Station wagons make regular appearances here on Barn Finds and Ford’s ubiquitous Country Squire is a regular and well-represented subject. Why so popular today? Probably a memory from long ago when we rode around in our family’s wagon, staring out the rear window, chomping on our siblings, and being told to “knock it off” repeatedly by mom or dad. Let’s see if this ’73 Ford Country Squire station wagon stirs up any old memories. It is located in Rio Linda, California and is available, here on eBay for a BIN price of $6,900. There is a make an offer option too.
The seventh generation of the Country Squire was a big car, length accentuated by the new for ’73 Federally mandated 5 MPH, battering ram bumpers. Described as a 115K mile survivor, this Ford wagon still presents quite well. For the most part, the wood applique panels used on these cars will fade with age but those adorning the sides of this car are still in reasonable shape. There is a bit of fade present on both sides, but it’s minor and there is no indication of bubbling or peeling though some notable scratches are visible. The fiberglass faux wood trim, which surrounds the applique panels, has a tendency to disintegrate over time but that’s not entirely the case here as they’re mostly in good nick. As for the Silver Blue Glow Metallic finish (code 3M), especially covering large horizontal surfaces like that huge hood, it has held up surprisingly well – it seems that a garage may have been involved in some part of this Country Squire’s past. The most obvious signs of wear on this wagon are the front bumper where it is showing signs of rust along the top surface and lower edge as well as various splotches and nicks in the paint that are scattered about the exterior and accompanied by minor surface rust.
Under that great western plateau of a hood is a 167 net HP, 400 CI V8 engine mated to an automatic transmission. The seller states, “Very strong and smooth. No smoke or hiccups. Transmission is a 3-speed automatic that shifts great. Easy cruising at 65mph“. No doubt, this behemoth cruises well but weighing in at 4,800 lbs. probably taxes that 167 HP on an expressway entrance maneuver, especially when loaded down. Of course, this Ford was designed as a responsible people and stuff mover, not a dragster.
Miles of blue vinyl best describes the interior. Instead of paraphrasing the seller, I’ll quote his words, “(the) Interior is comfortable, only rips are on the driver seat. Dash cluster gauge is in great shape and everything works accurately, headliner is complete. The carpet is in good shape. The driver-side rear door panel is missing the armrest. Manuel windows work, weatherstripping is in good shape, Electric rear tailgate window works. AC/Heater blowers work but the AC is not ice-cold”. I had a discussion with a good friend and mechanic just this morning and we discussed the availability of R12 refrigerant, the substance that this Ford would have originally employed. It is getting harder and harder to source and we are both of the opinion that many R12 systems just don’t work properly with 134a. There are about 150 images of this car included in the listing but curiously, there is only one of the rear cargo area showing the side rear seats in the open position, the seats look OK but not much else is revealed.
This Ford is definitely a twenty-footer, it looks great at a distance, but close up, thanks to the extensive photography, one can see the “beauty marks” that this Country Squire has accumulated over the last 48 years. Still, it shows as a well cared for car, a vestige of a bygone era that will definitely make its new owner happy, wouldn’t you agree?
Good writing Jim, “great western plateau of a hood.”
Growing up, we didn’t have a wagon, so the nostalgia factor doesn’t work for me. But I get the point. So, along those lines, is it possible that (for example) a clean 2000 Honda Odyssey will someday be sought after?
Looks like a decent Country Squire at a reasonable price.
It may be, but it probably won’t run. The problem is that the computer modules WILL fail, and there will likely be no replacements.
My Father sold cars in 1973, and drove a 73 Galaxie as a demo. along with the hideous bumpers, Ford thought it prudent to arm these things with an annoying buzzer if the seat belts in the front weren’t engaged. My Father didn’t like seat belts, none of us ever wore them. He was a very opinionated man, and not very flexible, that’s being kind to his memory . But he did figure out that if you tucked the seat belt into the seam in the carpet, the alarm wouldn’t go off. Where there is a will, there’s a way. I miss him everyday.
Most found the buzzer and unplugged it 5 minutes into ownership
My Mom did the same with the seatbelts in her ’73 Lincoln Continental.
