Please Save Me: 1955-56 Powell Sport Wagon Pickup Truck

The Powell Sport Wagon was one of the most unusual post-WWII independent-make American vehicles. The use of remanufactured 1940-41 Plymouth car chassis, Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler Industrial or war-surplus Dodge military flathead six engines and parts-bin sourcing elsewhere was odd, but made for a very serviceable, dependable and inexpensive to build light truck. 

This truck looks to have lots of surface rust, quite a bit of denting, missing glass and most trim missing, but all the Powell-specific bits other than the front badge and grille bar supports are there, and all the missing Powell-specific stuff can be gotten or helped with through the Powell Registry, which the buyer of this truck should join. Some items are off-the-shelf pieces like 1942-47 Ford truck headlight rings, utility trailer lighting for taillights & turn signals, 1950 Ford 4-door sedan rear-door trim strips for the grille bar chrome, 1940-41 Plymouth or Kaiser Henry-J steering wheels and 1940-41 Plymouth instruments, eBay will be the best place to find those. Using auto parts store-derived license plate mounting & lighting pieces will not be frowned upon, and in fact may well be accurate.

Here is an excellent article on the Powell.

Find this Powell here, near Seneca, Missouri, for $950 (or go here if ad disappears)

This Powell has no title, but will legally have to be sold on a bill of sale, so either a lost-title application with the Missouri DMV, or going through Broadway Title are your best ways to get a title.

High-Class Horsecollar: 1959 Edsel Corsair Sedan

I am a complete sucker for the Edsel. Someone has to love them and I count myself as one of those people. This is a gorgeous green '59 Corsair 4-door sedan. Corsair was Edsel's larger and more luxurious model line and these cars are very rare today. Only 44,891 Edsels were built in 1959, of which only 3,301 were Corsair 4-door sedans. Notably absent on this car is the troublesome Teletouch automatic, which shifted the transmission through push buttons on the steering wheel hub. Due to cost-cutting - and probably customers complaining of putting the car in the wrong gear while trying to honk the horn - Teletouch was dropped after 1958. The interior isn't perfect, nor is the exterior, but this is a very clean car for its age.

Are you an Edsel fan too or does the "Oldsmobile sucking a lemon" grille leave you sour? Find it here in the San Francisco area for $8000 or go here if the ad expires.

Malaise Era Mopar: 1976 Dodge Royal Monaco

Those who know our authors' tastes will know that we love Malaise Era cars, and I am a Blues Brothers fan who grew up around a friend of the family's 1975 Dodge Coronet four-door, so I had to post this Monaco. It is a 1976 Royal Monaco with the police speedometer installed but not working (proper wiring included), already has steel wheels, and with the proper paint scheme, vinyl top, hubcap and extra chrome delete, a pushbar made, the woodgrain trim painted to match the interior, regular Monaco badges, and an 8-track stereo installation (check eBay before buying at a wrecking yard or thrift store), this is an excellent Bluesmobile clone project, or just have the dash wiring installed by a specialist, put the rear-view mirror back up and drive as-is.

Those who are interested in building a Bluesmobile have all the reference they need and more here at the Blues Brothers Central Bluesmobile forum, and you can find the car here in Oregon for $1500, (or go here if ad disappears)

From The Days of Disco: 1977 Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon with Vintage Paint Scheme

One may not think of the Ford Pinto as a collector car, but the wagons had a better solution to fuel tank placement and were no worse than their rivals. The Cruising Wagon was a rare variant on the Pinto wagon that was offered as a smaller alternative to the custom vans that were popular in the 1970s, and while it was not exactly popular, it remains an interesting piece of 1970s automotive history, and ones in this nice of condition are scarce. The car needs some mechanical attention, front carpeting, an appropriate 70s AM/FM/8-track stereo system (check eBay before buying from a junkyard) and front door panels, but the remainder of the car looks great. The 2800cc Cologne V6 and automatic transmission are a great combination, hop-up parts are still out there, but may be easiest to find through a Capri specialist in the US or the UK.

The price may be all the money for a Pinto, and between the 1976 model year and nearly $500 in back registration due in California, where the car is located, it is not ideal for Golden Staters. But if you live in one of the other 49 states or in another country, can do your own mechanical and interior work, don't mind salvage titles and like this type of car, it will be a great project and you will not see others like it.

Find it here for $5000 in Marysville, California, (or go here if ad disappears)

Orphan in Need: 1951 Frazer, $750

Normally when one thinks about an "orphan marque" classic car, they think Nash, Hudson, Studebaker or Packard... few people muster up thoughts of a Frazer. The marque was built alongside Kaiser cars by well-known industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, and all cars that he produced were very ordinary in engineering, using parts derived from other companies or that were inherited by Kaiser Industries' purchase of Graham-Paige's vehicle business in 1946.

Frazer was ostensibly a competitor to firmly entrenched favorite higher-end cars such as Packard, Cadillac, Lincoln, Chrysler and Hudson; it also duked it out with imported upstarts like the Citroen 11CV, Rover P4, Jowett Javelin, Sunbeam-Talbot 90 and Mercedes-Benz 170V. 

The company originally had high sales in the years immediately following World War II, but with the other American brands producing a superior car at a similar price, with more attractive styling by 1949, Frazer sales plummeted quickly. Even the elegant taillights that had hints of Cadillac to them, dramatic chromed grille piece and opulent interiors wouldn't save Frazer's bacon, and the marque was quietly withdrawn. Its sister marque Kaiser only lasted a few more years in the US before moving production of Kaiser passenger cars to Argentina.

Few Frazers survived into the 21st century, especially 1951 models, and this very restorable 1951 sedan  can be yours for only $750 in Topeka, Kansas. (go here if page disappears).