Here at Barn Finds there has been a lot of station wagon coverage as of late. There is no denying, what was once considered to be just a lowly family hauler, has really come into its own. Why? While it’s hard to say exactly, it could be that they are essentially no longer made, that they were designed to haul and with the right power train they do exactly that, haul and quickly. Or maybe it’s just due to rising muscle car prices that attention has focused on these once ubiquitous family movers? The truth of the matter is, while I don’t personally own one, I did learn to drive on a ’69 Chevrolet Kingswood (Impala) so I still have a soft spot for wagons. Enter this 1966 Ford Country Squire, found here on craigslist in Ocala Florida.
It’s priced at $27,000 so you may want to disregard what I just said about station wagons and affordability. Nevertheless, look at the condition of this beautiful car. The odometer shows 37,000 miles but there is no reference to the mileage in the car’s description so the odometer may have been around once. The car appears to be all original other than some accessory gauges that have been added under dash. But that interior, wow – looks like it has never been sat upon or subjected to the rigors station wagons usually are and that’s before you consider that this ride is 53 years young!
The engine is referenced as the very commonly found FE 390 cubic inch motor but there are no images accompanying the listing or any more detailed a description. We know from Ford history that two versions of the 390 engine were offered in 1966, a 275 horsepower two-barrel carburetor model or a more robust 315 horsepower, four-barrel carburetor equipped option. Either engine should move this big Ford adequately if for no other reason than the prodigious amount of torque produced by 390 cubic inches of V8.
There is no reference in the ad as to the condition of the underside, in particular as it relates to the floor pans or the frame, so additional inquiry will be necessary. Also, I find errors like the reference to the drivetrain as being “Front Wheel Drive” a bit troubling. Does this lack of detail just point to a quick flip for a buck type of scenario? Regardless, this appears to be an exceptional condition car but is it $27,000 worth of exceptional? Let’s face it, like Richard Rawlings of Fast & Loud fame, I’m a sucker for a green car, especially when it’s this shade of green and in this condition.
And it looks beautiful driving away! 1966 was a very good year for the domestic auto business, indeed. The Detroit three truly had the tiger by the tail with their exceptionally clean styling and ever-increasing prodigious horsepower. In a few short years, the party would start to wind down with the focus on exhaust emissions, safety, and fuel economy but 1966 still represented a real pedal-to-the-metal, wide-open path forward. Here’s a chance to own a beautiful piece of that ‘60’s vibe.
Back around 1997, I bought my wife a very similar wagon, a ’67 Ranch Wagon, 390. I bought it from the original owner, it had about 70,000 miles on it, and it was in exceptionally nice condition. My wife loved it, and hauled the kids around in it for a few years. We took a Griswold family vacation to Mt. Washington in the thing, it was an awesome car. I bought it then for exactly 1/10th of the asking price of this featured car. I’d post a photo of it, but it’s a 4X6 paper photo!
You can take a picture of the picture and post it.
Yes, I could.
In ’65 my dad bought a “Country Sedan”, the middle range wagon, with a 289 and automatic. No AC, of course. He was very proud of the fact that he “special ordered” it with the “Squire” interior. I spent the better part of my youth in the back seat being terrorized by my older sister.
It’s missing a hubcap.
Probably stopped for directions in a friendly part of town.
They took a corner too fast, and it flew off…see that all the time, in old movies…
True, Captain Obivious!
It’s incredible especially the “wood”!
I too leaned to drive in a ’69 Kingswood Estate. Green over green and remember a recall for breaking motor mounts fixed by chains to hold it in if they broke. Crazy.
This is a rare one. Seller lists it as front wheel drive.
I remember the recall, I thought the new mounts incorporated a cable?
DRV, this is my green on green ’69 Kingswood.
Look familiar? If your car was from California, this one might be that one.
I had a 1967 Chevrolet that had a motor mount recall. The recall repair had already been done when I bought it used. It was probably the best car I ever owned. I was in the army then as I drove it 13,000 miles during the three months I owned it. I sold it before I shipped out overseas. The worst thing I could say about it was the power steering leak.
This should be the last year for the famous (or infamous ) green dot transmission. I personally thought was a pretty good idea. Many people didn’t know how to use it properly.
That was called the “Cruise-o-matic transmission. Just about bullet-proof too. You drove “green dot” if you wanted to start out in low and use all three speeds, in other words normal driving. The other drive started out in second and was for starting out on slippery surfaces.
Unless he’s using 0-20w, i’d rather like to see near 40 psi on the oil pressure guage at temperature.
I have the same concern – for that asking price, I do not want to rebuild a motor – but the guys at HAMB assure me that the FE motors do fine with 10 psi per 1000 rpm.
A note: No 1966 Ford Country Squire had high gloss wood applique. That vinyl has been either replaced with incorrect spec vinyl or someone has sprayed it with clear. Original Ford applique actually had imitation wood graining that you could see and feel. It had a semi-matte finish to it. This is not original and if incorrectly applied, expect a lot of flaking and peeling down the road.
