Two-Door Ford and Mercury Wagons

[mercman from oz]

I guess that I have stirred up a hornet's next by posting pictures of a 1959 Ford Two-Door Country Sedan. Please read the comments in this Scan from George Dammann's "90 Years of Ford" book. Post 349 shows the same wagon as illustrated in the Revised Ford Station Wagon Brochure dated - Rev 10-58. As this Brochure says Rev, it would be interesting to see how the earlier sales brochure described this "deluxe" Two-Door Station Wagon. I only have the Revised version in my collection.

[scicala]

Thanks for the info Mercman. I would have to assume the original brochure called it a Del Rio. Just a guess. To me they are bot the same with a different name, unless the Country Sedan had more trim ? Don't think so though.


Sal

[KULTULZ]

I am confused (as usual) ...

Is everyone in agreement or not that the Del Rio Trim Level was 1957/58 only?

I have shown GENUINE FORD description ...

[mercman from oz]

1959 Ford Station Wagon Fold-out showing both the Four-door and Two-door Country Sedans. I cannot find any reference to the Del Rio station wagons for 1959. I think that Del Rio wagons were only produced in 1957 and 1958, and had similar trim the the Four-door Country Sedan?

[scicala]

All I can guess is that the one year only two door '59 Country Sedan replaced the Del Rio. Gets pretty confusing since my encyclopedia calls it a Del Rio for '59. I'm assuming it's a mistake in the book, and '59 in reality was a Country Sedan.


Also, I don't think there was badging that said Del Rio in any model year. Just the upgraded trim.


Sal

[KULTULZ]

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Did anyone pay any attention to the excepts I posted from the period MPC?

[mercman from oz]

This is the full range of Ford Station Wagons that were available in 1959.

[JimNNN]

Originally Posted by KULTULZ

Is everyone in agreement or not that the Del Rio Trim Level was 1957/58 only?

Did anyone pay any attention to the excepts I posted from the period MPC?

I agree with pretty much everything you say, KULTULZ! Thanks for the post.



That's what I found a while back somewhere online when this discussion was brought up. Del Rio in '57 and 8. I'd LOVE to see a '58 Del Rio. Probably rarer than the '57, given it didn't sell that well. I think the '58 Ford is one of the great looking cars of the '50's that doesn't get enough credit for it's appearance.



I sometimes wonder if the ill fated Edsel line didn't somehow turn opinion against the rest of the Ford line in 1958. Some people say the '58 Ford was too over the top. News flash: "Over the top" kind of defines the basic philosophy of American car styling in the late '50's. Have you ever seen a '58 Buick? Looks like they gave a chimpanzee a tube of super glue and a bucket of costume jewelry and said, "go to it!"


Makes the Ford look like a Jaguar by comparison.

[58Yeoman]

Here you go, Jim.

https://tinyurl.com/ryfjkue

[mercman from oz]

Low Mileage 1959 Ford Two-Door Country Sedan on display in the USA.

[KULTULZ]

I sometimes wonder if the ill fated Edsel line didn't somehow turn opinion against the rest of the Ford line in 1958. Some people say the '58 Ford was too over the top.

Don't forget there was a major recession in '59. The EDSEL was s good idea (and too far advanced for then current tech) but suffered mostly from quality control and McNamara hating it from day one.

[Ford Freak]

I have always read that the recession was in 1958 , and that car & truck sales across the board were down quite a bit .

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by Ford Freak

I have always read that the recession was in 1958 , and that car & truck sales across the board were down quite a bit .

Correct, 1958.

New car sales took a sharp dive. Auto sales fell 31% over 1957, making 1958 the worst auto year since World War II. In just three short years, car sales fell from almost 8 million purchases in 1955 to 4.3 million purchases in 1958. Ford Motor Company's failure of the Edsel was a major contribution to this problem within the industry.

[JimNNN]

Originally Posted by 58Yeoman

Here you go, Jim.

https://tinyurl.com/ryfjkue

Thanks, 58Yeoman.

