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Holier Than Thou: 1954 Plymouth Wagon

Here’s a nice little weekend project. Well, that depends on what you want to do with (to?) this 1954 Plymouth wagon. The owner has a couple of suggestions but I’m sure that the fine readers of Barn Finds will have a few suggestions of their own. This holy non-roller is in Bozeman, Montana and can be found on eBay for $4,995. No, really, that’s what they’re asking and there isn’t a “make offer” option. And, they have a $1,500 flat rate for shipping. So, for a mere $7,495 this baby could be yours! Thanks to Doug F for submitting this aerated Plymouth.

Was this car used in the filming of The Godfather? It sure looks like it could have been, but according to the seller he “found it at a friend’s ranch in western North Dakota” The story goes that the friend’s wife drove it until the fuel pump gave out and it was parked off of the road on a trail to their ranch. It sure looks like it was used for some sort of military target practice or something, some of those holes are huge!

The seller talks about using this car as some sort of neon-adorned advertising piece for a business. I guess it could look cool, but I’m not sure how that would work, and for $7,495, it would have to be a heck of a business advertising budget and one creative designer. They also mention turning it into a rat rod. I know that a lot of Barn Finds readers have probably restored vehicles in not much better shape than this one is in, but could you imagine hauling this into your shop and spending the next year or more on restoring it? Especially after having spent $7,495 on it?

RockAuto isn’t going to be much help on this one, unfortunately. If you’re allergic to rodent.. stuff.. this may not be the car for you. It has been picked about as clean as possible. I don’t know if there is one thing on the interior of this car that would be usable or helpful to anyone in the restoration of their decent Plymouth wagon, is there?

This engine could be either a 217 cubic-inch inline-six with about 100 hp, or if it’s a mid-year 1954 model, it could be Dodge’s 230 cubic-inch Powerflow inline-six with around 110 hp. In either case, obviously it doesn’t run and who knows if it will ever run again. I have a feeling that this car will be sitting here for many, many moons. The seller sums it up: “If one wanted a wild looking car like this to display or drive, it would be very difficult to make any vehicle look as bad as this one does.” I agree. Is there anything salvageable on this car, and then there’s the $7,495 price.. ouch.

Comments

  1. Avatar Adam

    i hate to say it but that cars far too gone for any use. probably worth slightly above scrap

    Like 0
    • Avatar Dave

      Hell, most of that that ought to buff right out…

      Like 0
  2. Avatar leiniedude Member

    Another great post Scotty! There used to be a ton of cars shot to pieces here in Wisconsin. Pretty sure I could go to my sisters farm and find two 53 Chevys in the woods in similar condition. I confess.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Dave

    Meth.
    Has to be the reason.

    Like 0
    • Avatar ROAR Member

      No, they’re just CRAZY!

      Like 0
  4. Avatar KEN TILLY Member

    Waste of Barn Find space!

    Like 0
    • Avatar BILL GRAHAM

      please don’t waste our time!

      Like 0
      • Avatar Steve R

        I’m surprised no one made the connection between this car and the Buick wagon being dragged from the ravine last week, it’s the same seller.

        The guy is a clown. However, it is sometimes interesting to see the delusional so side of the hobby.

        Steve R

        Like 0
      • Avatar streamliner

        I’m with Bill Graham and Steve R. This seller is both wasting our time, and a fascinating study in the wacky side of this hobby. Bob Woodburn has many vehicles for sale, just like this one. Same seller as Buick Wagon. Also see 1932 Lincoln Victoria Coupe featured on BF. See ebay seller “toysanyone”, or at Steve Murphy’s Desertclassics.com site. All 300% or more over market value.

        Like 0
  5. Avatar Steve

    Pass me a little of that wacky tobaccy he is smokin’…

    Like 0
    • Avatar Steve

      …or shuld I ask that he put the crack pipe down???

      Like 0
  6. Avatar Rabbit

    Reminds me of the old PSA’s….”This is your brain on drugs. Any Questions?”…..

    Like 0
  7. Avatar geomechs Member

    I’m kind of surprised to see something like this in Montana. Not the vehicle itself, there are a lot of cars out west with bullet holes in them. No, there’s still places where you could spot something like this and when you approached the owner, he’d likely respond with: “How fast can you load it up and get it off my property?” A friend of mine landed a ’33 Chevy 4-door sedan like that, and we Rolled it onto the trailer on its own wheels. I might add that it still had the complete drive train. Yes these same guys have TVs and watch BJ’s Auction but they’re also realistic.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Madmatt

    I’ve had swiss cheese with less holes,but what about
    the owners price….they must have a few holes in their head also
    to imagine they would get that kind of price,but this does have
    patina!….so the sky’s the limit…!Lol…!

