First year of the fuselage Mopar wagons, one of the prettiest wagon shapes ever, with the novel integral air deflector at the end of the roof to supposedly help keep the backlite clear. Very original car, mostly original paint 'Antique Ivory' which is actually a rich elegant yellow. Car spent most of its 45+ year life in California, spent a couple of years in Georgia under the wings of a plane in collector's hangar. Currently registered in California, original blue plates are in the car but DMV would not let me use them because the car had been registered out of state, however briefly. I bought this car 7 years ago and have not put 150 miles on it since. It has a number of little faults that I am clearly never going to get to and so it is time to let it go.Most recently the transmission was rebuilt (to get rid of persistent leaks) and the brake master cylinder and soft lines were replaced. Transmission is thus good and kicks down like it should, no shift kit or anything. Alternator and voltage regulator look newer but I didn't do them. I have some concerns about them as the interior dome light flickers a bit and seems awfully bright; the charge gauge shows right around the center however. Gas gauge does not work, optional clock doesn't run. Power windows are rather intermittent; driver's window runs but the window doesn't move. Driver side back seat window in particular tends to go down but not up, then days later it will go up. All windows are up now! Vent windows are not power. Rear window works but is slow. Has air conditioning looks complete but is not blowing cold. Optional AM/FM radio sort of works, definitely needs service/cleaning - for instance, you have to repeatedly push the AM band button to get it to work as if there was a bad contact somewhere. 6-way power seat is also intermittent; I replaced the driver's switch with an NOS one but it only works when actually pressing the connector onto the back of the switch. Fender-mount turn signal indicators work. This is my favorite view of the car, looking out over the uncracked dash across the beautifully flat & shiny hood.
Options as far as I can tell: 383 four-barrel with dual exhaust (looks quite recent); standard is 383 2-bbl with single exhaust. Sorry, they apparently didn't order the 440. 60/40 split 6-way power front seat, all vinyl. Power windows. Power disc brakes (front), actually standard. Front seat head restraints. Air conditioning. 3rd seat. Electric clock. Remote control left mirror.
Condition: 20-footer, or maybe a 25-footer. It does have its share of dings and bruises. Roof and hood look great, original paint shines up great. Fake wood has some scratches and dents behind it; no one makes the right 'Cherrywood' grain so I would never replace it. Worst dent is in the driver front fender; looks like someone backed into a post or something with the front door open as there is a dent right where the leading edge of the door would hit it if overextended. Door is out a bit at the bottom. Tailgate has a number of little dents and the 'S' letter is out of line. Back bumper has been hit more than once and is bent down on the right side; there is a corresponding dent in the back end of the quarter panel. Poorly patched scrape in the lower right hand quarter. Right side rear door jamb shows repaint, flaking. Trim around vinyl wood is complete but does have some dings. Bias ply tires all around with lots of tread, but driver rear bulges in the center of the tread all the way around. Extraordinarily solid car - only visible rust is the minimal amount of surface rust where paint has rock chips around the wheel wells, the front valance, and under the hood ahead of the radiator. Interior, the hardboard headliner is fine, dash is beautiful, seats need reupholstering (I believe kits are available), door panels very nice, door armrests are giving up. Front bumper and grille look great.
Car starts, a little cranky, runs straight down the road, brakes don't pull, transmission smooth and kicks down with authority. Fast idle when cold works. But, there is a bit of a stumble upon accelerating from a stop which is disconcerting. I have no idea what this is, but as I said I'm never going to get to putting this car as right as it should be. There is some metallic noise from the front end. Oh, and the new-looking exhaust is quite loud - totally undignified in my opinion for what could have been the Imperial wagon if they had built one. I am no mechanic, to be sure, so all the above is my uninformed opinion. 5-digit odo shows just over 07100, I have no reason to believe that this is anything but the first go-round (that would be 107,000) but also no way to know. I encourage anyone to inspect the car in the San Fernando Valley.
ccasion14:
