Here’s another well-patinaed outtake from our recent travels out West, a 1956 Ford Country Sedan (six passenger) spotted in Flagstaff, Arizona. Pinning this car down was a little challenging, as the eight passenger variant appears to use a different sidesweep trim piece, with the dip located on the front doors. The Country Sedan was the mid-level offering in Ford’s wagon lineup during this era.
In researching this car, I also realized it’s a bit of a sleeper, as it has a Thunderbird V8 engine badge on the front fender (and presumably the indicated engine under the hood). The 292 c.i.d. (4.8l) Thunderbird V8 making 202hp was the standard V8 in both the Fairlane and wagons for ’56, with the optional 312 c.i.d. (5.1l) 225hp “Thunderbird Special” engine becoming available mid-year. Just the thing for “hauling” the kids around!
A fine example of why Ford’s advertising slogan of the 1950’s and 1960’s of “The Wagon Masters” was indeed an apt and accurate one.
I hope this Flagstaff beastie is still being put to good use. If old cars could talk (perhaps through metal telepathy?) I really believe they’d say: “We didn’t survive this long to be ignored! Use us!”
“Metal Telepathy” is the phrase of the day!?
^^^^ Ditto ^^^^
Even thought it took Ford 292 cubes to keep up with a Chevy 265, the name “Thunderbird V8” was one of the best ever. Ford offered a version of the “Thunderbird” V8 until well into the 60s.
This wagon is mighty attractive, but then I am on record as a fan of the 56 Ford.
I’m a fan of the ’56 Ford as well—especially the station wagons. Ford seemed to own this segment during this period with their handsome station wagons.
It is interesting to see the faded, white-enamel paint on this example giving way to the black underneath, making one wonder if the white was a repaint (and likely not a baked-on finish) somewhere along the line, or whether the black-pigment paint was simply more durable over time in the extreme heat and constant, bright sunshine out in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Every old sunbaked car I have ever seen had the paint on the roof, hood and fender/door tops give out first, most likely because that is what gets the direct sun rays.
Our volunteer fire department had this exact model with the 312, 3 Spd column shift & no radio or other option except a heater. They kept it until the 80s when it was auctioned off. I can’t remember what it went for other than it wasn’t much. I was in Korea when it was sold. Was able to read about it in the hometown paper because the editor was the winning bidder. He used it as a driver. Being Wisconsin, use started the rusting process that had been suspended by the indoor storage and infrequent use. As a kid, I’d admire that car at scout meetings in the fire station. In high school, I worked on the car when it was brought in for the annual service. Always regretted not having a chance to bid when it was finally replaced.
My parents had a red/white 55 Country Sedan and 1 of my uncles had 2 55 Ranch Wagons (a “bottle” green and a black) so I have a deep appreciation of the 55 and 56 Ford wagons.
My family’s Country Sedan was a 6 passenger and I remember the side spear having the dip on the front door and assumed ALL wagons were like that….apparently not? The 2 toning was also different on some of these wagons. Ours had white (cream?) around the windows only with a red top, hood, fendertops, doors.
BTW, looking at pictures in The Encyclopedia of American Cars I see that the dip on the side spear is on the front door of a 2 door sedan and on the rear door of a 4 door sedan.
Here’s a four-door Country Sedan (8 passenger). I could be wrong, but all the 6-pass pics I found online had the dip on the rear door, and the 8-pass cars dipped on the front. The internet’s never wrong, is it?!
It must be the case then that the 8-passenger cars were considered part of the Fairlane series and had Fairlane side trim, while the 6-passenger ones were Customlines. Apparently I was mistaken in my assumption that cars with Fairlane trim were Country Squires….
We didnt get enough of these for me to know which is which, I like em always did, lots of sedans around years ago they were locally assembled but not the wagons I think.
Still for sale?????????/
I’m probably not the only one here to have had one of these (Google pic, not mine). I remember using Mom’s nail file to scratch the paint off the side trim, “because it should be chrome”. Did that a lot with my toy cars…..
Nice to see that I wasn’t the only one who did that!?
The white and green Ford has Fairlane style trim where the black and white car has Customline trim. Was the 8 pass wagon part of the Fairlane series?
I would have thought this was the three-seat wagon, given the sliding rear windows. There was no need for opening windows way in back in a two-seater. This is Ranch Wagon/Custom trim, not the Fairlane trim that has the dip in the front door.
