The replacement...

...for my sold '91 Mercury Colony Park wagon, is another Panther-body wagon! A friend had a 1986 Ford Country Squire for sale that looked pretty damn nice in the pics in his CL ad. My wife and I went to go look at it this afternoon. It's a light yellow Ford CS with light tan cloth interior, Climate Control with air so cold that you can hang meat in! 5.0L AOD - '86 was the first year of sequential FI - and it starts right up, runs fantastic, and drives very nice. My friend is the second owner. He bought this, despite him already having a 1988 Olds Cutlass Cruiser, so he decided he'd sell one or the other.

The only real issue with this car is the light woodgrain trim is separating from the trim piece itself, on several pieces around the car. It really isn't noticeable from 10 feet away or more. The interior is a perfect as it gets! All of the power accessories work. The wipers want to stay on, though. You have to shut the car off when the wipers park, then restart the car, for the wipers to stay down. And the radio display does not illuminate, but my '91 has that very same problem.

It's pretty well-optioned! Cornering lamps, Climate Control, Premium Sound, wire wheelcovers, whitewalls, cloth interior, power ps & ds seats, power windows, non-power vent windows, and the third seat. This is an LX car. Perfect dash pad and door panels. No cracked plastic anywhere that I can find. And, it had a new windshield installed as I was looking at the car! The factory yellow does need a good buffing and detail, but it will shine up quite nicely. The bumpers are near-perfect. Tires are like new.

The story on this is that the original owner bought it new in OKC at the old Dub Richardson Ford dealership on North May Ave in early 1986. That owner passed away a couple of years ago. His son inherited it, kept it garaged as his dad did, but drove it maybe once a month. My friend found it at a street corner in OKC with a For Sale sign in it, and called. He bought it the next day. My friend has installed a new glasspack and tailpipe, front shocks, windshield, oil & filter change, and front brake pads. Car shows 63K, but is likely 163K. The son said his dad drove the car quite a bit, but would not swear one way or the other whether which was correct...so I'm assuming 163K. The car is just in amazing overall condition. Oklahoma last had a state inspection in 2000, and this car still had it's last inspection sticker, which was 1/2000. The car had 141K on that sticker, so it's had just 22K miles in 13-1/2 years, and is why I'm pretty certain it has 163K miles.

The forum member who purchased my '91 is picking that car up in about four weeks - airfare is cheaper a month out versus a week or less out - so once it's gone, I pick the Ford up.

 

Congrats on your new wagon!

 

Oh, yeah, first thing going is those damn ugly-assed wire wheel covers! The chrome smoothies I have on the Merc are staying with me and going on the Country Squire! Haven't decided if the whitewalls will stay out, or go in yet.

 

Oh, keep the whitewalls out on the wagon! Those woodies just look not quite right with black wall tires! But man, that CS is lovely! That one also has the mounting provisions for the 6 speaker stereo with no cutting, which is nice, too.

 

Congratulations, Patrick! She's a beauty. I'm sure she drives like a dream....

 

congrats on both Patrick !

...im gonna part out my 85...so if you need any parts let me know !

mind ya...all my trim is doing the same 'peel'

 

Hey, Rev, I'll keep that in mind. The only thing that comes immediately to mind is the wind deflector on the roof rack. This car was not equipped with that.

 

Congrats.....and I guess a congrats to who bout your old one!

 

I'll let that forum member announce his purchase when he is ready to!

 

Good going Patrick - looks pretty and solid!

 

I WISH it were me.
I loved my '88 Colony Park LS...
I LIKED my '85 CS....
Sounds like you scored a solid CS, with the more modern engine/ trans.
Good luck with it!

 

I actually had planned to buy a pickup after the Merc, and spotted a sweet '99 Dodge 1500 short bed Club Cab locally for $3K. Went to look at it Friday, and was pretty impressed with it. I decided to wait until I looked at the Ford wagon, and I'm happy I did. The condition of the Country Squire is just amazing for the age and mileage. All I really have to do is likely replace the wiper motor, since once the wipers are on, they have a mind of their own.

I have a feeling this will end up being my wife's driver, eventually. She has her convertible up for sale, and I think we'll end up replacing that with a late '90s or early 2000s pickup that will be my daily.

Plus, she really LOVES the way this '86 drives! Can't beat that!

 

Congrats on the new wagon - looks to be in great shape!

 

The countdown to the pickup day - 21 days and counting! My Mercury is being picked up by the buyer on the 22nd, so I'll pick this up the next day.

 

Today is the day the Mercury leaves for its new home in Fort Wayne, Indiana! Mike and his wife are flying in to pick the car up this afternoon. It's all pretty and ready to go. I'm gonna miss that car, as it has been one of my best daily drivers - ever! BUT, I have the replacement lined up ('86 Ford CS 8-pass), and I'll be picking that up this Friday evening after work. Woohoo!