Taken as a whole, this 1956 Ford Ranch Wagon is an unmolested survivor with many positive attributes. However, its original interior trim is a showstopper and is sure to command attention and attract comments wherever the Wagon goes. Its next journey could be to a new home, as the owner has listed it for sale here on eBay. Located in Oakland, California, bidding has raced to $14,599 in a No Reserve auction. Barn Finder Larry D has a well-developed classic radar, so thank you so much for spotting this beauty for us, Larry.
The seller indicates this Ranch Wagon is an unrestored survivor. Therefore, it is no surprise to find a few flaws in its Platinum Gray paint. There is nothing horrendous. The faults are limited to the types of minor stone chips you might expect from any vehicle with sixty-six years of active service. Undoubtedly, a repaint would return the Wagon to a factory-fresh state, but since they’re only original once and nothing screams for attention, my approach would be one of preservation. The panels are straight, with no evidence of dings, dents, or rust. The seller states the previous owner stored the vehicle in a climate-controlled garage at their summer home in Lake Tahoe. It spent its winters safely squirreled away, only emerging during the drier months. That explains why it remains well-preserved. The trim and chrome are excellent for a survivor-grade car, and the glass appears flawless.
Okay, I couldn’t wait any longer. Isn’t that the coolest seat upholstery you’ve ever seen? Some readers may not agree, but there’s no denying it is different. The Tag indicates it as Code BA, Medium Brown Vinyl & Dark Brown Vinyl with a “Ranch Brand” pattern. I believe that Ford offered the design exclusively to Ranch Wagon buyers in 1956, although it may have featured as an option for the 1957 Del Rio Ranch Wagon. If my information is wrong, I’m happy to be corrected. The upholstery is generally okay, with the back seat a highlight. There is a tear in the front seat on the driver’s side, and this could prove a drama. I searched (albeit briefly) for replacement Ranch Brand upholstery with no luck. If the new owner is patient, they might strike gold. Otherwise, they may need to enlist a competent upholsterer to apply a blind patch to prevent further deterioration. That would be my choice because I believe preserving this classic’s originality would be worth the cost and effort. The remaining upholstered surfaces would benefit from a deep clean, and the rear cargo area has a few of the marks and scars expected from a family wagon. Otherwise, it presents well for an unrestored survivor.
While buyers in 1956 could order their new Ranch Wagon with a six-cylinder engine under the hood producing a respectable 137hp, that wasn’t enough to satisfy this classic’s first owner. They ticked the box on the Order Form beside the 292ci Thunderbird Y-Block V8 that brought 200hp to the table. The power reaches the rear wheels via a three-speed manual transmission. While this is more a family wagon than a genuine performance model, its ability to cover the ¼ mile in 17.2 seconds was considered excellent at the time. The seller indicates the V8 recently received a rebuild and that the Wagon runs and drives beautifully. They supply this YouTube video which seems to support that claim.
I have previously lamented the lack of adventure shown by manufacturers with the interior trim on their current offerings. It seems that if you aren’t a fan of various shades of gray, there’s little that will attract your attention. Some companies offer a splash of color, but they are a minority. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, showrooms overflowed with cars featuring interior trim in every color of the rainbow. They weren’t afraid to experiment with radical patterns, and this 1956 Ford Ranch Wagon graphically demonstrates that. You often hear people say that they don’t make them like they used to, and that is undoubtedly true when the subject turns to car upholstery. The more I look at this classic, the more I wish they did. Do you?
Great hook, Adam; I probably wouldn’t have taken a look without it. So I see a very basic Ranch Wagon, which is cool in itself. And I’ll agree, that upholstery is quite unique, in its own 50’s way. You are right, not much color choice in today’s car interiors.
In 1958 I rode on those seats to Alaska.
A time capsule treasure. I love it. I thought SMS interiors offered repro material in this pattern, but perhaps not. Not many, but other `56 Ranch wagons in similar condition I’ve ever seen had this same interior including Bob Homan’s Mom’s desert tan `56 I recall riding in as a kid! Wish this was mine. I’d mothball this beauty and only bring it out for shows on nice days. This `56 has MANY MANY heads turning, as they recall those sleepy summer evenings of going for ice cream after dinner in one of these!
