This is quite a combination of outrageous 1959 Chevy batwing styling combined with a seldomly seen sedan delivery body style. Add in a little hot rod style and voila’, you have this sharp-looking Chevy cruiser. The seller states, “This vehicle is located in Illinois but I know you guys out west love 1959s“. Heck, fondness for ’59 Chevys knows no geographical boundaries so this one should be a hit anywhere. It is, as suggested, located in Illinois, Joliet to be exact, and is available, here on craigslist for $39,000.Pat L. gets a tip of the hat for this discovery.
Listed as a clean old car owned by an 80-year-old man, it definitely presents well. Finished in a non-stock royal blue hue, this Biscayne trim level wagon/truck really shines as do its stainless trim and chrome bumpers. There is a non-discernable badge affixed to the front fenders, and the usual, Chevrolet rally wheels supporting all four corners, but the vibe is one of hip originality. As with any other vehicle of this era, rust is always the enemy and in this case, there’s none to report. And if this is a life-long Illinois resident, that’s no mean feat!
The cargo portion of the interior has been outfitted with diamond tufted side panels, a trait that was all the rage in the sixties and seventies, beyond that there is lots and lots of carpeting to cover the remainder of the expansive interior. It’s difficult to make out the driver’s compartment but the high back bucket seats are definitely not original to this ride. The tree-tone door panels, black and white vinyl, with a hint of faux wood trim, actually pull together surprisingly well.
The big news is in the engine room where a 348 CI, triple carburetor V8 “W head” engine has taken up residence. There’s no word if this is the original powerplant but a 280 gross HP version was available. Said to “run great“, this Sedan Delivery relies on the usual Powerglide automatic transmission for rear-wheel hook-up. Chevrolet had an alternative automatic in ’59, known as the “Turboglide” but they are seldomly encountered. Equally as rare was a four-speed manual gearbox which made its B-Body debut this year.
This is a rare bird, there were only about 5,200 assembled in 1959, a year that saw total B-Body production of almost 1.5 M units, that’s a paltry .035% of the total for all you statisticians. That leaves one last obvious discussion point and is as usually the case, that’s the price. So the ask is $39K – what do you think, priced right or not quite?
Must be the 290 hp. Had a 68 catalina wagon 265 hp with the 3.07 rear that got 18 to 19 hiway on today’s 87 octane. Nice comfy ride from gas station to gas station. Pretty sure that the fuel tank held only 26g. Never heard of a 28g one from gm.
What’s up with the chrome above the windshield; and there’s a definite ding to the top of the tailgate
Basically this one’s been dressed up a bit….
I think the chrome trim needs to be fixed around the windshield.
Nothing says more tht a car was painted in the 1990’s then this shade of teal was hot on Honda Civics back in the day. OOF Missing the pink stripes and billet wheels would be icing on the cake. Hard pass.
I wonder if the 80 year old owner kept this around for his “last ride”.
I wonder if a 17 year old driver kept it around for lots of “rides”. The shaggin van of its day. Beautiful car. Can’t remember, was the 348 a big block or a small block?
If you’re asking which Chevy engine family the 348 belongs to, the small block or big block, the answer is neither. The 348 (and 409) were based on their own unique block. Size wise the W Block was clearly bigger than the Chevy small block engine, so in comparison it was a big block, just not the same big block as later Chevy engines.
The 396/427/454 big blocks grew out of the W engines, but they didn’t share any parts. Some big block parts, like the crank, can be made to work in a W engine with a little machining.
The 348 is a big block.
z-11……….
Chrome trim on Window is jacked up,but look it has a fan shroud old Guys know there stuff.
One of my favorite cars: Sedan deliveries…..😎
fix those noticeable things and it will be one very sweet ride. I really like it. It would make a great pick-up vehicle for babes. Talk about party wagon it would be. The price is a little high,but alot more vehicle.Then what they are asking for the new throw away cars now.
Sure is nice. Got to say, as an old trucker, going to have a nasty blind spot on the right side, inherent with all sedan deliveries. Reminds me of some cabovers I used to drive. Pictures are poor, but again, beats the old Polaroids. I think, and I can’t quite tell, it appears the front and back carbs are disconnected, possibly only running on the center carb, anyone? Images I find show a “progressive” linkage on these. As sharp as it is, I’m sorry, I just can’t wrap my head around, that this is a $40,000 item. It’s just a car. Granted, I realize it’s a toy, a toy that will take $10 bucks in gas just to get to the gas station. I really wonder what the future holds for these types of vehicles, cars with equipment we held dear, are going to be horribly out of place once we’re gone.
