For three years, 1972, 1973, and 1974, Ford marketed these station wagons as the Ford Galaxie 500 Country Sedan. The following year they became part of the LTD family. I really like the look of this “base model” wagon and the ’73 one-piece grille is hard to beat for me. The seller has this nice-looking 1973 Ford Galaxie 500 Country Sedan wagon posted here on craigslist in Roseville, Minnesota and they’re asking $8,000. Here is the original listing in case it goes away.
At just under 19 feet and 4,800 pounds, this isn’t a small or lightweight car but it isn’t any longer or heavier than a lot of other full-sized cars from this era. That being said, plan on 10 mpg, while you probably get 16-20 mpg with your four-door full-sized pickup. The fourth-generation Galaxie was made from 1968 for the 1969 model year until the end of 1974 and the Country Sedan, an unusual name for a station wagon, was made beginning in 1952 with 1974 being the last year for this model. This car has had only two owners, with the last one owning it since 1975. I believe this paint color is Medium Copper Metallic and it appears to have the optional deluxe luggage rack but not the optional white wall tires, which would kick it up a notch, visually.
The seller nails it with great photos and lots of them, nice work! That’s very rare for a craigslist ad. The Country Sedan was a mid-trim level car so there’s no woodgrain, fancy trim, leather upholstery, white wall tires, or any of the Country Squire-type goodies, but it’s a step above the Custom 500 Ranch Wagon. This is what our family would have had if we ever had a station wagon. The tailgate opens to reveal a huge storage area. Hagerty is at $9,700 for a #3 good-condition car so this one appears to be a good deal at the seller’s asking price. According to a Ford brochure, these wagons had an unusual feature: a non-reversing odometer.
Acres of factory-perfect “light beige” vinyl await the next owner in this time capsule. The only possible rust I see is on the bottom of the driver’s door, but it doesn’t look that bad and could probably be kept at bay for a long time with some treatment. The seller says it’s a “Very solid car including chassis, body mounts, frame, and floors.” The interior looks basically like new even though it’s over five decades old now. The back seat is perfect and the rear cargo area, while not hiding another seating area, has a lockable, hidden storage, or “stowage” area and should be big enough for most hauling needs. One very unusual thing about the interior, the seller says the 92-year-old original owner moved the heating and AC controls to under the dash so they could mount some accessory gauges in that spot, but it’s possible to put it back to how it was if the next owner wants to.
The engine is the mama bear (middle) V8 for this model, a Ford 400-cu.in. OHV V8 with 167 horsepower and 312 lb-ft of torque. Sending power through a three-speed Cruise-O-Matic automatic transmission to the rear wheels, this one has a new dual exhaust, tune-up, and master cylinder and it looks like a gem to me. Are there any big Ford wagon fans out there?
Another one of those used-to-be-everywhere, now-seldom-seen cars. Looks like it is in good condition. The interior in great shape, the most interesting thing is how the previous owner took the time and effort to move the heating controls to install the gauge package. Period-correct aftermarket fog lights. Not quite as eye-catching as Emberglo (one of my favorite Ford colors), but the bronze paint does makes it stand out. I too would head back to whitewalls–assuming they are available.
Thanks Scotty.
Makes even more sense to move the HV(AC) controls to the right of the driver when they are on the left side of the steering wheel(ridiculous, IMO), like on 2nd gen camaros, etc. – especially if you often have a cranky passenger in the car who is always too cold or too hot. lol
Originally the chosen drag car of Lane Meyer before he finally took his 67 Camaro out of its driveway cocoon and blew the doors off his competition’s Falcon Futura
I was also thinking about “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”,
when they ran the road block to get to Devils Tower.
You can only do that if it has those ‘70 Pontiac hubcaps with the red centers!
Had one just like it only in gold. Paid
$275 for it when I bought it from a guy I worked with in 1980. Man, that thing went through snow like a tank!
Only thing different was that mine had those jump seats in the back. It
also had one of those FM converters
under the dash so I hot footed it over
to K-Mart and bought 6 Jansen 6X9
3-way speakers to spice up the radio.
