for some reason i've had an urge for a '56 ford 2dr wagon for a couple of years. strange, since i never was much of a ford guy in my past. maybe it's due to my migration from montreal in 1963 at 15 YO, driving across canada to seattle in my mom's black 55 ford country squire. anyway, a local seller posted a pic of a 55 ford project on craigslist and there was this parklane in the background, which wasn't for sale, but all the calls were about the wagon. he took the ad down because of it, but a guy i was talking to about HIS parklane at the monroe swap meet saw the ad and called me. seems he would actually sell it for a proper sum, which i didn't think was too far off the mark for a fairly rare project. it does run and drive BTW. couldn't say no. basically rust free except a bit at the bottom of both front fenders. gotta find some stock wheels, a better front seat and a few trim items, but a pretty good start. PM me if anyone in the seattle area has '56 stuff for sale. now i just have to figure out where the hell to put it.
Nice car and rare,,I have a friend working on one now. There were only 15,186 Parklane's produced verses 40,493 Ranch Wagons and 23,221 Country Squires. HRP
I will caution you about one peculiarity the '55-56 Fords have; the front crossmember under the radiator. Even cars with little or no rust showing elsewhere can have terminal rot in the crossmember and having one of the front lower A-arm pivots tear out while driving isn't something you want to experience. A number of years ago I needed a good crossmember for a '56, so I hit the yards and cut every one I could find that looked good off the frames. I then took them in for chemical stripping (not acid; this only removed rust) so I could pick the best one for use. I took in six.... I got one back that didn't have holes in it. I'm in the NW also, so I would consider this as typical. I'll also note that the car that needed the crossmember had almost no rust anywhere else....
thanks, i'll check that out when i get it to the shop, probably tuesday. this one was in lacey, out by the yelm hwy.
Check out the one he used to have as well, super low no bags. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
i searched for dirty2's car, but you know how good the search works now. sure hope it gets fixed soon.
My friend has this one (sorry about the bad pic), it is all finished now, and is a real knockout. It was a local, totally rust free car, and as far as the front C/M, we replaced it with and aftermarket one, and added flanges to make it look stock. It has a 312 with a full synchro 3 speed.
I don't think he has posted any pics of the current Parklane. I saw it on Facebook and then in person at a show last weekend.
found some powdercoated wheels today with dog dish caps. red for now. anyone want some crusty cragar style mags for free? got some paint to match and did a lot of touch up. even found an original radio that works with a nice face plate and a gas tank already cleaned. almost ready for a test drive.
If anyone is interested, I have one thats for sale. It's a Texas car that is a basket case. Stripped down to bare metal with a coupla coats of epoxy primer. All there except the 292/auto trans.
Really cool wagons ! Glad yours is pretty complete because the parklane parts are hard to find . Mine was at a body shop for around 9 years and totally taken apart . A lot of the parts were lost . Good luck with yours its looking good !
Guy from Edmonds Wa. had one listed on Epay for 7500 in Nov. Sure looked like the same one. Didn't look like he did too much to it. Couple guys asked ? about it but I don't know if it sold. Listing had run out. Owner mentioned he was going to make a gasser out of it if it didn't sell. Kind of a waste IMO.
If it does not have the correct front seat its the same as the convertible and crown vic which can get expensive,the only parts that are different then the regular 2 door seats are the backrests but they are hard to find. If it still has the correct seat it can be fixed.
I know this is an old thread, but I have a '56 Parklane...Solid body...Trashed interior...Complete except for engine and trans. I was wondering if you could tell me what it might be worth. I also live in the Seattle area.