SMS Auto Fabrics DOES have this embossed vinyl. They’ve carried it for years.
Very nice – maybe there should be/was a “horn” coming off the air cleaner, and the 2 uprights on the rear bumper look newer, like add-ons?
I wonder how the headliner is/how it’s coordinated w/the upholstery?
Great wagon, I could definitely see that tooling around Lake Tahoe, a couple of dead mobsters from Vegas loaded in the back maybe – wait, WHAT? Or, maybe just some groceries.
How about some hooch? What a great rumrunner this would have been with that 292 and it’s handy man looks.
I love the “rodeo” interior. I’d much rather have this rare ’56 Ford wagon than the Nomad, which is available all the time and has become overpriced. There are probably 20 ’56 Nomads for sale for every ’56 Ranch wagon.
Pretty cool car that if I had room would love to have in my stable. Just the Midwest is not good on vehicles so I would be doing it an injustice to bring here even if kept in a garage.
Adam if you click on the description for mobile users there are some very good photos of the headliner. It ap to be in very good condition and is quite cool looking weave.
Awesome old car with some interesting features.
I would jump over a line of Nomads to get to this Ranch Wagon. This is one of my dream cars. This one checks every box for me. It will keep me up at night trying to figure out a way to buy it. It is one of those cars, that I can’t rationally look at it ,and come up with a reason to not own it.
Joe I agree this is a nice wagon. Not a bad deal if the price does go through the roof. Unfortunately the price of fuel makes it expensive for a two way trip to recover and shipping is ridiculous at this time. If you want it there probably won’t be another this nice pop up anytime soon. My stable is full and I am waiting delivery of a 1955 Willys truck in purchased.
Joe – I love the rear/side slider windows – probably not safety glass – but your comment about Nomads made me realize there’s no roof rack on this baby – I wonder if they came with them, maybe as an option?
Ed Sel,
Safety glass for US manufactured cars became the law in 1937, so I’m sure this wagon has safety [laminated] side glass. And I like your screen name!
Joe – Yes, but no roof rack – maybe you could put one on from another model/ year and ruin – er, I mean, CUSTOMIZE it!
I’m a GM guy but as the years go on, I’ve come to see the beauty in the 1955-57 Fords. I find them to be the equivalent to the Tri-five Chevys in most ways.
Sure it’s not a 312 Yblock..little T Bird fender emblems were reserved for this engine.
My first car (that I drove) was a 56 Fairlane 2 dr sedan and it had the Tbird 312.
That’s interesting my 2nd car was a 56 Fairlane 2dr post sedan except mine was a 292, 3 on the tree wasen’t that fast but had fun with it
The valve cover decals are for a 292 and the fender tag would have been a plain “V8” design which matched these valve covers, the 312 covers said “Thunderbird Special’ as well as the shown Thunderbird fender tag. I believe the fender emblem is correct because there would have been extra holes to fill if it was swapped, while repro 292 decals were much easier to get than the 312 ones.
Rear guards are correct for a wagon, they are shorter than the fronts to allow the gate to open down flat. The license plate bracket and lamp is also on a swivel bracket so that it will still hang down when the gate is lowered and is still readable from the rear.
Rear slider windows are safety glass with chrome latches slid onto the glass and hooking into chrome receivers on the C pillar. Only the front pane slides rearward on 2-seat wagons. On 3-seaters, the window was 2 piece and the rear section slid forward as well.(must have made for some interesting disagreements between the kids in the middle and the ones in the rear to see who gets the most air)
Why do those tail lights look like 1955’s?
A vast majority of these came with the 272.
But those would’ve had the standard Y-block V8 emblem, not the “Tbird” emblem.
I believe they changed from the Y-block V8 emblem to the T-Bird emblem in ’56.
I thought 55 was the last year for the 272. I took the 3 speed OD and parts from a 55 to convert my 56 312 auto to manual. Bear in mind this is how/what I remember from 57 years ago.
Here is a copy and paste of 1956 Ford engines directly from the http://www.classicford.com website.
