Fresh(?) out of 40 years of storage is this 1955 Ford Country Squire station wagon. It oozes originality and is pretty representative of Ford’s top drawer 1955 station wagon offering. It’s faded but solid so let’s check it out. This Country Squire is located in Ottertail, Minnesota and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $4,651, reserve not yet met.
By 1955, the Country-Squire’s real wood paneling and trim had been given the bum’s rush. It had actually happened a few years earlier, and the wooden wagon aura was courtesy of DI-NOC transfers and fiberglass trim. For ’55, the side panels took on a marine flavor with horizontal lines running the length of the panels and designed to look more like a ’55 Chris-Craft hull than a station wagon. The transfers on this example are really too faded to reveal those lines but if you look closely you can still spy a trace of them.
The body on this Country Squire is surprisingly solid, the seller claims it has solid floors with minimal rust. The great outdoors has obviously been this Ford’s preferred resting place, at least for some length of time, as the burned paint and surface rust will attest. Unfortunately, the passenger-side quarter panel has taken a hit but the damage isn’t excessive, and the trim is still hanging on – actually all of the trim appears to still be in place. The chrome is a little thin and the grille has experienced some parking lot friction, but all in all, this Country Squire has a presentable bearing. There is one underside image and it doesn’t indicate an integrity issue.
Under the hood is likely (based on the VIN), a 162 HP, 272 CI, Y-Block V8 engine turning a Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission. The seller states that the motor is not seized which I guess is a way to put a positive spin on a non-running engine. He also says that the engine was “supposedly” overhauled before the car commenced its long slumber. While it doesn’t look like it has been apart anytime recently, the good news is that it appears to be all there though the radiator isn’t connected and the heater shows to be by-passed, based on the capped off water-pump connection. Note the taxi-cab yellow firewall!
The interior is pretty ratty. Besides the obvious upholstery problem, the door panels, dash, and instrument panel are all showing their age. That said, it’s a pretty solid base from which to work. The missing carpet/rubber mat reveals pretty solid-looking floors – some surface rust but nothing invasive. There is no mileage listed for this Country Squire but the wear on the steering wheel would indicate many miles of a death-grip clench. Note the cool circular dial radio!
It’s complete and original (other than the missing rear license plate bracket and light) but I imagine it would be more desirable if it were a two-door Ranch Wagon or a Del Rio. Nevertheless, an unmolested example like this Country Squire deserves a second go-around, wouldn’t you agree?
When I was a kid in the late 60’s a family at church had one of these with about 7 kids packed in it, smoking on the way home. I remember feeling pretty sorry for them.
Reminds me of the time my wife & I were driving down the highway and passed a old, beat up wagon crammed kids in the back with their parents driving. They looked dirty and disheveled but laughing their heads off. My father in law said: “They’re so happy, they don’t know their miserable!”
Ignorance is indeed bliss!
Seems like an unkind reaction.
Heck, we used to go watch hockey games at our local ice arena. You’d look across the ice, and realize that starting about half way up, we were all sitting in a cloud of cigarette smoke.
Fred W,
I hope that family didn’t have far to go to reach home. 7 kids, smoking all the way home, could go thru a couple of packs of cigarettes!
Can someone explain the yellow firewall??? The rest of the car doesnt look like it was ever yellow or been repainted at any point.
The A pillars are also yellow, but everything else appears red, even underneath the rear seats.
Slantasaurus,
Your question got me looking at the photos on feebay. The firewall, for some unknown reason, was painted yellow. You can see the yellow paint on items like the wiring harness and rubber grommets. and if you look down at the back end of the valve cover, you can see where the yellow paint has peeled off the firewall, leaving the original red paint below.
when i was born my dad had a 1971 ford ltd country squire and iloved to ride in it even when it was a clunker too.
color code R is Torch Red, the yellow has me stumped
It appears the tail gate is a different color as well.
The A pillars as mentioned are/were yellow? I would of thought if it was a “Yellow Cab” at one time it would be re-sprayed just on the outside to make it yellow and not under the hood. Interesting story possible
I like that it’s a top-line 4-door. This is what we would see around. My neighbors had a black one from new, very sharp.
I don’t get the yellow either. What if this had been originally yellow? Wow.
