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In Search Of Seats: 1958 Chevrolet Wagon

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This relatively solid 1958 Chevrolet wagon is missing all of its seats (and a few other items). The car is currently in Greenfield, Indiana and is up for auction here on eBay, where bidding is less than $1,000 but hasn’t met reserve yet.

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I’m unabashedly a fan of big wagons like this. Unlike most folks, I’d actually prefer the four door rather than the 55-57 two-door Nomads; as I wrote in this recent post, I think it’s important to involve the family in the hobby, and four doors and easy access to a rear seat (once you locate and install one!) is helpful. While rust is sprouting in a lot of places on this car, I don’t see anything that can’t be dealt with by a home enthusiast, and with flux-core welders available for less than $100, it’s time to learn how to weld (cue comments about how limited those welders are–true, but I’ve used one at my friend’s house and it works pretty well on sheet metal as long as you don’t mind grinding afterwards).

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Yes, that’s a third pedal you see on the floor! Although the auction listing erroneously states a V6/FWD drivetrain, we can see it’s a small block V8 and a manual transmission, and a previous owner has hacked a hole in the floor for the shifter. Unlike the seats, the door panels are present and could be used for patterns if nothing else. This is one car I can’t see someone restoring to original; I think it makes more sense especially if you are on a budget to refurbish rather than restore this one.

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Surprisingly, given the condition of the rest of the interior, the dash and steering wheel look pretty good. You can see where the floor has been patched previously in one of the under car pictures.  There are some nice pictures detailing how things are underneath; the seller characterizes the car as a “Texas car” due to the placement of and extent of the rust.

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The seller has fixed a timing issue and the engine now runs, and the cooling system has been checked out. The gas tank has been dropped and the sending unit has been removed. Nothing has been done to the brakes or other subsystems apart from fuel, ignition and cooling. The ad originally stated that the seller paid $6,750 for the car, now it states that they have $8,000 in it but the reserve is not that high. I think it would make a great family hobby car, but I’m not sure about pricing. What do you think, and how would you proceed with this project?

Comments

  1. HoA Howard A Member

    Well, what is it? It’s a Yeoman, the bottom of the line for wagons, followed by the Brookwood, then Nomad. This is actually a pretty rare car, as Wiki claims, this was made for only 1 year and was dropped in ’59, and most were the fancier ones. Lot of work here, but not many around. Cool find.

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  2. Avatar Duffy

    After you refurbish the vehicle, what do you do with it? Keep it the rest of your life.Junk//

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    • Avatar Jamie Staff

      I sure would… :-)

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  3. Avatar Jason Houston

    Isn’t it funny how ‘junk’ is only in the eye of the beholder?

    The 1958 Chevrolet was a one-year deviation from typical Chevrolets of the period, and a very attractive one at that. I see a nice car in a rare and desirable factory color, Cay Coral, needing wheels, interior and a headliner. A nice set of original wide whites and full wheel covers would send this puppy uptown. And the V8 with standard drive is virtually priceless!

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  4. Avatar DENIS

    I like the old girl…I have a 454 for it…needs slammed, cheapie paint job, and 4 quad seats out of a Suburban/Tahoe…and a looow price.

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  5. Avatar randy

    Nice car. Price is looking to be too high as well.
    $1500.00-$2000.00 is my guess as to it’s value in this condition.

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  6. Avatar Mike R

    Cowabunga…strap a couple of full size boards on the roof. :) After adding seats, of course.

    Looks like a worthwhile project for the right price….don’t see a lot of ’58 Yeoman wagons…

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  7. Avatar William H

    IMO, the ’58 Chevys were far and away better looking than anything that came after or really before for that matter. A 4-door ’58 is definitely on my bucket list but I’d have to say a 4-door wagon is way on up there. This would be an excellent car to get the entire family involved in its build then everyone could enjoy the finished product. I could see building it as a nice street cruiser with just enough umph but leave it completely streetable.

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  8. Avatar Marty Member

    Odd that someone in to a classic car seems to know so little about its mid 70s vintage drive train.

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  9. Avatar Barzini

    Give he seller credit: this is a really good set of pictures. When they show the less flattering aspects of the car for sale, it gives the seller more credibility. You’d think more would do this.

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  10. Avatar piper62j

    My father had one of these in my younger days.. lt came with a straight 6 engine and the lifters were always clacking away.. Never did fix it..

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  11. Avatar Mark S

    First thing I noticed was the HEI distributer. I’d do the metal work go back to stock colours make new door card using the original Chrome. Scout out some nice grey leather seats out of the bone yard. ( did this for my own project. LHS seats front and rear like new $120.00 ) . Refresh the mechanicals. Load up the family for a trip up the Alaskan highway.

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  12. Avatar Mark

    This one is in Las Vegas next to the Pawn Stars shop . Same parking lot .

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