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Jeff

    Could be used as an advertisment for a shooting range?

    Like 0
  10. Avatar CCFisher

    The only thing interesting about this is the price, and, well…. check your math.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Kevin

    sadness

    Like 0
  12. Avatar TriPowerVette

    I’m sorry, but this looks like a fairly typical example of Plymouth ‘quality control’ of the period. It seems pretty much as delivered. At least half of all production that year came that color. I think it was called “Rancho Breen”. Tires and glass were optional. You know it’s true.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Milt

    Must of taken a rest stop just south of Gibsland, Louisiana.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar XMA0891

    If you were looking for another Barn Find Plymouth in a state-of-condition to beat the Plymouth Superbird from a month or so ago; I’d say you’ve succeeded. Really is too bad to do this to ANY two-door wagon.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Sam Sharp

    Wellllll…. the left side isn’t toooo baaaad..

    The Plymouth quality control was pretty good back then. But then the 1957 Plymouth hit the streets. Lots of late 50s Plymouths looked like this w/o being shot at… as we well know. I’ve got the scars to prove it.

    Funny post, T-Vette.

    Like 0
    • Avatar TriPowerVette

      It was shot at, too? I thought the holes were an early form of Plymouth’s Pastural Ventilation. (Eat your heart out, Corvette.)

      Like 0
  16. Avatar JW

    They should post this AD on television with the caption this is your mind on drugs.

    Like 0
  17. Avatar MathieuB

    Looks like my last find….

    Like 0
    • Avatar Otto Nobedder

      @MathieuB Is that a water trough welded on top? With prices of these going thru the roof, this one will be restored Im sure

      Like 0
      • Avatar MathieuB

        I did find the answer as I spoke with the 2nd owner’s wife, the roof was modify so it can be use as a camper. Did sold it to someone who was restoring one in the same condition… I sent the story to the Barnfinds writers but the story stoped there, hope they will post it!

        Like 0
  18. Avatar Sam Sharp

    Rock salt bullets. A question to ask; “will the carpet be strong enough to keep your foot from going through the floor board as you try to get out?” I worked on a 56 Ply convertible that had been ‘recently restored.’ My foot went through the floorboard upon exit. The owner found out that roofing tar has no structural integrity. Still have the scar on my shin.

    He also learned that the ‘restorer’ had been convicted for fraud.

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Miguel

    Even in the best of condition these aren’t worth very much.

    Like 0
  20. Avatar Rob Rose

    It only takes 1.

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Fitz61

    Expensive version of a Pet Rock.

    Like 0
  22. Avatar Sam

    Para-military practice. Take it to burning man and finish it off.

    Like 0
  23. Avatar roblack

    She took a load of buckshot up close to the hood. I know,Ive done that sort of thing.

    Like 0
  24. Avatar Craig

    I confess to clicking on this car just to read the comments. I was not disappointed.

    Like 0
    • Avatar McPherson Strutz

      I clicked to see if we had heard from the guy driving it. Any-hoo, two extra clicks for BF. Further proof of the existence of Clickbait.

      Like 0
  25. Avatar Brent

    Thank you so much… I haven’t had this good of a laugh in years…

    Like 0
  26. Avatar John K

    Adding lightness costs money. You all know that Porsche charges extra to make a car “lightweight” by removing interior bits, etc. Well here’s the wagon version. Jeesh, if it had “Stuttgart” written somewhere on it in crayon some PCA member would already be dragging it home and laughing like a maniac at the low price.

    Like 0
  27. Avatar Ric Parrish

    I think it will need a replacement hood. Or take it off and jump on it a few times.

    Like 0
  28. Avatar ron hanley

    a plymouth that year wouldn’t be worth what he wants if it was cherry.

    Like 0
  29. Avatar Russell

    Paint it Yellow and sell it to a cheese factory in Wisconsin!

