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The Rest of the Story …..

All of us have fascinating stories of how we have each discovered and acquired our wagons. Mine involves quite a bit of serendipity and incredible timing.

My tale begins in the spring of 2015….

My goal was to locate a 1942-1948 Ford Station Wagon. However, I knew that the prices of those vehicles were (and still are) exorbitant for a decent driver.

So I began looking at the rarely seen, but less expensive 1952-1953 Ford Country Squires. The Country Squires of this vintage I consider somewhat a “transitional woodie” as they only possess exterior real maple or birch trim. There is no wood paneling on the exterior or interior. Never-less, come to find out, they are somewhat rare and most were driven to their demise.

As a special note…over the last 40 years, at various times, I had owned a 1946 Ford Station Wagon, 1942 Ford Station Wagon and a 1954 Ford Country Sedan Station Wagon. So to say the least, Im definitely a die hard wagon guy!

As it turns out, the Western National Meet of the Early Ford V8 Club of America for 2106 was occurring in October in Bakersfield, CA – only 2 hours away from my home in Ventura, CA. It was a 5 day event with several tours, a concourse meet day, good food and fellowship with about 350 V8’ers attending. On the second day of the meet at the “mixer dinner” my buddy Elwood was sitting next to a nice gentleman by the name of Al. While chatting with Al, Elwood shared that I was looking for a 1952-1953 Country Squire. Unbelievably, Al indicated that he had perviously owned and partially restored a “very clean original” 1953 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon. However, several years prior he had sold it to a gentleman in Colorado by the name of Steve. Al frequently stayed in touch with Steve and said that Steve might possibly be interested in selling the Country Squire. Al  wrote down my number and said that he’d give it to Steve. Well, the western national meet ended and I assumed I might not ever hear back from Al or Steve. However, after about four weeks the phone rang…it was none other than Steve! He shared that he was possibly interested in selling the ’53 Country Squire. I asked if he could send me photos via email. That night numerous photos popped up on my computer…..WOW! THIS WAS THE WAGON I had been waiting for! I immediately called Steve and made arrangements to fly to Colorado to inspect the wagon and possibly work out a deal if the car was everything it looked to be.

The next week I was at Steve’s house in Colorado. I spent two hours going over the car. It had been nicely restored where needed: new original paint, panels professionally wood-grained to simulate the grain and color of the original faux Di-Noc decal mahogany paneling and the original maple trim revarnished. The interior was immaculately original and virtually untouched except for the headliner that had been replaced with a 1957 Ford type material (however you’d never know if you weren’t an expert on ’53 Ford wagons). The 239 ci flathead had been rebuilt at some point and was very clean. There were some minor engine issues that needed to be worked out but nothing that couldn’t be resolved. This car was everything I was looking for. Steve and I quickly came to an agreement on the price and the car was now mine!

After arranging transportation for the wagon it was in my driveway at Ventura, CA on December 15, 2016….Santa came early!

After a much needed valve job and a bit of top-end engine work – with great

assistance and the help of my good V8 buddy Elwood; a deep detail on the exterior, interior and engine compartment by Jeremy with Shine Supply in Ventura the wagon was ready to show and go!

My sweetheart Jean and I take the wagon out almost every weekend for various cars and coffees, Friday night get-togethers, Sunday drives with lunch stops in addition to attending numerous tours/shows with our Early Ford V8 Club of America and National Woodie Club friends.

The ’53 Country Squire gets quite a bit of attention and folks seen to really enjoy it as the car has been kept original with a nice early 1950s theme of vintage picnic gear and old style Pepsi cooler in the back (where the third seat can be reinstalled at any time).

When parked at car gatherings or shows I have early to late 50s music wafting from the car to give it that special vintage feel. I also have attached a few descriptive displays regarding the special nuances of the wagon and to give perspective as to the time period and its context to the American public at the time (see the additional information acted to this article).

With normal periodic maintenance issues addressed by my expert and wonderful mechanics: Elwood Williams, Ed “Cookie” Cook and Nathan Pereira, our ’53 Ford Country Squire runs like a fine tuned sewing machine and provides us countless days and hours of fun and fellowship!

Scotty

Ventura, CA