1956 FORD ENGINES
1956 Ford Fairlane
Base 6 Cylinder (Serial No. Code A):
Cast-iron, Overhead valve design
223 cubic inch displacement
Compression ratio: 8.0:1
137 brake horsepower @ 4200 rpm
Bore: 3.62 Stroke: 3.60 inches
Holly single barrel carburetor
4 Main bearings
Tuneup Specifications
V8 (Serial No. Code U):
Cast-Iron, Overhead valve design
272 cubic inch displacement
Compression rato: 8.1:1
173 brake horsepower @ 4400 rpm
176 brake horsepower @ 4400 rpm w/Ford-O-Matic
Bore: 3.62 Stroke: 3.30 inches
Holley two-barrel carburetor
5 Main bearings
Tuneup Specifications
V8 (Serial No. Code M):
Cast-Iron, Overhead valve design
292 cubic inch displacement
Compression rato: 6.4:1
200 brake horsepower @ 4600 rpm
202 brake horsepower @ 4600 rpm w/Ford-O-Matic
Bore: 3.75 Stroke: 3.30 inches
Holley four-barrel carburetor
5 Main bearings
Tuneup Specifications
V8 (Serial No. Code P):
Cast-Iron, Overhead valve design
312 cubic inch displacement
Compression rato: 6.4:1
215 brake horsepower @ 4600 rpm
225 brake horsepower @ 4600 rpm w/Ford-O-Matic
Bore: 3.60 Stroke: 3.44 inches
Holley four-barrel carburetor
5 Main bearings
Correction to the website I referenced above:
https://www.theclassicford.com/
The first character in the VIN indicates it was built with a 292.
The VIN for this car decodes as follows:
1956 Ford VIN decoder / M6LR127371 – VIN number breakdown
VIN: M6LR127371
Engine Code M V8 292 ci OHV – 4V Carb. (200hp MT, 202hp AT)
Production Year 6 1956
Assembly Plant L Long Beach, CA
Body Style R Customline Ranch Wagon
Production Sequence 127371
This is a correction of the website I listed above with the engine info. It should have been: https://www.theclassicford.com/
Interestingly enough, I remember seeing this upholstery in a 1960 ranchero. Falcon spin off, I have never seen it before or after, cool as anything. Save’em if you find’em, they are wicked rare.
oh, jeez, ye ol Y block.
Our fam moved 400 mi/6 hr N from Baldi-mur to Bostin in 1960 in one of these. Some fond memories. A tank me pops serviced as a young businessman w/2 kids (8’n 12 y/o). Fondly lookin over @ me sis (now 74 y/o) on the way to ‘grandmaw’s’ house…
Warm memories (62 yrs ago) instigated bya guy from 10,5K mi away’n a fine ford 50s rig…
Ah ye were goin’ to yer me-maw’s house did ye go an’ was ‘t over the mountain yer pops hauled ye on that fine day an did ye hold the rag n’ wrench fer yer pops an’ read t’yer pops from the map as ye went an’ whisper t’yer sis not to ask when moms was gonna come along too, knowin’ the question made yer pops grip the plastic steerin’ wheel of the fine ford ’50s rig so ‘is knuckles showed white as he said threw his teeth how she’d be coming along one day soon when Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron at McGill in Toronto with the MK Ultra program said she was well enough again an’ keep an eye out now an’ we’ll stop for a birchbark soda an’ no more questions about maw now?
Yes’r, warm memories before maw came along to boston a long time later and was so difrent an’ quiet an distracted an couldn’t play the guitar for us any more but said she’d like to learn someday maybe – oh, jeez, ye ol Y block, yeah.
exactly !
exactly !
Doubtful anyone “ordered” a Ranch Wagon , as this was Ford’s cheap wagon and would have been in every dealership. My dad used to buy Ranch Wagons as he was an electronics salesman and got one off the lot every other year ,until full size Ford 2 door wagons were discontinued and he bought cheap Ford Custom sedans.
For the last couple years I have been trying to find what car has this exact design on the seats because in 2020 while hiking a trail on Pincushion Mountain I came across a car in the middle the woods. I am no expert on cars and in fact know very little so trying to figure out what kind of car this was has been very hard for me.
I believe I have finally found the car!
Here is a link to see a picture of the car I am talking about.
https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/comments/j25w65/anybody_know_anything_about_this_crashed_car_in/
Unfortunately that picture in the link doesn’t show the seat but while I was hiking I snapped a picture of the seat’s upholstery and it is that exact design.