    Like 0
    • Avatar leiniedude Member

      Good one Russell! Living about 15 miles from Monroe Wisconsin, “the Swiss Cheese Capital of the USA”, I really do not think the Swiss here would get it. Being a car guy I would. Maybe because I am a Limburger cheese guy. I see five comments referring to some type of drug reference. And those comments are very common. It does confuse me. I really do not think the meth heads were around forty years ago. I do know there was dope. As I have confessed early in this post, I have blasted cars left to rot in fields and woods. They were pieces of junk 40 years ago. If I knew then what some values would be today, it might have been different. As in hindsight, we all sold rigs we wish we had not. We did have one rule, blast no glass. Would I blast a malaise era four door Malibu today in the timber? Take a guess. Take care Russell, Mike.

      Like 0
  30. Avatar Joe Howell

    That will all buff out.

    Like 0
  31. Avatar Jay

    Ultimate patina.

    Like 0
  32. Avatar Graywolf

    First of all Miguel these vehicles do bring good money in most shapes other than this one! I think the owners head would whistle just as loud as the car going down the highway!

    Like 0
  33. Avatar Ed P

    $7500 !!! Lmao!!!!

    Like 0
  34. Avatar Bob

    Price is now at $4,995

    Like 0
  35. Avatar Stephen

    Best use? keep using it for target practice….

    Like 0
  36. Avatar steve

    Bonnie and Clydes other car……

    Like 1
  37. Avatar Mark S

    Kind of a shame that a car needing a small repair gets reduced to this. Goes to show you just how wasteful some people are. All that aside I think that in the hands of the right guy this cars body could be brought back. I’d restomod this and I’d enjoy the challenge of repairing this body. I think these were cool cars and it being a two door this is a car that should be repaired. This would also make a good project for a high school weld shop and body shop class. If the kids screw it up no great loss.

    Like 0
  38. Avatar Keith

    The hell with the outrageous price…I’d like to slap the owner for having the nerve and the gall of advertising this monstrosity in the first place.

    Like 0
  39. Avatar Shecky

    I love it. Don’t have the money to buy it. I’d leave the exterior as is, adjust the panels so they open and shut, clear it. Drop it on a custom chassis, maybe gasser style. $7500 is absurd.

    Like 0
  40. Avatar Stu

    Just needs a good coat of wax.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Dave

      Hey there ya go, Stu. A can of “Mothers”, pennants on the radio antenna & this puppy is ready for sale!

      Like 0
  41. Avatar W9BAG

    At Camp Atterbury, in Edinburgh, Indiana, on one of the firing ranges, there is a 1957 Chevy that has been there for years. It was a Staff car; who know when it was De-commissioned. It still stands, as a memorial to early target practice. The last time I saw it, it looked like if a bird landed on the roof, it would come crashing down. I mean, really ? What red-blooded American soldier wouldn’t like to fill this thing with lead with an M-60, .50 cal, or other forms of high powered amusement ? This ’54 Plymouth is just for scrap ONLY, maybe $200, and the time it took to write the article could have been spent on an extended lunch.

    Like 0
  42. Avatar David Ulrey

    A joke right? Like April Fool’s!!!

    Like 0
  43. Avatar Nrg8

    Boozeman Montana? Jeez at least make up a story about it being a presidential car or celebrity car. Maybe first car to do round trip to moon. Not even an appealing car cleaned up

    Like 0
  44. Avatar John

    What’s all the griping about? $7.49 seems like a fair price to me…

    Like 0
  45. Avatar Jubjub

    If it was free, it’d be fun to make it driveable, install glass and backlight all of the holes.

    Like 0
  46. Avatar yes300ed

    Gives a “shooting brake” a new definition

    Like 0
  47. Avatar 1st Gear

    Really? This listing is a joke,right?

    Like 0
  48. Avatar Pete

    There are a lot of people in the world with more money than sense. The seller is hoping to find that one person that thinks owning this steaming pile of canine excrement is a good idea. Crazy seller hopes to find a crazy buyer. It could happen. People buy spinners and have bought pet rocks and chia pets. So why not this well ventilated plymouth? Although from a parts car perspective, all I see is a couple of bumper guards and perhaps a few engine and drive train parts that might be useful. To expensive to even consider. Now if it was a 1930’s Rolls Royce that might be worth it.

    Like 0
  49. Avatar Dt 1

    I can understand how people sell junk for top dollar in today’s market unbelievable

    Like 0
  50. Avatar Brad C

    If a body shop bought this and parked out by the road — maybe throw some big, halogen lights inside and put it on an 8-foot high rotating platform… it’d easily grab $4500 worth of attention.

    Like 0

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