All said and done, I had a really great
sounding stereo that made my friend’s radio station and the drive in
movie sound just like that surround
sound everyone talks about these days. Along with the factory speaker,
I had a total of 7 speakers long before
Toyota and Datsun offered them in
their cars. Yeah, it was thirsty, but the
400 ran great and with that HD 2.78
rear axle out back, my wife had more
than enough oomph under her right
foot as my car had the 4 barrel carb
on it too. Then one snowy Christmas
Eve, we got rear ended on the way home after we picked up some family
members in Peoria. I-74 was slick as snot going both ways as the snow fell
but that wagon held it”s own on that
slippery road just fine. We were going
down Route 9 when we got smacked
by an IH Scout II. neither my car or the family were hurt, but the Scout sure was! It had to be towed in with
a busted radiator and a bent frame.
Wound up selling to my Supervisor for what I paid for it a few months later and boy, I wish I had the cash for
this one. She’d earn her keep as a
dash car so I wouldn’t rack up so many miles on my K-5 sedan. And yes Scotty, I’d put a Bumper Car Smash And Crash bumper kit on it
from Ronco too!
Wow, I remember back in the day when the kid down the street use to take his dads wagon like the one above and smoke the tire (no posi) until the tire was bald. Dad couldn’t understand why one tire was always bald……LOL!
Me and my brother used one of these for a work car back in 1981. Our oldest brother let us borrow it. On our way to work one morning late as usual of course, I came up over this little rise in the two lane we were on and all I could see were raccoon eyes, several big ones and a crapload of babies ditch to ditch. That sled got squirrly running over the top of all those bodies and all those thumping noises haunted me for weeks
Load the whole tribe up 👪 and head for the coast ⛱️ 🎢
I went on a camping trip with some friends from school and one of the guys borrowed hid dad’s Ford station wagon just like this. Even the same color. I drove it for one stretch and I remember it had unbelievable understeer! This one looks great except for the ridiculous fog lamps. Would make a great family truckster.
Whitewall tires are still readily available, my 31 year old Town car HAS to wear them. This car will also deliver better than 10 mpg, 12-14 is most likely. Blank slate here, lots of possibilities!
Yup,just bought some 195/75r/14 ww for my 66′ Mustang, $ 90.00 a piece.
The ‘Streets of San Francisco’ used Country Sedans for interior shots in the series for five years . They were all the same color and interior trim as the ‘ hero car’ sedans.
LOoks like a very nice Cruising clean Wagon!
whenever I see one of these early 70s Ford wagons, I always think of my elementary school principal. He had one in a yellow shade and I saw it every school day all the way thru 8th grade. Also love the aftermarket radio. Haven’t seen or heard the name Kraco in a LONG time. Takes me back to the gool ol JC Whitney days!!!
The Country Sedan name was the lower trim level for Ford full size wagons, below the Country Squire, much like the Galaxy 500 was the lower trim level below the LTD. Other than the lack of plastic fake wood on the sides, the biggest difference was that the Country Squire got the LTD’s hide away headlights, while the Country Sedan had to make do with the Galxie’s fixed headlights and a lower level of standard equipment. The wagons only had two (2) trim levels, the sedans and coupes had three (3) trim levels: Custom 500; Galaxy 500 and LTD for sedans. Coupes had the Custom 500, Galaxie 500 and XL trims, IIRC.
The 400 isn’t a bad engine, just not a great one, IMHO. I’d be partial to an engine swap for this bad boy, for two (2) reasons. First, to improve the drivability, by getting rid of the awful 1970’s anti-smog gear, which made the engines run so horribly. Second, more power, combined with lower emissions and better gas mileage due to modern electronic engine controls are always a plus. Maybe some air shocks in the back for when I load up with some 4’x8′ sheets of plywood from Home Depot, LOL!
Robert, in 1973, Ford offered the base Custom 500 Ranch Wagon, the mid-trim Galaxie 500 Town Sedan, and the top-trim LTD Country Squire for station wagons, as mentioned in the third paragraph.
https://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/ford/73fowa/bilder/12.jpg
Thanks Robert for answering the question I was about to post: What makes a Country Sedan into a Country Squire.
Had a 73 country sguire wagon loaded with a 429,ran geat n road even better ,Dark Brown with the wood trim,Put wire wheel covers from a couger xr 7 on it Dual Exhuast was a real nice car . ..