57 fiesta

hey guys, found this wagon on craigslist last week. got a bitchin deal, thought I would share a little bit. cost 8k delivered to our door. ive had an interest in the 4 door hardtop wagons for a while, I think its a very impractical, crazy cool design. love the stainless trim on the roof.

this car is actually a driver. has a factory tri power motor. the muffler has a huge rust hole in it, so when I drove this thing today that 371 motor was blastin like an exhaust cutout. freakin awesome. it still has factory leather and cloth from 57.

paint is 30 years old, needs a little bit of rust repair but not much. the tailgate is rust free which is a good sign. its a 20 footer, but still very cool driver. gonna get the electrical squared away and just drive it daily. got the power windows workin, now on to the brake lights and turn signals.

 

You're not mad you are very lucky. This is an unbelievable wagon for that price. Looks great from here. You may not know but these rare wagons go for figures more like $80,000 not even perfect.

 

Great looking wagon! Congrats!

 

Hi MadMooks and a belated to the madhouse! That Fiesta looks great! Post up a few dozen more when you get a chance? :confused:

I like full dash and underhood pictures. Is that one a factory AC equipped wag?

 

You STOLE it!
Congratulations on a great acquisition.

 

I was the first to reply to the craigslist ad, about 2 hours after it went up. I kinda knew it was a good deal, so I wired funds asap and had the car delivered within a week . you rarely see them in this condition. they are either too nice or too rough. for 8k I think its a good deal that its a driver, that alone made it worth it to us. we didn't really care too much about the paint and body. the driving part really sold us. theres prolly a little more rust than I initially thought, but really not that bad. both front floor boards need replacing, a spot on the passenger door, a spot on the driver rocker, and a spot underneath the quarter in the wheel well. that's really it for rust, the rest is surface rust.

no AC, its got the original tripower motor, power windows, power seats, power steering, power brakes. its got paint bubbles and chips all over the place, but I think ill leave it as is. the tailgate was frozen when I got it, and the power windows weren't working. those are the first things I did to it. got all the windows to go down and had to drill out some hinge bolts to get it functional. here are a few more pictures...

 

Wow! That thing is beautiful, absolutely gorgeous!!! What a find, and to second motomike, please post more pictures!

Nevermind, you posted them just before I hit "post"

 

Outstanding deal MM!!!! I like the look. Put a muffler on it, fix the wiring, and enjoy it. Twenty footers are just fine, too many people think it has to be show quality or they can't get behind the wheel, then they get a rock chip and the heart doctor has to get involved .

Enjoy. '57 is a great year for those wagons.

 

thanks man. I agree with you 100% . I think if I dump a lot of money into it, or start a restoration, it takes away from the bargain.

a few more details on the car. the stainless trim is very nice, and that's coming from someone who polishes a lot for a living. its just oxidized, not a whole lot of dings. I might polish the trim because that doesn't cost anything, just time. the chrome is in very very good shape. its not pitted to death, its just nice original faded stuff. the tailgate is rust free which was a surprise. being a nomad guy, the tailgates are notorious for rusting out. the spare tire well has a spot of rust, forgot to mention that. I wasn't scared off by the rust repair because I have experience with welding and bodywork, none of that really phases me.

my main goal right now is the electrical and the brakes. we don't appear to be getting vacuum with the power brakes. have a very hard pedal with hardly any throw. feels like manual with very little pedal.

btw, 57 safari is one of my favorites. theres a sweet one on ebay right now. blue/white two tone. we straightened the liftgate for the guy. hes also got our liftgate hinges and gas struts. really clean car.

 

Jealous..........

I've lusted after one of these for years, never going to be able to afford one.


Just to show others some more of these.....









Congratulations!

Marshall

 

Awesome score, congrats!

 

Thanks MadMooks for the update and newer photos. Inside looks worse than I expected. Altho I don't know why I expected it to look much better. Orignial is always good. Even worn out original. Except for me!
And the rest is very good considering the age. Hope there will not be any surprises under the primer if you ever remove it.
The trim and chrome are amazing. Like you wrote, a lot of polishing and buffing and it will look super.
I was amazed how my 55 wagon trim looked after working out a few dings and polishing it. That was a great winter job in Illinois. I actually warmed up my fingers doing it.
$8000 well spent and glad you told us what you paid. It's none of our business but always interesting to know.

 

yea the interior is so so. the leather held up great, its the cloth part that's pretty bad. the headliner portion looks worse than it is. there is surface rust, but you can see the maroon factory primer in a lot of the areas. the dash is really nice, no cracks in the padded portion, and I was able to polish the chrome really nice actually.

my experience with nomads, and rusty nomads, I immediately checked out the areas on the body that usually go first. I opened all the doors and looked underneath them where moisture sits. they were all very solid. then the lower rockers , one spot of rust on the driver side, the rest solid. the tailgate and the area below it ( splash panel ? I forget what its called ) all was rust free, which is huge. anyone with a nomad or safari knows how tough and expensive it is to find rust free tailgates. after those areas checked out i was convinced it was a decent body. lower fenders and the headlight caps were all rust free with no bondo squirted thru on the backside. i guess really the big unknown is the quarters and nothing looks too suspicious but wont know for sure until i investigate a little more.

overall it appears solid. the black paint is at least 30 years old. I found a registration slip in the glove box from 81 and its labeled as a black car. the factory colors are Coronado yellow with black going thru it. I can see it in some areas. I would be really surprised if there were no bondo, but id still buy it regardless. this is one i can drive while i fix up. perfect :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

I repeat, you really lucked out by calling right away. Apparantly the owners did not know the value of this wagon. But over the years they or someone took good care of it. Must have been kept in a garage or other cover.
I agree, the headliner looks like a lot could be simply wiped off with a damp cloth and some sort of rust remover.
Glad a real car guy got this one. What ever you do with it the wagon will look nice. I also agree get the brakes and wiring sorted out and just drive it awhile. I'll bet that paint will clean up better too.
Maybe you should get that free 58!