Oh well, in the meantime, in true American fashion, hitch up the front and back carbs, put $100 bucks in the tank( going to need premium, that’s PREMIUM, DUDE) get ‘er in a straight line( check for silver and black Dodge Chargers 1st) and let ‘er go! Dang, $100 bucks already? Very cool car,,,
I think there was one of these, or maybe a Holden look alike, in the original Mad Max movie. It was destroyed by the biker gang.
Nope, I just looked it up, it was just a ‘59 Bel Air
The “non-discernable badge” on the fender is a 59 Pontiac “Tri-Power” emblem. I don’t think I’d call that color royal blue either, it looks more like mid-60’s GM Tasca Turquoise.
I highly doubt this was originally equipped with a 348. The 348 was available in the sedan delivery, but it would have “V” emblems with crossed flags above them on the hood and tailgate. 283’s just had a “V” emblem, and 6 cylinders had no emblems, like this car. The side moldings are from an Impala, not a sedan delivery, which normally had shorter Biscayne trim. Howard A’s right about the linkage, looks like only the center primary carb is connected.
I’ve always loved 59-60 wagons, sedan deliveries and El Camino’s. This one clearly has potential, but some of the changes made are not to my taste (like the interior). Sedan deliveries are pretty rare, but the price on this one seems a little unrealistic. Any potential buyer should look it over carefully, as this era of Chevy was particularly susceptible to rust.
Royal blue is just a generic description – it doesn’t look like anything from ’59.
JO
Pretty car but stop with the lazy ads. FFS roll the soon to be flipped car off the trailer and try just a little. Sure, good for you. Some old dude died and you swooped in like a vulture, yea.
I yearn for yesterday and the avoidance of this me me gimme gimme, take advantage of everyone and everything mindset.
Issues be damned.
Strong, the want is.
I had a ’60 Sedan Delivery years ago. It is a big car with huge blind spots. Replacing the lower quarters was going to be a big job with nearly 10 ft of welds on a relatively flat panels. The tailgate glass was missing and it was curved both ways. I gave up and sold it and the new owner turned it into a sweet ride like this with a 409.
Yep a ex Casket to the yard hauler redone to flip
Jim [and other BF readers],
As someone who has owned numerous hearses over the years, I can safely say it’s not a “Casket to the yard hauler” [hearse?]. Ever wondered why you see 6 to 8 big guys loading a casket & body into a hearse? It’s because a loaded casket is quite heavy, and the regular suspension on this sedan delivery won’t be up to the task. All my hearses had anywhere from 8 to 12 leaf springs per side on the rear suspension. Plus, American hearses almost always had side opening rear doors, so none of the pallbearers hit their head on an overhead hatch.
Now it’s possible this was used by a funeral home to transport a body from the home or hospital upon death, and also used to transport equipment for gravesite services. These were referred to as “service cars”. They were usually finished inside with stainless steel panels or plywood with Formica finishing.
That said, many Pontiac and Chevy sedan delivery cars were exported as used cars, typically south of the US border, where loaded caskets were generally a lot less weight. There was a well-known funeral home in Mexico that used older GM sedan delivery vehicles well into the 1990s.
It would be a nice ride, and not too many other 59’s on the road these days.
the seats are ugly!
I think it’s priced pretty damn well
I think that is fuzzy math there. Might be more like .3% of the total production. Cool car. Buddy had a 60 sedan delivery when I was a teen.
Not fuzzy, it’s called failure to move the decimal point. Fixed now.
JO
The seats look like they are from a mid 90s W body Pontiac Grand Prix. If so at least the builder choose halfway comfortable seats for longer journeys. Though they look very out of place in this build. I think with money no obstacle I would have went with low rise buckets from any number of 60s Chevys covered in same black tufted diamond pattern as the cargo area.
IN the 80s, I was looking for a 59 El Camino. I found a 59 Sedan delivery in Hemmings. It was owned by a mortuary. Had a 6 with a 3speed and they were asking $1500. It was in the south and I was in LA. But I almost bought it and drove it out.
Got a 59 El Camino at the Pomona swap meet instead.
Incorrect colour, incorrect wheels, probably a dozen other things incorrect. I’d be all over that if it weren’t going to be too much expense to bring it back to the way the factory made it.
nice pie wagon
I just purchased this car on auction. Can’t wait to pick it up. No I didn’t pay anything lose to $39k either