In the late seventies, before the Minivan began taking over family hauling, station wagons were still holding strong in the marketplace, with the Ford Country Squire one of those that had been serving vacation needs proficiently for decades. At just a hair less than 19 feet in length, the Country Squire from this era certainly qualified as a full-size offering, and it’s one of those attractive designs that has truly stood the test of time. If you’ve been searching for an all-original and well-preserved seventies wagon, this 1978 Country Squire here on Craigslist might satisfy your needs nicely. It’s located in Chula Vista, California, and is priced at $9,500. We want to thank Barn Finds reader Tony Primo for finding this one and sending in the tip!
While green seems to have gotten a bit more limited on the color palette chart for modern automobiles, it was still popular during this period, with Ford’s Light Jade Glow being an attractive variant. This one’s got just the right amount of patina to look cool, and this shade works really well with the simulated woodgrain siding, a must-have feature for many vintage wagon buyers. The sheet metal gets a positive report from the seller, who claims there’s no rust, and I’m spotting nothing on the outside panels that would indicate this one is anything but rock solid all the way around.
Since the engine details aren’t provided in the listing, I contacted the seller and asked what was under the hood. They guess it’s a 351, and if that’s correct, it would be the entry-level machinery for the Country Squire in 1978. The 351 has a factory horsepower rating of 145, with the seller reporting it runs very strong and very smooth. For a vehicle nearing the five-decade mark, 92,000 miles is low, and that number is stated as actual here. The one photo provided of the bay shows that this compartment is finely detailed, with everything appearing to be in good working order.
The owner describes the interior as immaculate, and while that sets high expectations, this one certainly seems to live up to them. Things inside are about as clean as can be, with few noticeable imperfections, and the dark green tastefully complements the lighter green outside. This appears to be one of the nicer retro Ford wagons I’ve seen in a while, plus it’s also the last year before CS received a significant downsizing, as the ’79 model was nearly a foot shorter. What are your thoughts on this 1978 Ford Country Squire station wagon?
That’s a good deal for a nicely optioned, rust free California car. Even though I don’t care for green, the interior is beautiful. I hope it finds a good home.
Question: it appears that the rear tailgate is hinged at the side, to open like a door. The GM full size wagons 78-88? had the tailgate that could swing open like a door, or when the window was down, could open like the tail gate of a pickup. Did the Ford have that ability as well? How else could you get the 4×8 sheet of plywood in the back?
Ford had the “Three-Way Doorgate” starting in the 1960s. It could open like a tailgate, like a door with the glass down, or like a door with the glass up. Ford was the first to have this ability.
The two-tone green interior caught my eye. It looks great, especially with the mint green paint. It would not be cheap to get the car painted and to rework the woodgrain, but in doing so the new owner would end up with a terrific wagon. I sometimes think of certain vehicles which have “presence,” this Country Squire certainly fits that definition.
For nostalgia I’d prefer a Volvo wagon but I’d jump over any number of SUVs to get into this. Drives like a car, has all the features you would expect in a family hauler and the drivetrain was bulletproof. Something funny is going on with the tailgate though below the window.
I am and always have been partial to green. I don’t know how you can list one of these without a pic of the rear seats, unless this car was ordered without them.
We had a 69 and a 72 CS woodies, one a darker green, the other a cream color. One thing about the rear seats was dad couldn’t reach you although it didn’t matter, there was always that price to pay.
These old wagons always bring back memories!
For some reason, the first thought that popped into my mind was Clark Griswold’s Family Truckster Wagon, LOL!! GLWTS!! :-)
Yes, of course, the Family Truckster came to my mind as well. This one is very nice, too nice to Trucksterise like someone near me did. It was featured here a couple of months back and was on the market for over a year locally. There is a good chance that this one has cruise control, a comfortable way to drive home from a distance.
I see it has the Twin Comfort Lounge Seats..those alone are worth the price.Greatest seats ever placed in a vehicle.Kids today do not know what true driving comfort is ..lol.
Love this wagon. Like Bob In Tn already said, it would cost a good chunk of change to redo the paint and woodgrain. Buy it would be so worth it. This would look like a million bucks redone. Really like that interior too. ( Do you think they have Barry Manilow in the pile of 8 Tracks???)
Great write up Mike and a great wagon too.
A beautiful example of the last of a dying breed! The late ’70’s styling of Ford wagons, particularly the full-size examples, leaves me a little cool, as the slightly baroque styling, with the doodads on the headlight doors and stamped into the headrests isn’t my favorite, but given the outstanding condition of this all-original example, we waive that point. We do not press it. We look over it. These could be fitted with a Class III trailer towing package that could tow up to 10,000 pounds, but I wouldn’t try that without a big-block 460 under the hood! The 351 would be struggling mightily under that kind of load, LOL! GLWTS!
i think this is the monster we used to bring in the fire wood each winter in VT while @ college. This wuz the biggest motor avail then (302 was passed by on our bud’s model). One yr heavy red oak held the rig down on our slippery, high gradient 1 mi driveway. The tel co had cut dwn a tree by the lines while we were away from that summer cabin (on 5 mi lake) for our yrly 3 mo brake. Nice find!
Fairly dry, we (three 20-something ‘strapin boys’, the women managed to B off somewhere) split it right off the stump so as to carry it up the embankment in waist hi sno to the wagon there. A few passes and the sno was tread down (now more slippery). Local Indigenous taught me: “White man warm 3 times w/wood: once to split, once to carry, once to stack. Injun only 1X, as fire burn.” aahahahaa