It was in a car much like this that I was squired around as a kid. My earliest car memory is of being in the “way in the back” while going to my grandparents’ Montreal home from the apartment where I lived with my parents on Trans Island Blvd. Later, it was from suburban Brossard, as we did what a lot of 1960s families did and moved out of the city for the chance to own a home. Coming on sixty years later, just $3250 keeps me apart from reliving those memories firsthand. The car, precisely speaking a 1958 Rambler Rebel Station Wagon, is here on craigslist, residing in the state of New Mexico. Barn Finder TJ brings us this delicious little nugget.
This one is special for a bunch of reasons. First, it’s air conditioned, a point made very clear by the chrome badge and the seller’s words. Second—look at this beauty: chrome accent spear on the front end and another running down the body. Full wheel covers. Tiny roof rack. Vestigial fins, a sign that nobody really wanted the 1950s to be gone. It doesn’t even matter that wagons are having a late renaissance of interest amongst collectors—this car is flat-out cool without anybody’s help. And it’s got a V8, which is said to be complete, if non-running.
What would I do with this ‘58 if I snagged it? I’d get the engine running, see to the A/C, and drive, drive, drive. The body may have been repainted, or maybe not. Who cares? It looks fantastic in its patina. One does wonder, of course, about the integrity. Is it rusty? Are some of those bumps filler? How thick is the paint? The inside, too—how beat up with a supposed 50,000 miles on the clock? And can you get interior kits for such a car? Oh, you know what, for three grand, who gives a darn about any of these doubts?
Still, it would have been nice to see shots underneath, inside, and, naturally, in the engine bay. And if you decide to plunk down for this one, you would have to reconcile the lack of a title, which, depending on your state, could be a big-ish deal. But if those issues are no object, I rather think that this Rambler is underpriced by at least a couple of thousand bucks. Look at some of the frightening starting places people are going in the hobby these days and you might agree: This Rebel needs to ride again. Heck, at that price, it would even be fine to grab it up now and let it rest in your yard while you find the time to put it back to right.
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