KULTULZ said: Don't forget there was a major recession in '59. The EDSEL was s good idea (and too far advanced for then current tech) but suffered mostly from quality control and McNamara hating it from day one.

I'd heard about the big economic downturn in '58- '59. I was born in '58 and I think that may have caused it.

Like the Ford (only a lot more so) some people claim the Edsel was unattractive. But as I said earlier...compared to what? To me, the Edsel was kind of in the general styling vein of the late fifties, but less conventional maybe. I know some people said it was "styled by committee, one that didn't communicate well" and that may have hurt it, but it may have been hurt more by the grand build up Ford gave it before it's unveiling...which may have led to expectations being unreasonably high. That they spent and lost a lot of money on it (mostly because of the recession, as you say) didn't help it's image, either. Just my opinion.

In truth, aside from maybe the Corvette, there weren't a lot of strikingly attractive American cars in the '58 model year. I honestly think the full size Ford is one of the better ones. DeSoto, too (and maybe another Mopar.) The full size Chevy and Vette are the only things I like from GM in '58.

1957 was a different story - GM hit a lot of styling home runs that year, IMO, as did Ford and Chrysler. Nevertheless, I still really like 1958 cars as old collector vehicles, and that includes the Edsel (though I've never owned one.) They symbolize a positive and confident can-do attitude that used to be common in the US.

[mercman from oz]

The "smaller" 1958 Edsel Ranger and Pacer models and all wagons shared the body with the Ford Fairlane and the Ford Wagons. The 1958 Wagons were on a shorter wheelbase. In 1959, the "larger" Corsair and Citation models were dropped, and all models shared the bodies with the Fords. The short lived 1960 models were also based on that years Ford Galaxie.
The poor quality of the first models did the damage to this new Marque, as well as it being unloved by Robert McNamara.

[mercman from oz]

While this Thread is about Two-Door Wagons, I thought that I would add photos of the 1959 Ford Country Sedan Four-Door Wagon that my brother and I bought together back in 1972 to do a road trip in down to Victoria. It came in very handy, and by the time we returned home, the roof racks were loaded with car parts that we found on the trip.
Now, in 1959, Ford Australia released the all new 1959 Ford Ranch Wagon. (The true 1957 and 1958 Fords were never released in Australia.) This was the first year that an American Ford Wagon was offered locally. The 1959 Ford was released locally in three models, the Fairlane 500 and Custom 300 as well as the Ranch Wagon. All were powered by the 332 CID V8. The Fairlane 500 was only available as an automatic transmission. The Custom 300 and Ranch Wagon came with manual transmissions, but you could chose an automatic transmission.
Our 1959 Ford Country Sedan was an imported Canadian model, made in Right Hand Drive, and what is unusual, is that it was powered by the 223 CID Mileage Maker Six and came with a manual transmission. It served us well and was super reliable and good looking. Unfortunately, it was rear ended and written off. The 9" Diff is now under my brothers 1934 Ford Phaeton.

[JimNNN]

Beautiful car Mercman! I'd love to have a '59 wagon...with the steering wheel on the other side! You're coming up on half a century since you bought that car!

[mercman from oz]

This is how the car looked after it was rear ended. The doors on the drivers side were jammed shut, but the car was still driveable. The rear side window had a big bend in it, but did not break. A sad ending to a great old car. As mentioned, Australia only got the lower priced Ranch Wagon in 1959, so being a Country Sedan was special out here. I loved that Wagon.

[mercman from oz]

1959 Ford Station Wagon Advertisement. Notice that the Red and White Country Sedan is a Two-Door model. The base Ranch wagon is also a Two-Door model.

[mercman from oz]

In an earlier Post, we showed the fancy 1959 Two-Door Ford Country Sedan. This time around, we have the entry level 1959 Ford Two-Door Ranch Wagon. These 1959 Fords are great looking cars.