When was the last time that you went for a run? 10 years ago? 20 years? Well then, what’s so awful about this 1959 Rambler Cross Country not running for the last 20 years? This solid example is on eBay with an unmet opening bid of $1,500 which seems reasonable seeing how rust-free the body is. How rust-free is your body?
This car is in solid condition, other than the floor boards needing some welding. The seller says that this is a “real Montana barn find” and it’s still in Montana. You may think that this is a Rambler Cross Country, and you’d normally be correct. But, this is a rare Packard BASASO! Ok, I’m not sure what’s going on with the badge and lettering on the grille, but this is indeed a Rambler Cross Country wagon and AMC made a lot of them in 1959.
This is one solid car! The Super was a mid-range Rambler Six and this Cross Country Super would have been in-between the Deluxe and Custom models. The seller has a few parts in the rear compartment, like those missing tail lights.
The interior, as you can tell, will need a full gut-job, as they say in violin bow factories around the world. Sitting in Montana, or anywhere, for 20 years usually means that rodents have used this car as a home away from home, so be prepared to strip every square inch of fabric and related upholstery material out of this car. When you’re done with that, you can fix the floors, which supposedly are the only rust troubles on this car. Hopefully it can look like this again when you’re done.
Here’s the Six of the Rambler Six family, a 195.6 cubic-inch inline-six. NADA lists a 1959 Rambler Six Cross Country Super as being valued between $5,400 and $21,900! Surely this solid car is worth somewhere in the $5,000 or so range? What would you pay for this Montana Rambler and how would you restore it?
I’d buy it because of the Packard emblems and the Jr Samples used car lot phone number.
Nice to see the missing tail light lenses. The case of Gin is a welcome sight, too.
As the owner of a 1960 Willys wagon I can relate to this. A very appealing rig to me. Pretty nice with the manual tranny and overdrive. 5K, not so much, 2K, I am all in. Great find!
Re: the Packard badging – being that Packard went down in ’58 and this is claimed to be a ’59, and it’s in Montana, was this something Rambler made and badged for the Canadian market? I can’t without much deeper research find anything on it right now.
Wonderful car! Wish it were mine.
Once again Scotty, nice find.
This example on BF is why I like looking at BF. Frankly, the car is an excellent find, and I am pretty sure I have never seen one of these before given the styling is unique and unfamiliar. Just like everyone else on BF, I have seen a lot of cars since I was a kid back in the 60s, but this is one I do not recall.
great find +10
Bob
This is a very rare car. As a last gasp effort, the Rambler/Packard project, or Ramblard, as it was known in finer circles, pulled out all the stops for this magnificent car. Nothing was spared for these 7 cars made,,,,,,,
(since most of you don’t like me, I laid ‘er on thick as I could) Oh, I do like the car.
This must be the design that won out over the Pambler and Rackard proposals, amirite?
“Ramblard” .. that’s a new one to me [a HUGE AMC fan]. I’ve heard “Packardbaker”, and “Hash”
Love the Nash/Hudson/Rambler/Ambassador/AMC’s, up until the Eagle era. Orphans & oddballs are my thing. We’re birds of the same flock
Do you get 2 titles one for a Packard and other for Rambler I could see a divorce court hearing, Honey i am keeping the Packard you get the Rambler
Wow – the body on this looks remarkably solid. It needs a lot, but the body looks like a good solid starting point.
To answer your question – my body is completely rust free. However, that does not mean it is in good shape. I’m more like a city car – no rust, but dings and dents all over the place…
As for the Packard Basaso badging, I have no idea. Back when we could walk around the junkyards unsupervised, my friends and I had some interesting car badging. Like my buddy’s ’72 Corolla with V-8 emblems.
– John
I once had an old 60 something Skidoo that was built by Triumph. I know this to be a fact, as the emblems identified it as such…
my uncle’s sister’s aunt’s cousin had one of these..
that is one ugly ass car.
my mom’s second car…….this one’s in pretty good shape……
One my Friends mother had a very nice blue one this must have been around 1963 she was recently divorced and money was tight, always thought that rear dip in the rear area was kinda Rambler strange.
Ever wonder where Nissan got the inspiration
for the Armada?
This is between Livingston & Ringling.I was on
that highway a few years back – lots of cool old vehicles ,
mostly American,in that part of the country.
http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2016/12/08/early-american-muscle-the-1957-rambler-rebel/
1959 Nissan Armada.
Thanks for the link Howard A !
This might be as ugly as the AMC Matador
I own a 1959 Cross Country Wagon bought at a Vanderbrink auction in Bismark North Dakota in 2012 . Paid $450.00 and $1,450 to ship it to my house in Florida to see it go to u-tube and put in ( rambler mclaughlin ) not many left everyone loves it so good luck to whoever buys this one . Mine would have been crushed but it will live on for my granddaughters
Sold for $4,077.00. 22 bids. Good and bad news though. Bid up $2,400 in the last 62 minutes. Sniper got it with one bid. They had only bought or sold three items, so who knows?
Hi I watched the end of the auction , it might be one of very last Packards ever built .My Rambler is golng to it’s first cruise in tomorrow at Spanish Springs in The Villages Florida .It is far from done but people like to see projects .If the buyer wants to contact me I would like to hear from them , Frank 352-753-5438
Where is the front door handle?