Claimed to have been special ordered new by a Ford executive, this ’59 Country Squire wagon is certainly loaded for bear, with power everything, factory air, and a numbers-matching 352-cubic inch Thunderbird V8. Showing just 60,000 miles and wearing original paint, you can find this Oyster Bay, New York-garaged luxe hauler here on eBay with an unmet starting bid of $21,000.
It wasn’t until the late ’50s that the lines between lesser and luxury marques began to blur as mainstream brands like Ford began to offer more optional equipment. At $3,076 to start, the V8 Country Squire was already the most expensive ’59 Ford other than the Thunderbird, and on top of that this car’s various accessories added somewhere around $1,000 more—the Select Aire A/C was $404 all by itself—making this one pricey wagon when new. The seller describes this as a “Top Brass Ford Executive Car,” and there may be something to that; there actually was a program for high-level executives to order cars, usually highly optioned, at a steep discount (or sometimes no cost at all), and these cars were affixed with a brass tag noting their special status. Unfortunately, these tags were usually removed once the cars were retired from executive service and before they were resold, so it’s unclear whether the seller has any documentation that this was an actual brass tag car, or if it’s just lore or an assumption based on the high spec.
Somehow the seller also believes that the brown-painted door jambs, which are said to be original, are also a signifier that this car was a brass tag special order. Where that comes from, I’m not sure, but it certainly is odd. Speaking of brown bits, the faux wood panelling has been redone, but, to the seller’s chagrin, not well. Fortunately, the fiberglass “timbers” surrounding the Di-noc vinyl are said to be structurally sound and shouldn’t be too difficult to properly refinish. The original paint has rubbed thin in places, but I think I’d leave it alone, and the period bumper and window stickers are a fun touch.
Pricey then, the $21K ask feels a little stiff now, too, but there’s no denying that this is a desirably equipped wagon in very original condition with an appealing amount of patina. What’s your take—is this top brass wagon worth top dollar?
I am in LOVE !! (lust?) I REALLY need to win lottery…….
Really a piece of possible history…like 59’s and wagons but not at the starting price.
I am a Chevy guy…..but this ole babe is sweet….
Hog Wash
Personally I think it is worth every penny of the price. Highly optioned and overall in very good condition. It would cost much more than that to restore a similar car to this condition.
My guess on the brown door jambs is aesthetic with the paneling. Has anyone noticed that on other Ford wagons of the period.
My second guess is the Ford exec car pooled other Ford execs and the they all forgot to stand up and rubbed their noses on the door jambs after a long day of bootlicking, groveling and brown nosing.
Sorry in advance. That was a long way to go for a “big corporation” jaded joke.
A fishing buddy had one of these. He bought it in the late 60’s for $150. It was beat to near death before he got it. However, we always got to the fishing hole with it, although a trail of blue smoke followed us.
Ya, we did the same thing in junior high school…I was supposed to pay $50 for a neighbors car, one day we just took it! Ended up out of gas behind the grocery store…nobody got caught :)
Wonder who the manufacturer of the A/C unit in it was?
Ford made two “under-dash-hangers” for full sized Ford cars at the time. Thunderbird A/C was built into the dash. This more expensive unit incorporated to defrost with incorporated controls in the dash. Cheaper could be installed by dealership, with controls for AC only on the unit fascia.
I agree with Michael; no way to aproace a survivor car for that price. And when you restore you loose value and money in the process.
I know it’s not a Corvette, and it does not command the value of a Corvette, but if you compared to buying price to the corvette buying price you would have a $100,000 car there, easy!
Hope it is OK to post a link to a similar equipped ’59 Country Squire in white for comparisons. Yes, jams are painted dark-wood brown where the white jam might show through against the exterior “wood” trim.
Oh wait, it is the same car [same tag] for only $8,800!!! http://topclassiccarsforsale.com/ford/92866-1959-ford-country-squire-nine-passenger-wagon.html
Interesting—looks like this ad was posted in 2015. What a difference two years has made to this car’s value, apparently! You can see the condition of the “wood” trim then…it looks different now, but it’s hard to say better, that’s for sure.
