Web Wagons: 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air Parkwood custom

Today’s wagon find comes from eBay. The seller provided quite a backstory about the car and all that’s happened to it. The car itself it a clear cut example of the existence of the Wagon Renaissance. It’s been repainted and had some customization done to it but the car is primarily a driver. The frame and undercarriage is rusting and the engine compartment, while it has numerous upgrades, is far from pristine. Clearly this car has been enjoyed, as a wagon should be.

While, personally, I’m not a fan of extreme lowering, the air ride system should allow this car to be adjusted and frankly, a wagon is a wagon. The car itself is sufficiently original to impress me in any case and warrant a place here as a Web Wagon.

From the sellers description:

I originally bought this wagon in 2001 from the second owner who bought it in 1977 when he resided in Phoenix Arizona, he moved back to Ohio in 1980 and brought the wagon with him. Since the 80’s It was used sparingly and only in the summer months. When I bought the car it had original paint, original interior, 283, powerglide etc, basically a sunburnt arizona virgin. I drove it through the summer of 2001 and sold it to a friend in Spartanburg SC. From there it never left SC, changing hands among friends until a hotrodder got it and transformed it into the cruiser it is today. The original 283 engine was pulled and a new crate 350 was installed with a chrome aluminum intake manifold, Holley carb, HEI ignition, aluminum water pump, high output alternator and some chrome to brighten it up. The engine runs super nice and pulls nicely. The powerglide was exchanged for a more modern and reliable TH350. The brakes were changed out for a dual master cylinder and front disc brakes. The original factory power steering was retained and works great.
The big money was spent on the air suspension, basically everything available from Ridetech at the time was purchased including tubular control arms front and rear, the bigger compressor, 4 way electric valve etc. He had the interior redone in an old school design and it looks nice, the dash was pinstriped and a nice steering wheel was installed. I really loved the original paint that was on it when I first bought the car back in 2001, it was the most perfect Patina you could ask for but not everyone is into that so the last owner painted the car the original colors and put a satin clear over the copper portion only, the roof has the shiny clear. The way the car is in the pictures is how its been for about 5 years. When the car became availble last year, I was notified and I bought it on the spot, no I’m ready to move on to something else. The car is a boatload of fun but its no where near perfect, the windshield and a few pieces of the side glass have cracks in then, if I remember correctly, it was that way 10 years ago when I first owned the wagon. Its a cool wagon you can get in a drive anywhere, draw a crowd when you pull into a cruise, or just enjoy as a daily driver, buts its not some fancy trailer queen, you will find the bumpers are original and not perfect and neither is the trim but its presentable and in my opinion needs to be left alone. You will notice different wheels in the pictures, when I bought the car back for the second time, the previous owner had 15″ Astro supremes on it, though I thought they were cool, I really like the look of the larger diamerter wheels on these car so I put a set of Billet Specialties MAG G wheels on it in 18″ and 20″ diameters. Now that I am putting the car up for sale, I would rather sell it at a lower price with the 15″ Astro supremes but I will make the Billet wheels available for an additional $2000 and I’ll keep the astros. I have the car for sale locally and can make no promises that the car will make it the full 7 days of the auction. If you have interest, I encourage you to come view, call, or email because waiting for the last minute to put in a bid rarely works.