Just acquired a new project last weekend. Does any one know where I could find a reasonable good center grill. The one on my wagon has a few dents. The wagon also has/had a padded dash. Does anyone know if it came from the factory like that. Here are some pics. Thanks
That's my old wagon. I sold it to a guy in Midlothian a couple years ago. I went to St. Louis to buy it from a Hamber who got it out of AZ. I hope you got the light up hood ornament that I bought on eBay and sold with the car!
I owned 2 '53 Olds 88s factory equipped with padded dashes, so both being GM products, it pretty likely grew there. There might be an accessory booklet in the Old Car Manual Project. The pics are a bit dark, but if that's a power brake pedal and a clutch pedal in a 6 cylinder wagon, you have an odd one.
Thank you so much for the history lesson. I was wondering where originally it came from because there is hardly any rust on it. I live by the coast so everything ends up with rust. As you can see, I love wagons, my 52' pontiac wagon has a 1976 Nova clip and rearend. Also running a 350 chevrolet engine and a 700R transmission. I do a lot of cruzn around the beach where it attracts a lot of attention. There are not too many wagons down in this area. No, I did not get the lighted hood ornament when I purchased the car from Richard in Midlothian. He showed me one that he had for sale. Was it suppose to fit the wagon? Also, do you know if someone put the padded dash? Thanks
I really don't know a whole lot more about the car, honestly. I owned it a year or two and it just sat in the corner of my shop. I never got a chance to do anything with it, hence the reason I sold it. I always assumed that the dash was a factory option, but I never researched it. It sure looked original to me. As for the light up hood ornament: I watched eBay for a long time looking for a '54 light up that was in good shape and finally scored one. Not cheap. I included it with the car when it sold. I'm sorry that Richard didn't do the same for you. FYI, when I had it, I had about 5 different guys try to buy the tail lights. If I recall, they are specific to '53-'54 Pontiac station wagons only. As such, they are pretty rare. Not to mention that they are just cool and those ones are/were in pretty good shape. Feel free to message me if you want.
FYI, there's another guy in/around DFW that has a '54 Pontiac wagon too. I think Richard knows him. I can't recall his name. He built it for his wife to haul the grand kids around. I talked to him at the Invasion car show in 2014 (I think). I was in shock to see another one and we talked for quite awhile. Might be a good resource.
Thanks for the information and the picture. I will call Richard and see if he has any information. Aside of the H.A.M.B., how do I get hold of you? My dad had wagons all his life, here's a pic of my dad and my uncle who was on leave from the arm forces back in the early fifties.
Ah man......that's just wrong....you have three wagons and I'm still searching for my next one!....Lol Nice score on the poncho!....looks to be in really good shape!....good luck with your project, what ever direction you choose to go....can't go wrong, it's a wagon!! Sent from my LGMS210 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
FYI: It took a year, but I just scored the hood ornament from Richard. It is very nice. Thanks, Cruznjames
Cool poncho wagon.. Guard both the grille and tail lights as they are popular with the customizers...
49 Chrysler had a padded dash as standard equipment, a first as far as I know. By 1955 they were pretty common on deluxe models even Fords. Yours could be factory especially if your wagon is top of the line or has a deluxe interior package.
Yes, I found out that they are. For now, the wagon is in storage while I build my '34 tudor which I started building two months ago.