Twenty-five years before the minivan arrived, this was how you hauled kids, Little League teams, Aunt Edna, groceries, lumber, and whatnot: the classic All American 6-passenger and 9-passenger station wagon. And while Fords (269,378) and Chevys (195,585) were the wagon kings as far as sales, on the Mopar side, the Plymouth Suburban station wagon sold a respectable 120,802 units. But over at Dodge, it was a different story. Only about 23,500 Sierra and Custom Sierra station wagons were sold in 1959 and there can’t be many survivors, which is probably why I’ve never seen one at a car show. Here’s a 1959 Dodge Sierra Station Wagon that appears to be pretty straight, all there, and potentially a good candidate for restoration. It is currently residing in Moro, Oregon and is for sale here on eBay with an opening bid of $6,500. The seller is open to offers, but not below the opening bid amount.
The ’59 Dodges were given a front end facelift and still sported what they called “Jet-Trail” tail lamps and rear fins, all part of Chrysler’s famous Forward Look. Based on the provided photos, the body overall appears to be in good shape. I’m not spotting any dents on the roof or body, or any rust, but the seller says “it will need some rust repair along the bottom in some spots, but the floors are good.” Too bad photos of those rust spots aren’t included. The current red paint is presentable (the firewall shows that the Dodge was originally white and probably a two tone), the chrome looks good for its age as well as the glass, and the many trim pieces appear to be all there. And, obviously, those aren’t the wagon’s original wheel covers.
The black and white interior doesn’t look too bad for a 64-year-old station wagon. Dodge advertised their ’59’s as being “the first all-pushbutton car!” (you can just spot the Push-button TorqueFlite to the left of the instrument panel), and also sported a new, elliptical-shaped steering wheel that was “shaped to give greater forward visibility.” This Dodge has power steering along with a cool, black and white classic 50’s steering wheel that would also need restoration.
The front seat has been reupholstered and is showing wear and rips, and the rear seat bottom has been reupholstered (but the rear seat back looks like the original based on sales brochure illustrations). There are no photos of the storage area behind the rear seat, the headliner, or what condition the carpet is in. And I’m assuming this doesn’t have the rear-facing third row seat that Dodge hilariously called, “The Observation Lounge” in their sales literature.
Dodge Sierras came standard with a 361-cubic inch, 295 horsepower Ram-Fire V8. The seller states “it ran on a bottle of gas long enough to drive down the street and back” and says the gas tank is solid but will need to be removed and cleaned. The carburetor is also described as “bad.” So, what do you think of this project car? I have a friend who has a ’59 Plymouth Suburban Station Wagon and just finished restoring a ’59 Dodge Custom Royal convertible. I wonder if he’d like to take on a ’59 Dodge Sierra as his next restoration project?
Best deal ever revealed on BF in my expert opinion.
Wow, and Wow.
Bob
I love it !!! A great price to boot ! 👏👏👍👍
I have a soft spot for the Forward Look Chrysler cars, my favorite being the 57 & 58 Plymouth Furys after seeing the movie Christine. My only problem is every time someone gets their hands on one, they paint it red and white like the movie car, instead of the off-whites the original Furys came with. One year it was called Buckskin Beige. I hope this red wagon finds a good home.
I don’t tend to like red but I love this thing. That motor when healthy should move it along nicely and you’re practically guaranteed not to see another unless it’s at a Mopar specialty event.
Looks like a decent project. There’s no mention of how much bondo is in the eyebrows or quarters. The front seat is not original. Also, the engine should have a Stromberg 2bbl, not a 4bbl carburetor. I would want detailed photos of all the problem areas or potential problem areas, including the floorboards. Car was originally white, as firewall indicates.
My family owned a tan and beige ’59. The thing was a tank. I wish I had the extra cash to buy this one. Looking at the dashboard shot, it appears this has the Power-Flite and not the Torque-Flite.
I may be wrong. It has been 60 years since I last saw the old tank.
I figured they have been all crushed by now.
You can see the ‘2’ button which indicates a TF.
Was there ever an angrier looking Dodge than this?
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t a 361 a B block?
If so, a later 383, with many available high performance parts, could turn this wagon into a quick grocery getter.
It looks like it could be Christine’s boyfriend or older brother with the angry front end
Great start for a Hot Rod project!
I’m sure they are out there, but I find it hard to imagine there is an uglier looking vehicle than this Dodge.
Gordo, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I first saw a brand new one of these in Australia when I was 12 years old, and thought it was the most fantastic car I had ever seen, and now at 76, my opinion is still the same. These were rare in Australia, and you would have been wealthy to own one.
If Darth Vader drove a car, this would be the one…painted black, of course.
WOW!, a rare unique car at a very reasonable price. It would look nice next to my 59 Squire. Love it, and love the lack of terrible rust. a HUGE plus with this.
Well the rear quarters look to have some tin panels tacked on, and the red is just……red , but where are you going to find another one and at that low of a price ?