You’re right, Ford didn’t offer a 390 V8 for this car in 1959, but there’s one in here, according to the seller. Without a VIN, it’s impossible to tell what the original engine would have been but there were four choices in 1959, three V8s and a six-cylinder. The seller has this 1959 Ford Ranch Wagon posted here on craigslist in one of my favorite cities on the globe: Rapid City, South Dakota. They’re asking $6,500, here is the original listing, and thanks to Zappenduster for the tip!
Ford offered the unique Ranch Wagon from 1952 through 1974 in three different iterations, this being from the first family of cars made from 1952 through 1962. I’m not a person who shies away from four-door cars, but there’s something cool about a two-door wagon that gets to me much more than a two-door sedan or coupe. You can see that this car needs work, most likely due to the dreaded scourge of snow that it’s sitting on in these photos. Rust, the silent car-killer.
The afterburner era is alive and well here, at least on the rear of this Ranch Wagon. I love the placement of the backup lights. Some cars didn’t even have backup lights in the 1950s and 60s so it’s cool that Ford highlighted them so much. The tailgate looks surprisingly solid and if the rest of the car looked like the rear end I think this one would be gone already. That being said, it looks like a relatively easy welding task to change out the rusty rockers and anything else needed.
Sadly, the seller only includes this one interior photo, even though they duplicated almost all of the photos so it looks like there are a lot of them. I’m not sure what’s going in there, but I do see some holes on the driver’s floor so add that to the welding list. 1961 was reportedly the last year for the full-sized two-door wagon for Ford, unless you can think of a later one. Ford also offered a “Fordoor Ranch Wagon” with, yes, four doors. Wedgewood Blue and Colonial White is such a nice combo, I’d want to restore this car to how it originally looked.
Here’s the 390-cu.in. V8 that the seller mentions. It looks nice other than the usual tangle of wires but that’s neat compared to a lot of engines. They say it’s got an Edelbrock four-barrel carb and it runs and drives, so that’s good at least. The seller lists it as having an automatic, which I’m guessing is the Ford-O-Matic, or it could be the Cruise-O-Matic. How would you bring back this cool two-door wagon? Original spec, or…?
About 13 years ago I went to an old yard I have never been to. They didn’t have a lot to offer but in the back corner was an identical car with a 6 cylinder and it was complete the car very little rust and wanted to buy it but no room. After a few weeks I went by that yard and the fence was gone and so were the cars. I sure it was crushed
Back in the late 70s I stumbled on to one of these that needed an engine. I bought the car for $25 and proceeded to source a nice low mile 6cyl from a mechanic at a local Sunoco. I asked him how much he wanted for it and he said “how ’bout a case of Miller Lite”. Done! I loved that car, drove it all over the Northeast. Nice to see this one has electric wipers.
That would cost me a lot of money as I would go “whole hog” on it!
I go to Rapid City quite often. Heck, I lived there on two occasions. I think I know where this car could be setting. I’d love to have it
Fair price for what this 59 Ford 2dr wagon is. That 390 slipped in there easily and I’m sure does well. Rusty rockers are main concern but at least the rear qtrs aren’t shot. Two door wagon like these are so much more desireable than 4 drs.
‘59 was a very interesting year in FoMoCo Land. The Edsel was already beginning to tank, Full size Fords got a complete makeover- only to be completely redone the very next year. I suspect this was a 352 powered car, making the 390 a slip in. Hopefully a 3 speed Cruise O Matic. It isn’t the fastest car at Cars N Coffee- but it’s no slouch. Neat old wagon!
Kind of a cool old car. I had forgotten that Ford built a 2-door wagon. I’m not much of a Ford guy, so even if I was 30 years younger. I in all likelihood would not be a potential buyer, but for a Ford fan with some skills, this could be a pretty neat car, (plus I’ve always thought the 4 barrel 390s were a pretty peppy engine.)