Let's see some Wagons!

[bigmoparjeff]

I owned a 1979 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham station wagon conversion in the late 90s. Bought it in Illinois as a rusted out cheapie and restored it over a few years. I put a 500 cubic inch Eldorado motor in it, always sorry I sold it.

Yes, I agree that you should have kept it. The finished product looks like a clean original, vs. a restored car. I bet it would be worth quite a bit in today's hot wagon market.

Any rust issues certainly aren't obvious in the first photo. I know that these cars can get pretty crusty underneath. The frames go on the driver side and there's no undercoating on the floors, so it doesn't take long for the salt to eat through the thin paint on the bottom of the body.

Jeff

 

[Dan Scully]

Very nice!

Back when I was a youngster I had my eye on a 1962 Cadillac Ambulance that was sitting in a local junkyard. I had some big plans on building a mild custom out of it. Sadly, or probably luckily, there was no title for the car so they wouldn't sell it. I'm sure that the work it would have needed was way beyond my skill level at the time. It's likely that it had some significant rust the I wouldn't have been able to repair.

Jeff

This one came out of the San Frisco arear. Has only been thru 3 owners and still has all its equipment with it. The PCS (Professional Car Society) has a national meet every in a different state. This year it is in Massachusetts, if I can get a volunteer to go, I might try driving this there.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Jeff I'm not sure if I've seen pics of your wagons, please post a couple! Especially your 72.

Here's the Chrysler side of the wagon collection:

Sargent Fury was my first Mopar wagon.

Second was the '71 Monaco. This one would have been derbied or junked if I didn't buy it. No engine or trans was included.

The next two I bought at the same time and they both arrived together from out west on the transport truck. 1969 Town&Country and 1972 Monaco.

Another rescue is this 1971 Town&Country. This one gave up it's complete drive line before I got it. Those items actually went into another C, not the usual "muscle car".

I ended up with Mopar John's wrecked '69 T&C. This one won't be seeing the road again. It's toast, but nobody needs to shed any tears for this car. It was pretty bad rustwise back when John bought it and it probably should have been used as a parts car. He gave it an extra 10 years of life that it otherwise wouldn't have gotten.

And the latest one to join the collection is the squashed '72 Fury that the tree fell on.

Jeff

 

[Fury Man Van]

Here's the Chrysler side of the wagon collection:

Sargent Fury was my first Mopar wagon.
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Second was the '71 Monaco. This one would have been derbied or junked if I didn't buy it. No engine or trans was included.
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The next two I bought at the same time and they both arrived together from out west on the transport truck. 1969 Town&Country and 1972 Monaco.
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Another rescue is this 1971 Town&Country. This one gave up it's complete drive line before I got it. Those items actually went into another C, not the usual "muscle car".
View attachment 505127

I ended up with Mopar John's wrecked '69 T&C. This one won't be seeing the road again. It's toast, but nobody needs to shed any tears for this car. It was pretty bad rustwise back when John bought it and it probably should have been used as a parts car. He gave it an extra 10 years of life that it otherwise wouldn't have gotten.
View attachment 505128

And the latest one to join the collection is the squashed '72 Fury that the tree fell on.
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Jeff

Do you by chance know anything about the green 68 Fury Convertible with the tarp on it next to the 71 T&C ? I think I have that car now.

 

[BLIMP]

Nice wagons Jeff! Actually I do remember a couple of those now that I've seen the pics. But not the 72 Monaco...it sure looks clean! 360?

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Do you by chance know anything about the green 68 Fury Convertible with the tarp on it next to the 71 T&C ? I think I have that car now.

The green Fury is actually a fast top, but in a way it's becoming a convertible. It's got a case of vinyl induced, rusty roof syndrome.

It's a parts donor for my rusty VIP.

Jeff

 

[Fury Man Van]

The green Fury is actually a fast top, but in a way it's becoming a convertible. It's got a case of vinyl induced, rusty roof syndrome.
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It's a parts donor for my rusty VIP.
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Jeff

How are the Floors and are you going to use them?

 

[saforwardlook]

It makes me feel good Jeff that there is another nut case out there very much like me!

Keep up the good work!

Steve

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Nice wagons Jeff! Actually I do remember a couple of those now that I've seen the pics. But not the 72 Monaco...it sure looks clean! 360?

Thanks.

All the wagons left the factory with 440's, except the two Plymouths, which are 360 powered.

The '72 Monaco isn't quite as nice in person. Bodywise, it's the best car that I have. It's completely rust free and I don't think there's any areas that are loaded up with Bondo. The woodgrain was replaced on the driver side, so it's in decent shape, but the passenger side is original and quite faded. I don't have much in decent photos of the car, as most are overexposed 35mm that I took when I first got it. Early on I had been taking it to shows, but the mufflers rotted out and it got loud. It also burns oil quite bad and it's not pleasant to be driving behind it. It doesn't smoke, but it's got that strong oil odor to the exhaust. It's all the way in the back of the storage building now, but I should really try to get it out for some exercise next year.

Jeff

 

[bigmoparjeff]

How are the Floors and are you going to use them?

I believe the floors are in decent shape. The trunk floor isn't that great.

