Making a decision to let go (long)

Hi members, after 4 and a half great years of owning my 1990 Colony Park wagon, I am seriously considering selling. I wanted to put this out here to the forum before making it official, because there is at least some chance that a member might want it. The car was built for the Canadian market and has distance-travelled in kilometers, currently converting to almost 100,000 miles, of which I am responsible for about 23-24,000 during my tenure. I found it online and arranged to purchase it from the original owner on Vancouver Island, B.C. in the spring of 2010. I did not reveal at the time what I paid for the car, but will now. The car had originally been listed for $12,500 before I became aware of it and then for $11,500 when I found it at cars-on-line.com. I paid the $11,500. I loved the rare-ish black over burgundy leather combination. Also, the original owner had ordered it with every possible option for 1990 (including insta-clear windshield) except the roof-rack air deflector. The US price at the time would have been about $26,000, but Mike had a long relationship with Ford and got somewhat of a discount.

What I have done to the wagon: rebuilt the original transmission, repaired the climate control, replaced two window motors plus tailgate window motor, new exhaust, replaced stereo and speakers, replaced fog lights, replaced hood liner, POR'd the undercarriage, sanded, etched and POR'd small area of surface rust on right rear inner wheel arch (no recurrence), swapped out turbines for steel wheels with mid-70's Lincoln wheel covers, SEM'd faded cargo area plastic panels with Napa Red, filled small windshield chip, replaced mud flaps, repainted bumper vinyl (front and rear), superglued/re-dinoc-ed small areas around gas door and driver's door handle. The car runs very smoothly with a decent amount of pick-up and good gas mileage. During my ownership, I have only driven it on salted roads twice. It lived outside for 4 years, with routine polishing, waxing, and di-noc & rubber conditioning. Last summer I started to keep it covered when not driving because the door seals now leak in a heavy downpour. I drive the car once or twice a week now. Carpets and floors are fine, and the interior is in nice shape, with the exception of lower driver's seat leather which has cracks, but not through to the foam. I have large matching burgundy leather skin to eventually recover the front lower seating surfaces. The dash has no cracks. Everything works: windows, seats, antenna, insta-clear, mirrors, horns, auto lamp, dash-switched fog lights, coach lamps, dome lights, map lights, cornering lights, illuminated entry, illuminated visor mirrors and lastly, power door locks. As for the power door locks, in cold weather, the front passenger lock does not operate, and the tailgate power lock is weak, but can be coaxed with a couple of presses.

Appearance of the wagon: The di-noc is in very good condition, with no hazing, splitting or fading. There are a couple of minor blemishes on right rear passenger door and the rear-most panel-edge of the right front quarter panel, but you have to be up close and looking for them to notice. It is actually glossier than when I bought the car from using Blue Magic leather conditioner for a couple of years and switching to Mother's VLR last year.

The paint is original and quite good everywhere except on the roof. There is crazing on the roof, but not fogging, so with the proper polish and sealer (Zymol followed by Armor All Extreme Shield Wax), the depth of color and reflectivity are still excellent. The hood has no crazing and looks great with the Zymol and Extreme Shield combination that resists fading.

The bumpers and trim are very good, with a few dings that are hard to find.

I have really gotten to know this vehicle and have enjoyed maintaining it in a way that I hope the former owner would approve of. I had the engine detailed before the 2014 Ford carlisle show, and I did all of the other prep.

I haven't made a final decision, but again, wanted to let the swf family know about the possibility.

Thanks to those of you who could get through this lengthy description,

Owen

 

Sharp looking unit and black on burgundy is a great combo

You are lucky to have found a 20 year old car that was a one owner in this condition that's for sure and it would be hard to replace later on no doubt. If you could it would be better to store it away and dig it out say in five or ten years or so and then see how you feel, but if it is something you want or need to do for personal reasons then lets hope it stays in the SWF family.

Good luck with your decision either way, cheers Mike

 

Thanks Mike, I'm feeling like it's probably time to let someone else take over, and this doesn't take away from how much I have enjoyed my time with it.

 

Good luck Owen. Be nice if another club member gets that nice wagon.

 

Thanks MT1!

 

Beautiful wagon! Love the color combo. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

The 1990 production numbers are the second lowest (4,450), behind the '91 cars. And being Canada-spec, that number is likely 10% or so of the total built. So, one of 450 maybe? And that color combo...knock that down to probably 5% of that.

Very nice Colony Park! I love that car.

 

Thanks guys, I would like it to go to a good home with a garage. I only have a one car garage and need it for storage. Even covered outside, I hate to see it just sitting.

 

I love the colors- what a great car. I can empathize as I have my wagon outside under cover also. Good luck!! Someone will want to "ride on a cloud" with that Ford ride!!!

 

Owen, that Colony Park looks really nice to me. I have one too, same year and I can attest to their smooth ride quality being much smoother than the Caravans my parents have; "Huh? Really now, I'm in a car?"

What's the insta-clear windshield option? Was that dual-exhaust stock? This has to be the fourth 1988-1991 Mercury or Ford Wagon I've seen with a dual-exhaust, mine and two Fords (1988 and 1991) included.

 

It was an option to magically and instantaneously de-ice and defog your windshield with a fast-heat up defroster-blower. I tried to get it on my 1989 but they didn't recommend it as they were having trouble making it work properly at that time.

 

Thanks. I wonder about the roof-rack air deflector; That sounds great for aerodynamics, maybe I'll get one.

 

I thought it was the heated windshield kind of similar to a rear glass defog. You can usually tell because the car windshield will have a goldish tint to it if you catch it in the right light. I believe those cars required the high output alternator. I don't know if they ever had trouble with them, but I'm sure a replacement windshield isn't/wasn't cheap.

 

Thanks 101, maybe the dual exhaust was because of the higher-hp towing package. Thanks Kevin, and the insta-clear still works. I think they were more popular in Canada with the harsher weather. I am probably going to list the car soon. Any recommendations for a reserve?

 

The dual exhaust was but one of the many upgrades that were part of the towing package. Traction Lok, heavy duty springs, shocks, bushings, etc, etc, etc were included in the $550 price tag. The dual exhaust gave the car an extra 10 horsepower according to the factory ratings.

Insta-Clear windscreens did included the high output alternator. That goldish colour is because there is a very thin layer of 24 carat gold on the windshield. Last I heard, replacements were about $1,000 each. The system does work very well indeed. As an aside, it was included in the more expensive of the two LS option packages, along with the full trip computer. Neither option was available with the 351, though, as both seem to work off the fuel injection computer.