Otherwise, the car is sharp for its age.
The photo of the carpet didn’t strike me as being original looking…it looks modern, whereas the original should be a larger loop I believe. Likewise the matching floor mat seems out of place re: originality.
I believe that would be a lot of oil pressure at idle… especially on a stock engine.
My Dad and Mom ordered a 1966 Wimbledon white 1966 Country Squire with the same color interior in November 1965. I remember as a kid with my siblings going to the Ford dealership in West Los Angeles in February 1966 to pick it up when it came in. It was built in the Los Angeles assembly plant in Pico Rivera. I fell in love with it, and the new car smell was amazing to me as a kid. My Dad ordered ours with the same AM/FM radio, except ours had A/C, power windows, power seat, and a 428 CID. I learned how to drive on that car and when I went away to college years later and majored in automotive engineering, I rebuilt the engine, transmission, and differential in my shop classes. My love for the automotive industry led me to work for Ford Motor Company for over 40 years. I would love to buy this one if I had the room!
Wonder if this 390 c.i. has Ford’s air injection system into the
exhaust manifolds? Ford’s early attempt to comply with emissions standards.
That cooler air was warping the exhaust valves, necessitating
valves and/or heads replacement.
No, that appeared in 1968. I had a ’66 Galaxy white, 4 door with the 390 2bbl. No emissions except the PCV valve.
Either completely original or somebody spent some time and money getting this car to this shape. But, for me. If I’m going to throw down 27 large, then for sure the heap better have all of it’s original hubcaps.
Can you explain how to use it properly. I have a 66 Lincoln convertible and I don’t understand it.
According to the listing it’s a dealer selling this so likely it was acquired from an estate sale as I can’t imagine someone with a classic like this just selling to some used car lot.Also why is this dealer using Craigslist? You’d think they would have their own web page to list vehicles online.This might be a great car but I would want to check it out in person first.
There is a link to the dealer’s website in the CL ad – it shows a few more pictures.
Also, by my eye the car seems to be sagging from left to right in the photo of the rear of the car. The tailgate looks lower on the right, and the stainless trim just below the glass does not line up consistently with the body panels when you compare the left/right sides. It looks like the whole car is low on the right side, not just tailgate misalignment.
jr. I too noticed the slight skew to the rear. I wondered if the gate was sagging on the hinge. The horizontal alignment of gaps would indicate as such?
You’d shouldn’t be surprised….lots of low ball dealers use CL….so they don’t incur additional costs on their boats…er investments.
Lots of dealers use Craigslist in my area, at least the shady ones do. They’ll list cars as being a private owner too.
Someday the minivan with wood grain sides or not, are going to command higher prices for its memory and nostalgia value. It just won’t be me buying one though. However, I do find the manual transmission caravan an interesting find.
this guy better wake up and smell the roses !
These were nice wagons in their day. I agree the asking price is extreme.
God bless America
I wish I had a 65 Country sedan that we bought as a junky driver about forty years ago. Very rare car, it had factory bucket seats,ac and more? Unfortunately it ended up beng wrecked. Now some something like this would be worth the effort to fix up and hang into instead of cutting it up.
The price is 27 large because a DEALER owns it. Are you willing to pay a premium to a used car dealer?
That makes sense, Private owners typically price a car closer to what they are worth. The dealer is trying to make a killing.
Speaking of hubcaps….a couple years ago I went up to junk yard north of me, about 20 miles North of Tampa, to look at a Hudson Vagabond (Kaiser?).
Anyhow, the gravely-voiced proprietor directed me to a lot about a half mile away that was fenced off where the old Vagabond was sitting in the weeds. There was an old Galaxie in that lot, one of only about a dozen cars left on that property. As I explored the lot, I came upon an enormous pile of hubcaps…hundreds of them. Most were sitting on the ground, and many were piled up in the bed of a 66 Ranchero. I recognized so many of those hubcaps.
Later, I got the idea of buying up all those hubcaps and selling them off on ebay, as I was selling Volvo 1800 parts at that time. So I did some research on ebay to see how strong the hubcap market was, and frankly it wasn’t too strong. But still, I called the lady and offered her $1.00 per unit, which seemed fair considering the work it would take to recover the caps and clean them and market them on ebay. She said no. A short time later, I was at a swap meet in Zepherhills, and asked a vendor about the market for hubcaps. He told me there basically wasn’t any market for hubcaps, which surprised me. I was glad I didn’t buy 1000 hubcaps.
I have a garbage bag full of hubcaps that I finally tired of taking to Hershey. I did sell a Nash hubcap once. The buyer was going to use it to water his dog.
I am looking for original hub caps for my old cars all the time.
$27,000.00 ? I guess I am out of touch, waaaay out of touch. But some sucker will get it for 2 or 3 less and think he got a good deal because he knocked the seller down on the price.