The yellow doesnt appear to be the original color given there is yellow overspray on the wiring harness on the firewall. So maybe when the engine gets pulled the firewall can get some love. Lots to work with on this one. Most of its there. I hope it gets restored, or at least gets redone mechanically and driven as something other than a hotrod.
those radios were the best (6 volt)..mine could pick up NY from Detroit on a Sunday when the rock stations shut down (back in the 70’s)..the 12v radios couldn’t perform as well
My first car in 1956, sans the wood veneer. Saw top speed near three figures when the speedometer broke on the way to phoenix from Greenville Mississippi. Felt a little light on the road but tracked well. Survived the trip.
My dad had one of these. The rear license plate bracket was hinged and would rotate to show the license plate with the tailgate open. His fell off, too. Someone found the plate and kindly returned it.
As a kid I tried to close the tailgate window and bent the brackets, which were thin metal. Made a trip to the local junkyard and got another set.
Reminds me of my first car out here in Honolulu. Ours neighbors were leaving Navy housing and we got their ’55 Mercury wagon, which was practically identical to this old guy. Oh, and it was green and it came with a couple of surfboards which they wouldn’t need back on the mainland! It was misfiring on one cylinder and got terrible mileage, but gas was only $.30/gal on base so it wasn’t too bad.
I tried to carefully study the pix. I kept reviewing the ones of the rear and passenger side. I see a tail gat plus rear bumper plus right rear quarter with severe damage. That kind of damage is due to some kind of rear-side collision. Such damage usually means a damaged or bent or warped frame. I remember seeing cars with that kind of damage – “we” said such vehicles traveled sideways.
yea as David says that r quarter looks bad and possibly bent more than is visible. Could be a great project as the fiberglass moldings are all there. One thing to remember on 55 and 56’s- check the front crossmember where the lower a frames attach; they were notorious for rotting out, got a lot of them here in the rust belt. Good luck if you decide to take it on. Stay safe.
Cheers
GPC
THIS is a barn-find. I’d redo the F&R suspension and add discs, wheels and tires . Rebuild the motor with some internal mods to add some hp. New, modern OD trans. New repop interior. Some careful paintless dent removal, scrub and matte finish clear the entire car. It’s beautiful just the way it is!
In the late fifties our neighbor up the road had a ’56 I’m thinking. Blue. We were driving the usual stripper. This time a ’57 Plymouth wagon. Even as a little car crazed kid the dinoc paneling and “wood” framing on the Ford told me THAT car was way cooler than our grey Plymouth, even with a little fin.
Very handsome cars. This one is rough
I’d love to take it to Dave Kindigit and say “show me what you can do with it”………. dang, if you’re wishing, wish big.
How could you possibly watch that trashy show.
And it is shows like Kindig’s that have ruined our hobby as far as prices, parts, and what happens to otherwise original cars when money from deep pockets have no discernment as to how it affects the rest of the hobby. Add in guys like a previous poster that said they would “mod” it and leave the “patina” while covering it with clearcoat. Same type folk would probably throw some oversized wheels on it too. These cars did not survive as they were used by families before wornout and parted out then crushed. The ones that are left like this need restored back to original condition as a reminder of the zenith of our nation’s culture during post WW II.
My family had a 55 Country Sedan, red with a “band” of creme circling the windows. An uncle had 2 Ranch Wagons, a black one and a bottle green one. And neighbors had a 56 Ranch Wagon that was a light green. So these were popular in my area when I was a kid. Yet the wagon that I always looked at longingly was a 55 Mercury Monterey that was the Mercury version of the car here, right down to the wood trim and red color.
Yeah, if I was going to have one of these wagons, it would be a Ranch Wagon, with its 2 doors or the non-wood trimmed Mercury Custom wagon.
I can’t believe it made it up to the BIN price. I see a lot issues and the water pump and housing aren’t wrecked from the use of a carriage bolt and another straight thread being forced in. And why would someone go through the trouble of painting the firewall but not the car. Unless they switched ID tags from a red car to a yellow car. I’ve seen this before. I love the 55 but would have a hard time parting with the money for this one.
There is no BIN price.
Rainbow of colors. Red body. Blue headlight bezel, white headlight bezel. Yellow firewall. What other colors are lurking around this car?
Also, could one of you knowledgeable men or women, explain to me why Ford always had the ignition on the left when everyone else had it on the right.
