When Ford redesigned its automobiles for 1957, two additions arrived: the retractable hardtop and the coupe utility. The latter was considered a “gentleman’s pickup,” based on a 2-door wagon platform rather than the F-100. It would be successful enough to continue in production through 1979, with more than a half million units seeing the light of day. The seller offers a restorable (?) ’58 Ranchero along with not one but two parts cars from the same year (also ?) to get the job done. Located in Gray Court, South Carolina, this trio is available through a dealer here on eBay for $5,500 (or Make Offer). Thanks for the interesting tip, Larry D!
Between 1957 and 1959, the Ranchero was a full-size pickup and was popular enough for Chevy to replicate the effort in 1959. From 1960-65, the Ranchero was a compact based on the new Falcon. And during 1966 to 1979, it was an intermediate derived from the Fairlane/Torino. In 1957 and 1958, the Ranchero was offered in two trim levels, Standard and Custom with the snappier version outselling the basic truck by several multiples. The ‘58s and ‘59s shared the same styling updates as their auto counterparts, like quad headlights. 21,796 were built in ’57, 9,950 in ’58, and rallied to 14,196 in ’59.
The primary Ranchero offered is rough all over and has lots of rust, especially in the tailgate and hood. There’s a 292 cubic inch V8 under the bonnet, mated to a 3-speed automatic (from a later year?). That one wears red and black paint, with the former having been reapplied as you can see overspray on the door tag. The interior looks well-used and it’s unclear if the floors are in trouble.
By taking all three of home (bringing multiple trucks), the assumption is that whatever the red one needs, one of the other two will have it. But they are both quite rough and I wouldn’t be optimistic as to how much good either of them will really be. The seller started out asking $6,500 for the assortment and has dropped the price by $1,000. Being a dealer, a trade is possible, so do you have three of anything to swap him?
It seems with every car of this era, I like the ’57s and the ’59s, but the ’58s just look like dog crap. There. I’ve said it.
Between 57,58,59, I like 58 best.These look pretty rough.
IMHO the 58 is the coolest looking hood ever made, I am sure some will disagree and its ok for them to be wrong
I’ve seen a few at car shows with an Edsel dog house. Maybe create your own Canadian Mercury Ranchero….kind of like the gmc caballero is to gmc pickups.
Always found it interesting that ‘58 maintained the 1957 taillight configuration while the ‘59 shared that year’s design…
I agree it’s odd since the horizontal taillight design of the ’58 Fairlane was maintained on the station wagon’s tailgate. It would have been the only Ranchero to have its taillight beyond the fender.
Now, a cool restoration could be accomplished by a talented individual incorporating the rear quarters and tailgate of a ’58 wagon onto this.
It’s what happens when you still have a boatload of 57 tail lights left over from the previous year.
Hopefully one of these are saved.Like the 58 design.And keep it all Ford
Think the 57 nose willl fit on the 58??? Looks like a lot of rust here. My 57 came from texas, but it still needed the floors completely replaced. Good luck with this project. I put a 390 4 speed in mine.
Cheers
GPC
This guy in Gray Court is located along side I-385 between Clinton and Greenville SC, can easily be seen from the interstate. He’s probably got 50-75 cars in this condition for sale. He’s always kinda been a junk man in the past, but I think he’s trying to up his game and get a few better cars and getting rid of the worst ones…hence 3 cars in one ad. I went there a few years ago looking for Packard and Kaiser parts, but he didn’t have any.
Yes the ’57 front clip is interchangeable to a ’58. An Edsel Ranger or Pacer front clip will bolt right up too, and actually looks pretty good. There used to be a ’58 Edchero around here for many years. Looked like a factory machine.
Sadly this trio look like basket cases.
I’m confident you don’t even have one good tailgate between the trio. On a good note, a decently restored 1st generation Ranchero is valued in the upper $20k, so getting one good example out of the three combined makes this not too bad of a deal, provided you don’t need to hire someone else to do the work for you.
I scored a running/driving 68 Ranchero 500 for $4,750 and I estimate I’ll have ~$14k in it when it’s done, so I’m not too deep into a vehicle that would be valued ~$20k when the fat lady sings.
The motor in the main one sure doesn’t look like a Y block to me. More on the order of a 289, 302, or something of that nature. You’d have to really like these to tackle this project or have mighty deep pockets. An Edsel nose on it would look pretty neat along with Edsel wagon Taillights, WOW, that tailgate sure is rusty.
I agree, it is a 289/302 small block. Two dead giveaway’s are the front mounted distributor and the valve covers bolt on along the edges while a Y-block uses two bolts through the top of the cover.
The Exhaust Manifold Also, Every Y Block I’ve ever seen crosses over the front or exits at the rear
I’ve seen a ’58 Ranchero with the Edsel front end that’s a long term resident in Door County. ’57s & ’58’s were nice body styles if you can find one that’s not rusted into oblivion.
I love the ’58 Tbird ‘teeth’.
That dealer has some very sad inventory sc classic cars just down the road from me mostly home made junk
I always Could see using the 57 T-Bird Dog House on the 57 or 8 Ranchero.
Then Build with a Modern 300 Ford Multiport Injected Six.
Or 460. if you don’t like Simple Lightweight and Slick.
Heck of a lot of rust on all three.