At this point I don't know if I will need to use them on the VIP. The VIP is much worse than it looks in the photo. The quarters are carved out of Bondo, most of the bottom side of the sub frame has been plated. The only bolt-on panel that will probably stay is the trunk lid. I haven't closely inspected the underside of the car yet. Back when I got it I didn't have the lift, so I've never had it up in the air. I had been driving it for a while, then it blew a head gasket. The heads had been off the car not all that long before, so there's probably something wrong with the engine. It's got 215K on it, so I decided to just park it until it was time for a full resto. When I part the green car I will certainly save the floors. I can't say when I will know for sure if I will need them or not.

Jeff

 

[TxDon]

Yuh. “What was I thinking!?!” That is a nice wagon. Not hearse looking, so it wouldn’t creep out the kids!

I will admit I painted it black to trade on the hearse image a little...

 

[bigmoparjeff]

It makes me feel good Jeff that there is another nut case out there very much like me!

Keep up the good work!

Steve

Thanks Steve!

I really do want to get working on some of these cars, but it's still going to be a while down the road. Who knows when I'll have the Chevy truck that I'm working on out of my hair. Progress is being made on that, but there's a long way to go. I have to get my "Jeff's Garage" thread up to date. A bunch of it got wiped out when they had to reset the site and I haven't had the enthusiasm to redo it. There's a few more cars waiting in line to get into the shop, along with the truck that I bought for myself and a Roadmaster wagon for my father that needs just about everything you can imagine, and then some.

Jeff

 

[TxDon]

How did they do the cargo panels in the back, since it wasn’t OEM “factory”? Did it look “finished”?

I assume the headliner wasn’t too difficult to extend into the cargo area.

They built the car by chopping the back off the Caddy, leaving the quarter panels, then dropping the whole rear clip from a late 70s GM wagon into place. Quarter panel extensions, rear bumper, etc. were custom fabbed (and required massive re-fabbing due to rust!). The leather seat Caddy interior remained with the rear seat upholstery modified to the wagon seat. A complete new velour headliner was added and they covered all the rear cargo area with carpeting. As part of my resto I swapped in a rear facing third seat from another wagon.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

They built the car by chopping the back off the Caddy, leaving the quarter panels, then dropping the whole rear clip from a late 70s GM wagon into place. Quarter panel extensions, rear bumper, etc. were custom fabbed (and required massive re-fabbing due to rust!). The leather seat Caddy interior remained with the rear seat upholstery modified to the wagon seat. A complete new velour headliner was added and they covered all the rear cargo area with carpeting. As part of my resto I swapped in a rear facing third seat from another wagon.

Wow! That was quite bad.

One of the problems with the custom bodied cars is that they don't get dipped after all the body fabrication is done, so they seem to rust much faster than the unmodified car would have.

You did a great job putting that one back together. That kind of heavy patch work usually ends up showing back through the paint eventually. I wonder how it held up over the years? If anyone ended up redoing things, I bet they had a bit of a shock.

Jeff

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Last one before I head up to the shop.

Spotted this when my father and I were car shopping on Route 1 in Langhorn back in 1982. Keep in mind that the oldest this car would be is a 1974 or 8 years old.

Jeff

 

[MonacoBlue]

They built the car by chopping the back off the Caddy, leaving the quarter panels, then dropping the whole rear clip from a late 70s GM wagon into place. Quarter panel extensions, rear bumper, etc. were custom fabbed (and required massive re-fabbing due to rust!). The leather seat Caddy interior remained with the rear seat upholstery modified to the wagon seat. A complete new velour headliner was added and they covered all the rear cargo area with carpeting. As part of my resto I swapped in a rear facing third seat from another wagon.

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Thanks for the detailed feedback, Don. Those quarter panels are Frankenstein horror-show. I thought the roof looked like it came from the late 70’s downsized Chevy/Olds/Buick. The side cargo glass lower edge doesn’t really flow with the body lines but oh well, they got a wagon out of the deal and it had to have been a commercial fleet customer (funeral home, resort, limo service, etc.). I actually liked that era of Cadillac, it’s a pity GM didn’t make a factory wagon of it. Too niche, I suppose. They knew other coach builders would do the “small potatoes” job, apparently (which is weird because, hey, “Fleetwood” was a limo!!). There were tons of coachbuilders/body makers in the early half of the 1900’s, it’s a pity that industry got consolidated as a result of the Depression.

I need to find the photos of that early 70’s Caddy wagon. As I recall it was a “one off”
factory wagon.

 

[MonacoBlue]

Last one before I head up to the shop.

Spotted this when my father and I were car shopping on Route 1 in Langhorn back in 1982. Keep in mind that the oldest this car would be is a 1974 or 8 years old.

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Jeff

WOW. Yes. Salt is cruel.

 

[Dan Scully]

A room with a view - 1959 Cadillac Broadmoor Skyview
Superior also offered this style in 59 and 60 as station wagons, aimed at hotels etc., very few sold, and I believe none are in existence other than the Broad Morr Ones.

1956 Cadillac Broadmoor Skyview Station Wagon, One of Two, Custom built Wagon These where built by Hess & Eisenhart, also built the Kennedy Lincoln Limo.

 

[thrashingcows]

That back glass with all the vintage decals is amazing! I'd have that on the wall of the shop for garage art!

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Anybody know who owns that?

I remember when it was on ebay some time back.

Sold for pretty strong money for the time.

Jeff