All you had to do was unplug the wire in the belt retractor housing. Then the system couldn’t ‘read’ if the belt were in use or not. I unplugged many of those back in the day.
It wasn’t that Ford found it prudent, but that the government required a warning system.
Car has a cataract that needs removing.
My Father wasn’t that high tech at the time, it was the easiest solution.
Funny reading this article that the author mentioned having trouble finding r12.
Having three classic cars a 68 Camaro 65 mustang and 70 4-4-2 I stocked up on r12 when it was readily available.
now sadly I’ve sold the cars and still have some r12 and I have no idea what to do with it. I mean trying to find even somebody that has an old car and hasn’t converted over yet or someone that knows how to use it like me is hard. The people I sold the cars to didn’t want it and I was surprised. I guess because I sold them with cold AC they thought it was going to run forever.I still have all of my air conditioning tools and vacuum pump and they are looking for a good home.
Learned how to drive in one of these on Long Island. Light brown with tan interior and wire wheel covers. Was really a nice car and served the family very well. Trip across the country and Sunday drives. Took my drivers test and parallel parked perfectly after many lessons with my Dad.
Thanks for the memories.
We had the same year wagon (almost) when I was a kid. Ours was black on black, LTD Brougham, with a 429 CID 4v.
My parents complained that it only achieved 8 mpg. They ultimately traded it in on a 1981 Dodge Omni with a 1.7 VW engine, 4-speed manual transaxle.
We spent many days/hours in the far back of that wagon as kids, traveling the highways of New England.
I love these cars, even though they are BIG. Glad to see people are saving them. One thing I noticed is what appears to be damage to the door panel / arm rest on the driver’s side rear door – not sure what happened there. Cool car – well used. More of a driver than a restoration candidate.
Chris. You have R12. You are sitting in a gold mine. My neighbor recently died. His widow asked me of I wanted his old air conditioning stuff. Heck yeah. In his stash was a 30 pound cylinder of DuPont R12. I weighed it. The cylinder weighed 16 pounds. An empty 30 pound cylinder weighs 6 pounds. So that left 14 pounds of R12. I put it on craigslist for $175. Got calls for five days from three states. Sold it easily. Wish I had about another hundred cylinders.
I hear it is still readily available in Mexico.
My neighbor had a brown on brown one of these beasts. I remember that on really hot days, the car would sit there and diesel when it was shut off. I guess they ran them hot for emissions and this was a side effect. It was like riding in a very comfy barge. It is good to see them remembered fondly.
“Dieseling” was a common problem on a lot of 70s cars, not just Ford. If you couldn’t lower the idle speed enough to stop it, all you had to do was turn it off in DRIVE before putting it in PARK. That kept the idle speed lower, and it wouldn’t diesel.
My Best Friend had one of these in his family when he came up to Dutchess County from Yonkers when they moved here in 1978. Theirs was that golden light brown. It had the 400 V8 with the 2 barrel and would get 8mpg. They relegated to the mother of four boys aged 10 to 4.5 years and it would not be used much unless they needed to go somewhere as a group or to the home improvement store as it would be awesome in being able to handle 4 x 8 sheets of what ever was required.
My friend’s father worked in Yonkers and commutted 120 miles a day and opted to buy a 81 Plymouth Horizon with the 1.7 motor. When he was done with that he bought a new base model 81 Plymouth Reliant Sedan with four on the floor and a bench seat up front, which would become my best friend’s car in 1985 when he opted to get a brown 85 Nissan Datsun Sentra Sedan. My friend had to pay $350 to replaced the clutch on the reliant which had about 69K on it.
As for the LTD, that sort of became the car his one year younger brother would use when he was learning how to drive around this same time. The wagon only got like 8 miles a day use as their mom started a new job at the updated A&P down the road. If I recall the car would stall at times and this is what led my friends younger brother to get stuck on the highway when a truck plowed into him and sent the whole thing into the woods. Although it was totalled out, the darned thing was still able to run and drive following this escapade.
My other friend had a 71 LTD and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread and would brag about the thing daily. I think his was blue like this one.
If it had a 69-70 BOSS 429 4 speed 4:11 I would buy it