Still nice to see, though. Hope it still runs!
I’m not sure that window isn’t fixed. Every ’56 wagon you find pictured on the net has a window seam there, even though they don’t show it in the sales brochure.
Here’s Dad’s “company car” in our driveway in a new development on Grand Island, NY (in the Niagara River, just north of Buffalo and south of Niagara Falls). We lived there for less than two years. He took delivery of the 6- passenger Country Sedan in Bethlehem, PA the fall of 1955, and we moved north the following summer. It was mint green with white window surrounds. After one winter in Buffalo, you can see orange creeping out of the fender and rocker joints It had the 292 Thunderbird V-8, as you can see by the bird on the front fender. Early on, it tended to burn out its points. Dad put “salesman” mileage on his cars in those days, and would turn them in at 60K miles— about a year and a half of driving.
That’s me, age 6, behind the wheel.
Behind brother, Bruce (8) in front, there’s a 1955 Chevy 210 that was almost identical to the car Dad had before the Ford.
My parents purchased a 56 Ford Ranch Wagon in summer of 56 when I was 12 years old. If the photo attached itself you will see below in black and white. This car was seafoam green with beige and brown interior including those beautiful ranch branded seats that were virtually indestructible. The car was a stripper because my dad hated spending money on cars but it did have the 292 Thunderbird engine with stick shift and dual exhaust because we lived up a 2 mile hill in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania. The price was $2700 less trade allowance of $400 for our 1949 Kaiser Special. We had just moved to the house in the country the month before and the Kaiser could barely chug up the hill in 2nd gear. It would never have made it in the snow. The Ford flew up the hill in any kind of weather with any number of passengers or gear. Snow treads and even chains were sometimes needed in winter months. We lived in a 4 acre apple orchard with a long lane that meandered through the orchard to the back of the house. I began driving the Ford right away on that lane and in the orchard. The exhaust sound was beautiful especially if you left the rear window in the up position so you could hear the resonance. There was no way to lock the window up so we used a C Clamp to hold it up. I took my driver’s test in the RanchWagon in 1960 and it remained in the family until 1963 when it was traded for a 63 Corvair Monza 4 speed that was not a stripper. It even had a radio! My dad was not known for paying to have a radio in his cars. He was a lad of the depression. The Ford burned through mufflers at the rate of about 1 muffler a year for the dual system. Gasoline was $.18 a gallon delivered direct from a local refinery to our 250 gallon tank buried on the property. The biggest problem with the Ranch Wagon was rust. I learned a lot about body work and painting as it was a constant battle. After 4 years we had a professional shop replace quarter panels and rocker panels and paint the area below the chrome stripes. After that I was constantly repainting those areas to keep it looking good.
I believe the Cheapskate 50’s Dad phenomena, often reflected in automobile choices, has been discussed here before!
I had worked on a 1956 Fairlane four-door while working at a B&B In Southern California. Still have the Official Ford Printed Service Manual that I bought for it! Fun car.
Side Trim: The ’56 Ford Wagons brochure at oldcarbrochures.com does indeed have the 6-pass. with the skinner trim (dip on rear door), and the 8-pass. with the wider trim (dip on front door), like the snazzy Park Lane wagon.
Reminds me of this bit of trivia, if any CC-ers didn’t know: for its 1955 debut, the Thunderbird *had* the sidesweep until only the last minute before production; the earliest catalogs had it pictured:
^^^^Supposedly almost all the copies of the above brochure were destroyed before being replaced with this one (http://www.hagley.org/research/digital-exhibits/1955-ford-thunderbird-catalog):
Interesting. I think I read about that once before, but had forgotten it. Good call; to get rid of it.
what a beauty ! .
my uncle bill had a ’55 (iirc) in the late 50’s or very early 60’s in ct. where he had a beach house .
EDIT: i recently found an all original 1955 chevy wagon in pink with 235 i6 and two speed powerglide slushbox .
i’m told it was for sale but never was able to get a price .
-nate
We have a ’56 Ford Country Sedan in remarkably good condition. Well, at least until someone slammed in the back of it and took off. Damage has been repaired but the rear license plate assembly was broken beyond repair. This is the painted ‘nose’ that projects over the license plate and hinges to a chrome bracket that is mounted to the rear tailgate. If anyone has a line on a salvaged one, I would greatly appreciate knowing about it.
Thanks, Tom