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1958 Ford Country Wagon: Interceptor Special

1958 Ford Country Wagon

When this Ford Wagon was ordered, the original owner knew must have figured they would need a lot of power to get the whole family anywhere in a hurry. At least that seems like the only reason you would order a family hauler with the 352 Interceptor Special engine. The base Interceptor was rated at over 200 hp, but tick the Special option and power was bumped up to 300 ponies! That might not seem like a lot by modern standards, but in ’58 that was serious power. The seller states the engine currently doesn’t run, but it’s free. Overall this wagon is going to need a lot of work, as it has all the “typical Midwest cancer” and it has been overrun by mice. It also appears that someone paneled over the rear windows and fixing that could be a big job. Even with all of its problems, this could be a really awesome wagon! Think of all the great noises that would come from that 352. The kids would be excited to go to school if you dropped them off in this machine! You can find it here on craigslist in St. Charles, Missouri for $2,300. Credit for this tip goes to Robert R!

Comments

  1. braktrcr

    This Chevy guy loves it. Just looking at it on my tablet, so the pictures are small, but its kind of a “Sedan Delivery” kind of look, so cleaning that up might not be to bad.
    58 used to be my least favorite of the 57,58, and 59’s, but now I like it much more. Kind of has an Edsel look to it. That and 300 HP is fantastic. I imagine it was ordered as a tow vehicle, unless Dad was a hot rodder with an expanding family. Hopefully someone buys this and gets it on the road again

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  2. JW

    Love it and only a couple hours away. So many possibilities, restore to original / finish making a family panel wagon / restomod it. Nice Find if the rust isn’t too big a issue.

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  3. Robert R. Member

    Hey Josh this too is another one of my finds I guess you just forgot? I sent this find to you on the 11th, FYI, Robert R.

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  4. Alan (Michigan)

    I’m going to have to call my brother about the motor…

    My grandmother’s ’58 sedan had some version of the 352 which was good for extra power through the 3-speed column shift manual transmission. I have always thought that it was a “police” package, but I really do not recall those special emblems on the fenders.

    Yea, it was a 4-barrel (doubt if my grandmother ever used the secondaries) and the car was fast. I never drove it, my brother was old enough, so I rode with him on test drives….

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  5. Mark E

    I almost bought a ’58 Skyliner with an interceptor v-8 in it back in the ’70s. If you look at the interior shot, the glovebox door has the same V8 Interceptor emblem on it as the fender. Back then I thought it was just marketing hype, didn’t look closely at the engine…

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  6. Jason

    Exterior looks cool. Interior looks…yikes!

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  7. Jim

    I had one like this as a company car except it was a custom 500 with 3 on the tree and the 352 interceptor engine. Car was fast and I used to really haul on the back roads of Bucks County Pa.

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  8. guggie

    My parents had a car just like this one . Dad always said it could pass anything but a gas pump . They had that car for years and finally traded it for a 1971 Ford Ranch wagon with a 390 in it , that also was a ride !!took my drivers test on the 58 Ford in 1963 in a snow storm , passed first try !!

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  9. David G

    Glovebox emblem was the only special script with the 352 Interceptor option, no fender scripts. More racy-ish adjustable mechanical lifters were included so this option chattered a bit even when set to spec. (That wasn’t all that desirable in 58 since everyone was clamoring after the new ‘zero-lash’ hydraulic lifters becoming trend that year for the new 58 FoMoCo engines.)

    Interceptor variants also included the wonderful machined-chamber heads rather than as-cast like other FE engines had, and am thinking they were 10:1 ratio, but don’t quote me on that one. Hotter cams w/tighter valve springs than the base 352s and the spunky Carter completed the 352 Interceptor package, although they may have also had hotter advance curves in the Distributor as well. I remember there not being much diff at all between this engine and the ‘Police Interceptor’ package when i researched it all a few years ago. 58 Edsel Ranger & Pacer series cars all got this same engine package as their base (and only) engine option, although that ‘Edsel E-400’ FE was slightly up-bored into a 361ci, and used either the then-new Holley 4160 style 4-bbl, or then-new Autolite ‘shoebox’ 4-bbl design carbs, rather than the Ford Interceptor option’s spunky Carter 4-bbl shown on this car’s engine…

    Not sure of the Ford blue color seen on this one, am thinking the VCs should be a different color than that but who really cares at this point on this car? This thing’s a great find – lucky for it, the original owner ordered the Interceptor Special engine since that wee Glovebox script is probably what saved its ass thru all these years.

    Some (hopefully)wise person’s gonna get a real goodie here…

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  10. Phil T

    In spite of the “interceptor” emblem and 300 hp rating these things were dogs. My 57 with a 292 Y block that I had installed dual exhausts on and a holley from a 312 would outrun them quite handily. They had a very high rear end ratio and here heavy. Maybe you might call one “peppy” but not fast. The stock 300 hp 352 actually dynoed at around 225 on an engine dyno as I still have the Hot Rod magazine with that article. And with a 2.79 or so rear end and an automatic, well I’ll let you guess.

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  11. Mr Meteor

    Go Canadian and do it as. Meteor !

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    • Alan (Michigan )

      Awesome!

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  12. Michael M,

    This is my wagon, it is still available. Need the funds for my 49 or a pre 96 ford 2wd truck (trade?)

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  13. Michael M

    This has moved on to a new home.

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    • Jesse Mortensen Jesse Staff

      Thanks for letting us know Michael. Are you the buyer or seller?

      Like 0

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