An old BF had a 67 Country Squire and the ignition was on the left.
68 everyone had to go to locking ignition on the right side of the steering colum.
Angel,
Here’s the answer to your question on ignition key placement;
Up until 1 Jan 1968 manufacturers were allowed to put the switch pretty much wherever they wanted to. Let’s back up a couple of years to see what happened in the industry.
About 1962 the US government began looking at imposing national restrictions on the auto industry for safety matters. They suggested the automobile manufacturers needed to standardize controls and “human interface items” for safety reasons.
For 1964 cars, the Society of Automotive Engineers [SAE] came up with suggestions leading to standardization of such things as exterior and interior door handles, automatic transmission shifter type, locations of wiper and headlight switches, and seat belt latches, just to name a few. For some unknown reason, the location of the key switch was not included.
For example, Chrysler cars had exterior pull-type door handles, and push button shift for their automatic transmission. GM, AMC, and Ford did not, so in 1965 Chrysler changed to the other manufacturer’s “standard”.
The next round of new US government safety requirements; Title 49 of the United States Code, Chapter 301, Motor Safety Standard, which took effect on January 1, 1968, DID include the key switch location, along with the steering wheel locking when the key was removed. Also added were headrests, padded dashboard panels, and much more.
At the same time, Ford also introduced probably the best [and sometimes the least appreciated] idea the post-war automobile industry had in the way of car keys: A key that worked the same if you put it in the lock, from either the top or the bottom of the key. No longer did you have to look at the key to make sure it was in the right position to insert into the lock! Within a few years, ALL the car companies had made the change.
Legend has it that the ignition moved to left of the wheel after someone’s kid turned it off while in motion.
Dad had a red and white ’55 and a black and white ’56 Ford wagon. Looking at the side windows, I am trying to remember if those would slide open or not. The ’55 had a third row seat. I don’t remember about the ’56.
This appears to be offered by the person that has all those trucks in Mn. and and seems to be a pretty straight shooter, like all the great folks from Minnesota. Hard to believe, but I think in ’55, this was Ford’s top of the line, 2nd only to the convertible. Looking at this, in today’s terms, better have deep pockets, but would be entirely useful when done, if you care to drive your $30,000 dollar restoration in amongst the clowns driving today.
The headlight bezels and the tailgate are off cas that were aqua or powder blue.
Looks like this baby has had a little knocking around in the front and the back
FUN FACT: Even very well to do people in the ’50s and 60s would have a Ford Country Squire as their family hauler, besides the fancier car dad drove to the office… Just as the Mustang did its first couple of years, the Country Squire crossed social lines. I always loved them, but I was an only child so no station wagons at our house!
Phil G.
Ah! the memories…. June 1955, Me and the kid brother, (me being 18 and bother 14 going on 15 in a few months) drove my 55 black Squire from Newark NJ to Santa Monica Ca. and back. Both of us learned how to drive when we were 12 on the old man’s Ford dump truck.
What a ride, on the roads back then, once we got out of the cities the speed limits were “resonable and proper” after we passed Chicago. We usually kept it under 75 mph although many times faster. Saw only two H P going and none on the return trip.The trip out took 6 days and back home 5 days. Gas was around $.16-.20 per gallon or less. We were away 3 weeks.
We never got stopped for any reason. The two of us driving on my license seemed like a big joke to us. We stopped a few times to sleep and clean up at motels othewise we slepted in the Wagon. The reason for the trip, we were both invited for a sweet 16 Birhday party to be held at the Santa Monica country club. My penpal was the Birthday girl. My brother also had a penpal via my penpal. How we bcame penpals is a long story for another time. We were invited to stay at the Birthday girls home by the mother and father of the party girl, lets call her Jan. Her pop turned out to be a millionaire.
We did not know the parents since our only contacts were with the penpals.
What a surprise when we got to Ca. and met her parents. Her father was an inventor, whose invention was a potator pealing machine. French fries was the target and he struck gold. He culd not make ths machines fast enough.
This story could make a great movie, but I can’t type anymore.
Needless to say the birthday party was great. Over 400 kids from her high school class showed up. The father spent a small fortune taking us 4 to Disney land every day for a week. We all went on every ride two or three times. Disney land had just opened. It was time to say goodbye and start our return trip home.