This 1949 Dodge Wayfarer is finished in primer because at some stage in its life it was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The car was caught in a hailstorm, and this inflicted its share of damage on the car. Now the owner has elected to sell the car, and this is your chance to grab this old classic and bring it back to life. You will find the Dodge listed for sale here on Craigslist. It is located around Titonka, Iowa, and is offered for sale with a clean title. The owner has set a sale price of $2,500 for the Dodge. A big thank you goes out to Barn Finder Ikey H for spotting this one for us.
The owner is pretty honest about the condition of the Wayfarer. He states that the hail damage has been repaired, but it needs to be done better. The car also has rust in the front floors which will need to be addressed. Otherwise, the body looks quite clean. Some of the exterior trim is not fitted to the car, but there is a bundle of it in the trunk.
The interior is quite clean and serviceable. The bottoms of the door trims look like the material has come loose, but it doesn’t appear to be torn, so should be an easy fix. The Business Coupe was very much a “bare bones” vehicle, so it is nice to find one that has been fitted with what looks like the factory original radio. There probably isn’t a lot more that needs to be addressed inside the car.
Under the hood is a 230ci straight-six engine, which is mated to a 3-speed manual transmission with Fluid Drive. The owner states that the car runs, but the carburetor will need cleaning. I must say that overall, the engine bay looks really clean. There is some leaf litter present, but everything looks really quite clean and dry for an unrestored car of this vintage.
I was going to sit here and justify why this Business Coupe is a good buy, and given the fact that nice examples are currently selling for more than $12,000, it does seem a good buy. Regardless of that, finding a solid and complete project car in any form for $2,500 is getting more difficult by the day. I’m not saying that they aren’t out there, it’s just that the ranks are starting to thin out. That seems to make this Dodge a great potential project.
Must have been some big hailstones. That’s some thick sheetmetal. The design of the Plymouth/Dodge “business coupes” leaves me a bit flat
Traveling salesmen used them a lot. Didtinctive from the coupe or 2 door sedan…no B pillar and a small back seat, if any. But, a HUGE trunk. I would love to own one of these. Practical, good gas mileage and a serious head turner. (“What is that thing, anyway?”)
Either a 3 speed standard transmission OR the Fluid Drive. Not the same.
Chrysler’s Fluid Drive refers to the fluid coupling. The transmission could have been the semi auto m4/m6, or a standard manual transmission. There were many, and confusing applications of this system.
I learned to drive in a Fluid Drive Dodge. You could use the 3 speed manual transmission, complete with a clutch pedal and go through all of the gears …or put it 3rd and press on the gas, ignoring the clutch or gear shift and drive away.
Wayfarer was the lowest trim level. My Father had a brand new 1951 Wayfarer convertible. It came with no rear seat and no rear side windows; only the windows in the door. At least it had roll up windows. The earlier Wayfarer drop tops had side curtains.
My brother had a ’51. It had been the last personal car of our local Dodge dealer, W.T. Pritchard. He was hit in the rear and couldn’t find a trunk lid for it any where. So…at various times it had a toilet or bus seat bolted in the back for a great rumble seat coupe!
With no trunk lid your brothers car was almost an El Camino.
Let’s talk about the ’57 Chevy behind it.
A lot of old Mopars popping up here lately. Definitely a better value price wise compared to, say a Ford or Chevy of this vintage.
Daddy ran whiskey in a big block Dodge.
Bought a an auction at the Masons lodge.
Johnson county sheriff painted on the side.
Shot coat of primer then then the looked inside.
Him and my uncle tore that engine down.
I still remember that rumbling sound.
Nice work- in of the great Steve Earle tune, Copperhead Road.
You that Steve E?
leave the body as is, v8 power the stranger the better, like an olds or a nailhead. 50’s hot rod. Good luck to the new owner.
Cheers
GPC
Adam, I agree. Good solid projects are getting thin on the ground. Once again, the reason for price elevation in general is lack of supply and constant if not increasing demand. There’s also a lot of junk out there masquerading as projects when they are actually parts cars. Uninformed Sellers. Barn Finders please be careful with your purchases and always have physical contact with the car. Take every piece of paper if any that goes with it so you have some sort of sense of history. And Good Luck to you.
I love the shape of these business coupes, this looks like a great project at a reasonable price.
My older brother just took a running ’49 business coupe just like this grey primer and all and is building a “gasser” out of it right now built 360 s.b.m. 727 behind it….should be a fun little car to play with this comin summer….looks great next to my dads 52 chevy deluxe coupe “gasser” and my 49 willys wagon “gasser”……guess we have a thing for vintage drag raceing….
Did I ever tell you the one about the Travelling Salesman and the Farmers daughter 😉
The ’57 Chevy was a wedding present for my wife. I bought it for $75 and rebuilt the engine. One small error was running the ignition to a relay that cut all the power. I didn’t want her to leave the lights on, etc. and kill the battery. She was a bit annoyed that there was no dome light with the key off! We sold it years later for $125! Woohoo.
I have done a lot with that little flatty 6 in trucks at least, very quiet reliable and relatively easy to work on. I have one coming back from the machine shop after New year will need assembly then it will go into a 1950 Power Wagon!