Boy, if that’s the same car it’s amazing what they went through to make it look period. In the ” first ” listing, there are no period travel stickers on the rear side windows, nor the period bumper stickers : They sure look correct on the ” second ” posting. I also find it odd that the air conditioning badge is missing on the original post ?
Hmmmm ?
Here’s a ’59 with ALL the prototype wagon options. Notice the jams are painted dark-wood brown.
I think the tailgate jam is painted red on that car, like the interior, not brown. The car in the ad has a blue interior, and the tailgate sides are painted the same blue as the interior.
That’s INSAnE!
I love this wagon, but then I pretty much love all station wagons.
Unfortunately, with what has been done to the fake “wood” trim on this car, I have a hard time calling it a survivor. It looks terrible, and nothing like the original trim. I think if you were to buy it, you might as well restore it, because the wood trim desperately needs to be redone, and then it will look out of place with the aged paint, chrome, etc.
The brown on the door jams, looks suspiciously like the brown paint that replaced the wood grained trim, leading me to wonder if whoever painted the “wood” trim, also painted the door jams?
With power windows, power seat and factory air, it is an intriguing car!
Here is a similar white Country squire, but with manual windows.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1959-country-squire.315293/
Love wagons and especially love this one.
I can smell the fresh paint emanating through my monitor along with the BS spewed. Look very closely at the pic’s and then head out to the close out perfume at Wal Mart and Walgreens. While doing so you might also want to check out the JUNK jewelery.
Everybody loves it!
If the seller can document that that was an original “brass tag” car, oh yeah, it’s worth the 21 grand! And if not, given it’s low mileage, condition, and multiple options, it might be worth that anyway.
I do not know exactly when Ford starting placing the DSO code on the door data plate but I do know that by 1967 there was a DSO code for cars that were somehow connected to Ford Corporate. That code was an 84 which stood for Home Office Reserve. My understanding of this code is that it included cars that Ford kept for things like the press pool and for cars ordered for certain employees. If Ford was not using this code in 1959 it might also be possible to find out something if Kevin Marti can issue a report. I am not sure exactly how far back Kevin can go.
Agree, that is a lot of BS in the description. The woodwork resto is terrible and the seller admits it was done poorly. But 21K? Not even close.
That a fantastic automobile ! Luck Ford exec. I’d be proud to drive it ! Was the 352 the largest engine for ’59 ? I notice that the door cards are bowed, and I imagine that it’s because of the power windows.
Just down the road from me, yesterday, I noticed a ’59 Ranchero Squire, in a recycling yard, for sale. Kinda rough, but may be a runner.
It kinda snerfs my burfits that there are some people that are SO cynical about accepting that when a car is proclaimed to be this or that, and someone bashes the car with comments like “I can smell the fresh paint emanating through my monitor along with the BS spewed. Look very closely at the pic’s and then head out to the close out perfume at Wal Mart and Walgreens. While doing so you might also want to check out the JUNK jewelry.”
It’s an incredible wagon, and I’d take the family cross country in it, after having it inspected. Love it !!
The wagon looks great;but what happened under the hood?
Wonderful car. But Ford’s automatic trans column shift looks like something out of the Flintstones era.
I bought one of these in 1985 from a junkyard. The car was missing its driveline but had been driven from California 5 years prior. Mine is white with green interior. It has the ac with the little badge on the door. No power windows but has the power seat twin mirrored spot lamps, signal seek radio and tons of things like factory floor mats tissue box, bumper guards and so on. The car had its tired original finish when I got it but the door jambs were not or ever brown. I put a 332 in it and drove it on and off for 16 years. It has been sitting since and likely will never see the road again as it is not worth redoing given the price of the one here. I had a lot of fun with mine ions ago. I miss reasonable old cars. I also had a 58 Caballero that tag teamed when the Country squire was off.