Well look at that, back-to-back ’59 Chevys, and both utility vehicles, though each in their own way. Readers of this blog probably know that I am a nut for the GM luxo-barges of the ‘50’s, and the entire 1959 GM line includes many of my favorite cars ever made! Thus it was a given that I was going to pick one of these up sooner or later!
Looking at the number of options Chevrolet gave to buyers back in these halcyon days is mind-blowing! If you wanted to buy a new Chevy wagon in 1959 you had no fewer than 4 different models to choose from: the base 6-passenger Brookwood, the higher trimmed 6-passenger Parkwood, the 9-passenger Kingswood and the top of the line Nomad. Then there were the engines; a 235 “stovebolt” 6, 4 different flavors of the 283 small block, and another 3 flavors of the massive 348 big block were all available! Transmissions? 3 speed, 4 speed, PowerGlide, TurboGlide? All were available, and all matched to their own optimized axle ratios. And this was just the wagons! There was also, of course, a convertible, 2 and 4 door pillared sedans, 2 and 4 door hardtops, and that rarest body style of all: the 2 door “sedan delivery” This doesn’t even touch on the endless list of power and convenience options. This kind of variety is dizzying to people who today are lucky to be able to choose from 5 exterior colors and gray or black upholstery, and it makes me wonder what gearhead doesn’t wish he (or she) could have lived during that time!
Sadly, these little 1:76 slotties are as close as most of us can come these days, but it sure is cool I was able to order mine in red, as the’59 wagons from all of The General’s divisions seem to look exceptionally good in that hue.
I had to admit that, color-wise, this one was a bit of a letdown; its not nearly as deep or as vibrant as some of the other red MEV bodies I have. But it still looks pretty good, and once mounted on a “serviceable” stock but low mileage open-rivet Thunderjet chassis with stock wheels and tires, it got up and went like it was powered by that big block option! Surely this beauty is a 348 with a Powerglide automatic and power steering and brakes, just the thing for easy motoring whether running errands around town or towing the family Airstream on those newly built interstate highways!
I think I’m just going to have to attach a little trailer hitch to this one and then look for-or maybe scratch build-a trailer to tow behind it. I might see if I can come up with a chrome roof rack for it as well and maybe some luggage. What an amazing world it must have been when the average family grocery-getter had this much style! I’m still waiting for someone to invent a working time machine! If you have, come and pick me up!
An absolute favorite of mine as well and this looks great along with your other 50’s beauties! It needed to be represented!