If you like the pastiche of patina and power, then today’s Nice Price or No Dice Country Sedan will likely cut your mustard. Let’s see if this old-school ‘daily driver’ has a price that also adds up.
Compared to the latest Subaru Forester, with its expressive styling and bulbous flares and protrusions, the boxy and arguably staid 2000 edition we considered yesterday comes across as a second-stage act. That didn’t seem to make it worth the $8,000 ticket price, which led to the clean and low-mileage but otherwise unremarkable little wagon hauling home a 75 percent No Dice loss.
Perhaps if yesterday’s Subaru had been bigger and had possessed more style—say a Coke bottle shape—and maybe if it had rocked a mildly hot-rodded V8 engine, the outcome might have been slightly different.
This 1968 Ford County Sedan has all those things and less! That’s right, less. Being an old fart of a car, it lacks such niceties as power windows and locks, A/C, cruise control, or even decent brakes. Countering all that, it offers ten-passenger seating, a fold-and-swing “Magic Gate” tailgate, and, in this car’s case, some serious motivational force under its hood.
First, however, let’s get past that name. Most of us are familiar with Ford’s Country Squire line of wagons, which are denoted by their woodgrain siding and top-of-the-line equipment levels. Ford offered the Country Sedan as a mid-level model, which buyers’ neighbors could tell by the lack of faux wood paneling and some features that could only be added as options. Ford simplified its wagon offerings for the 1975 model year, branding all its full-sized wagons as Country Squires and dropping the lower Sedan model entirely.
This ’68 hails from the last model year of the sixth generation’s run. It differs from its fancier Country Squire sibling not only by being naked down the flanks but also by having four fixed headlamps rather than the upper echelon model’s hidden lights. Both these features make the wagon slightly cleaner looking and, as a byproduct of their absence, a bit lighter.
This car has some performance chops, too. According to the ad, it was built at Ford’s Pico Rivera, California plant, where it was optioned with the 390 CID FE (Ford Edsel) V8, uprated C6 three-speed automatic, and NASCAR-coveted 9-inch rear end. A fun fact: a decade and a half after this car was built, B2 Stealth bombers were secretively constructed in the same plant after Ford sold the facility to Northrop Grumman.
Per the seller, this Country Sedan has spent its entire life not far from home and, hence, is rust and rot-free. The 390 has had a lot of work done, including a 0.30-over re-bore fitted with new pistons, ported heads, a hot cam, and a factory four-barrel intake topped with an Edelbrock carb, taking full advantage of that. That all makes for what the seller claims is a decent performer, stating:
While this 4500 pound wagon isn’t exactly a hotrod, the new big block makes great power everywhere in the RPM Range. The wave of torque is endless and there is great passing power at any speed.
That factory intake does need an oil fill cap as the rubberband-held rag isn’t cutting it.
The car isn’t without additional flaws, either. The seller says it needs new carpets, and the pictures show creeping wear in the paint and cracks in the dash. There’s also a sizable dent in the tailgate, which is unbecoming even in the car’s current ‘rat rod’ presentation.
A serape-style seat cover keeps front-seat passengers from knowing the evils beneath, while the back seat seems intact and without similar issues. Other complaints include frumpy door cards and rubber weather seals that have mostly retired from the game. Mechanically and functionally, the wiper motor and fuel sender need attention; the door locks must be re-keyed; and the heater will require re-connecting.
On the plus side, none of these issues is insurmountable or should be seen as a deal killer. After all, the seller has apparently been using the car as a daily driver for the past couple of years. Mileage is claimed 130K although that’s speculative as the odometer is claimed to have both rolled over and broken. A clean title ensures no DMV shenanigans for the new owner should someone find this car a must-have at its $8,000 price.
What do we think about this Country Sedan and that $8,000 asking? Does that seem like a fair deal, considering the work that has gone into the car? Or is that too much when the remaining work is taken into account?
You decide!
Albuquerque, New Mexico, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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