Ford’s Country Sedan is an unusual model as it’s a wagon, but Ford wasn’t immune to referring to its station wagons by other terms. Country Sedan, Ranch Wagon, Country Squire, etc. This 1972 Ford Galaxie 500 Country Sedan is posted here on craigslist in the Hotchkiss, Colorado area, and they’re asking $1,800. Wait, only $1,800?! Here is the original listing, and thanks to Tony P. for the tip!
Ford’s model names just adds to the fun of trying to pin down the exact model. I’m a big fan of old brochures, and using them comes in handy when trying to nail down the exact model of vehicles shown here on Barn Finds. That doesn’t mean that I don’t get them wrong every once in a while, but it helps cut down on mistakes to use actual factory marketing info. From 1972, ’73, and ’74, they were known as the Galaxie 500 Country Sedan. After that, they were the LTD or Country Squire.
$1,800 for this car? How is any vehicle only $1,800 in 2025? The seller says this example has been in storage just over 35 years so it isn’t currently in running condition. I’m sure 98% of Barn Finds readers could have it running on its own in a short time. There is some rust on both rear wheel wells and the dent you see above, but this would be an interesting car to restore.
The sun has a way of turning fabric seats purple. If any of you are engineers or meteorologists or whatever it takes to figure out why that is, please let us know. Our gray Subaru Outback seats turned a somewhat lesser shade of purple after a couple of decades, and it was weird. These velour seats aren’t original, of course; they used to be blue. The back seat looks the same, and this one has dual-facing rear seats with room for at least eight inside. I’m guessing the front two bench seats used to be a similar blue vinyl as shown on the rear seats. A power-operated tailgate window was standard equipment. Mice have gotten into this one, but we don’t know how much damage there is related to that.
The currently non-running engine is a Ford 400-cu.in. OHV V8 with 172 horsepower and 298 lb-ft of torque, backed by a three-speed automatic, I would love to see this car saved, if at all possible. Hagerty is at $9,500 for a #3 good condition car, so there’s almost $8,000 to work with on the restoration. Is this one worth restoring, or would you just get it working perfectly and drive it?
Tony Primo is hitting it out of the ballpark today! Great job Scotty and Tony.
I wonder what the product planning meetings were like when they decided to name this wagon the Country Sedan. I’m not sure about a restoration, but getting it back to being drive-able might be do-able. If nothing else, some construction worker might be able to make good use of it. It does seem to have value beyond parting it out.
Thanks Scotty.
Starting in ’53, Country Sedan (Customline Country Sedan) was Ford’s name for the 4-door wagon that wasn’t the Country Squire. Ford dropped the name after ’74 (but kept the Squire). Ranch Wagons were 2-doors.
For a while in the early 60s there was a 4 door Ranch Wagon but it was always the bottom series so it was always on the bubble of being swept away by name debasement. Country Sedan survived long enough to standardize the wagon names to the rest of the line, except Country Squire which Ford felt they had enough brand equity in to never push down with a new model
If I’m not mistaken the Squires had the woodgrain siding on the wagons.
This will be gone ASAP. If it’s as described. Wagons are hot.
Gotta get to Hotchkiss CO first to get it. Not exactly right on the beaten path.
the further in the sticks; the better the finds.
I owned a very nice ’67 Ranch Wagon 4-door in the late 1990s.
I don’t think the front and rear seat covers are original. The extra seats in the far rear are vinyl covered. All three seat covers would match when the car was new. Learned how to drive in the family 1971 Country Sedan. Pleasant memories!
My mom drove one of these when I was a kid, but with blue vinyl seats. Same “toilet blue” color! I loved that giant wagon, when it hit a certain speed and went over joints on the highway it developed this slight “wallow” that always lulled all the kids to sleep! I also remember the A/C (probably one of those giant York air compressors) being ice cold even at low fan speeds. Good times, good memories.
steal at that price. buy get it running and make a few bucks or drive it
“Mice got at it says a lot. Will need a thorough cleaning/disinfecting first. Also, no mention of the gaping rust hole in the tailgate. IMHO, $1,800 is a fair price for this old family barge (“old” is a relative term at my age!).
Agreed. It’s nice to see a realistically priced vehicle every once in awhile.
Hello, Vice Grip Garage? Is Derek Bieri there? Your next project is calling!
I like the idea, Bob. This would be a great car for Derek to revive-and-drive.
I just watched an episode of Vice Grip Lodge last night, where Derek is dealing with this “museum” thing he’s trying to build. He bought a crummy old building and is fixing it up to create a place where VGG fans can come and hang out and see cars being worked on and meet Derek and the family etc etc.
I commented months ago that as a 40-year veteran of the construction trades, the building was gonna break the bank and break his heart. I urged him to level the old building and start anew. And, the “museum” idea was a bit capricious to be sure. To say nothing of the intense schedule the guy maintains fixing/reviving cars.
The ever-unflappable Derek seemed a bit shaky in the video; in over his head and not sure if the whole thing was gonna work. Well, he’s made a LOT of stuff work over the years, so if one falls flat, well, we’ve all done that.
If I were nearby? I’de be all over it.
Most of those were crushed out in the 80’s.
Low-E glass that blocks ultraviolet (UV) light wasn’t a thing when these were built, so UV fading of the fabric was common back in the day. UV light is also why white PVC fences turn a sickly yellow as they age in the sun. Vinyl wore like iron, at least until the plasticizers in the plastic outgassed, turned the vinyl brittle and it began to crack. Leather was almost as durable as vinyl, but not quite so hot and sticky, and it had to be cleaned with saddle soap periodically, to keep it soft and supple, or it too would scuff and crack.
This one ticks all the boxes for me, even the color, except the 400 engine is kind of an orphan. I prefer the 429/460 instead.
… and then there’s this quick Photoshop version of a Country Sedan Convertible. Why isn’t there a station wagon convertible, now that I think about it?
Would this be considered the modern day version of the covered wagon? You have quite a talented mind Scotty.
I assume that would be a modern day version of a covered wagon. You are skilled and talented Scotty.
Ot is it a four-door Ranchero? LOL! You are a steely-eyed missile man, my friend! You might need a roll hoop to support that long top, though, or maybe stop the drop top at the back seat and put a targa top over the passenger compartment. Think JFK’s limo, with the targa roof over the front seats for the driver and the bubble top for JFK in back.
That 400 is a tall deck Cleveland engine. Even the two-barrel heads breathe
better than any small-block engine ever thought about.
Technically, the tall-deck Cleveland is still a small block, because it shares all of its other major dimensions (bore centers and bores) with the 351. The tall-deck block just allows for a longer stroke. FYI, Ford performance sells aluminum bare blocks of both short-deck and tall-deck versions of the 351, for those interested in building a lighter, high-performance version of this engine, maybe with some CJ or SCJ heads for even better breathing!
https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-6010-Z351
https://performanceparts.ford.com/part/M-6010-Z35192
Note that cast iron versions of both these blocks are still available. The cast iron versions are just $2850, but the aluminum ones are $7000 each. See the link below for details.
https://performanceparts.ford.com/category/38/Engine-Blocks
The cast-iron versions are also available as crate motors, displacing 460 cubic inches!
The seller has deleted this listing, I didn’t think it would last too long at that price.