Further reading:
Automotive History: The Short And Odd Life Of The Two Door Station Wagon
Curbside Classic: 1956 Ford Customline – A New And Safer Flavor In A Familiar Wrapper
Vintage PR Shot: 1956 Ford Ranch Wagon Makes A Rare Appearance On A Ranch Or Farm
Nice ~ this looks a lot like my childhood on a dairy farm except they’re not splattered in cow dung .
-Nate
Good luck getting any milk from those Hereford beef cattle.
The distinction between ranch and farm can be a bit fuzzy at times, but given the lack of any cultivated fields to be seen and all the pine trees, I’d lean towards it being described as a ranch. Thus the owners have
My dad bought a 57 Ranch Wagon. Black with no options other than a heater. And I mean no options. He was an over-the-road salesman, so put lots of miles on it. Only lasted a year.
…or perhaps neither. Could be a homestead with a few heads of livestock. Maybe that would be called a ranchette, but such a setup fits in my mind with the wagon as well.
Great picture!
Judging by the trees and sky, looks like the Northwest, not Texas or Kansas. Everything is a bit too neatly groomed for a working cattle ranch.
I agree on the Northwest. Could be Washington State. The license plate appears to be a green background with white letters/numbers which was the color of that time period.
Evidently a well equipped Ranch Wagon given the full wheel covers and V8.
For whatever reason, it always seemed to me mid 50s Fords had a higher take-rate for the V8 than Chevy of Plymouth. Chevies up to the early 60s seemed to have a particularly high percentage of 6s vs. Fords – at least in our rural area.
Only an opinion based on working on some of the survivors in the late 60s/early 70s. Might not have been the same in other areas.
Well, that’s because Chevy only had sixes until 1955, and Chevy owners loved them and were loyal to them.
And the inverse is true for Ford, which only had V8s for some years and always emphasized their V8s.
Both were a reflection of their respective brand image.
Those are some “photo genic cows”, The whole pic is “calming”.