’64 El Camino which I loved. I still miss both of them to this day.
This car needs to be saved and driven. Doesn’t have to be concours quality. That front end just makes you want to smile. Great find.
Looks great for a 66 year old, unrestored car. With the #’s wagons are bringing these days I can’t see where you could go wrong at this price. The area between the body panels and roof were likely a different color that didn’t hold up as well. I’m not a fan of the patina look, so I would paint at least that area, install new carpet and make it driveable, then just enjoy it.
I hope you are a better mechanic than mathematician……..I am older than this car and not 66 yet…….
Maybe Rustytech is married & everything just feels longer than it is.
A little high but it’s hard to start low….good start…think it will go overseas…..
When I was in 10th grade, and walked a mile and a half to school (in the snow, the rain, etc.) the mother of a female classmate would stop to pick me up in one, and she complained that it stalled every time, V8, automatic, and would say, “don’t get any ideas of dating Maureen, she’s Catholic and you are a Protestant, and we don’t go for that”. But she did give me a ride day, after day, all year, she would shift to neutral, keep her foot on the gas, drop it into drive, and off we went. Was new in the fall of ’55, still was misbehaving in the spring of ’56. Neighbor had a ’55 with the 6, no problems at all.
Now I want to know what happened to Maureen…
There is a lot to love about this car, including the overall condition and the style.
Just a couple of comments: Likely this did not come with carpet, but rubber floor mats instead. It appears as though that is what is pulled back to expose the perforated front floors, and the rear footwell also looks more like textured rubber than carpet?
The “rusty” looking area between the windows appears to be primer to me, not surface rust. Looks like someone was prepping for a redo there at one time.
These can be very handsome cars when serviced and cleaned up, I really do like the style, and it should go well enough to be comfortable in most situations.
Note: In looking for photos of similar examples, I found that this exact car has been around a while. Almost the identical ad was posted nearly 7 years ago: http://american-find.blogspot.com/2010/02/1955-dodge-suburban-wagon-2dr.html
At that time, it had already “been sitting for several years”. No mention is made as to whether the engine is free or not. Be aware that there may not have been fire in the cylinders for a decade or more! The “little TLC” mentioned may include complete refitting of many key components!
Looks like the photos in the current ad are at least 3 years old: http://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/threads/1955-dodge-suburban-wagon-2-door-4995.9533/
There has to be a reason why no one has jumped on this over so many years?
Good detective work! Damn shame. Looks like the birds nexts in the manifold or the rats next is less than seven years old at least. Looks like he’s got a number of older cars in some of the earlier pictures. Still……
Found one more photo, that does not seem to appear in the current, or any of the prior listings.
Check out this pair:
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ram/cto/5895408177.html
Looks like a ’46 or ’47 Chevy or Pontiac behind the Dodge. Anyone? Those Plymouths! We had a ’59 Plymouth wagon in dark grey when I was a wee lad. Man do I love the stuff you guys dig up! Thanks!
Chuck I been looking forward to retiring for a year nowEverything seems longer. No really it was just a fat finger.
Received a call from someone that said the car sold and they were looking for parts. I own a 55 dodge suburban, fun ride
Guys, my dad passed away 3 years ago and I had a 55 Coronet Suburban he gave me, and that I sold when in the USMC. Regret it everyday. Looking for it now. Don’t have the Vin but I have pics showing the front plate when I had it in Yuma, AZ in 1990. Anyone have an idea as to how to go about finding it? Plates were EHE247. Thank you!