We check out this ‘swanky suburbanite’, probably one of the most popular station wagons ever built by the company known as ‘the Wagon Master’… the Ford Motor Company.
Words and photography: Jon Cass
It’s close to 20 years since Martin Skipper bought his first American car and it would be fair to say he’s developed quite an addiction since. A recent addition to his impressive and growing collection is this immaculate and very rare ’68 Ford Country Squire LTD. Martin Skipper will be a familiar name to regular readers as his classics from over the pond have appeared in no fewer than five previous features in Classic American. Despite passing his driving test back in 1964, it wasn’t until much later when Martin began his buying spree of old American cars. “I’d bought a 1936 Austin Seven Ruby for my first car from a scrapyard for £10,” he recalls, “I went on to own countless other British cars, including a few classics by Ford, Vauxhall and Rover, but I’d always had an interest in American cars too.”
The person probably most responsible for introducing Martin to the American car scene was his aunt who emigrated to the States many years ago. “She’d often send me copies of Road & Track magazine,” Martin recalls, “compared to what we had in the UK at the time, their cars were on another level.” After dipping his toes in the UK show scene with a Mk1 Cortina estate, Mk3 Zodiac, Mk1 Zephyr, and a brace of Rover P4s and P6s, in 2004 Martin bit the bullet and bought himself his first American car, a 1955 Buick Special.
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“This was a model I’d always wanted and only recently did I sell it to a friend,” he adds. In fact, Martin was so impressed by the ’55 Buick, he bought himself a later generation ’96 Buick Century to drive on a daily basis. “I later replaced this with a 2006 Mustang V8,” he recalls. “I restricted myself to having just one everyday car, but I never set a limit on my number of classics.” Consequently, the ’55 Special was soon joined by a ’47 Hudson Super 6, a ’55 Packard Patrician, a ’49 Cadillac Fleetwood and most recently, a ’52 Mercury Custom four-door, running a 5.5-litre Corvette V8 engine and various other desirable mods. Parked together, Martin’s driveway could easily resemble a scene more familiar in Havana − on a warm sunny day at least!
Martin’s chosen theme so far had been clearly focused towards cars of the late Forties to the mid-Fifties era; therefore, the addition of a boxy station wagon from the late Sixties may seem a little out of character. “I’d bought three of my classics from California-based Steve Snyder at Vault Classic Cars who specialises in Thirties Packards and similar high-end cars, but he does sell other interesting original classics from time to time,” Martin explains. “I trust his judgement and service well, so I’m often to be found browsing his website.”
It was during one of these searches that Martin first spotted the 1968 Ford Country Squire LTD station wagon, though the ad contained just a solitary image and stated details would follow. Despite the distinct lack of information, that single image was enough to spark an interest as far as Martin was concerned. “I’ve always liked big cars and fancied the idea of a station wagon,” he says, “the colour really caught my eye too, as I’ve got a thing for green cars.” Knowing other potential customers with a shared passion for big green cars may also be keen to take advantage of this unique opportunity, Martin wasted no time and phoned Steve straight away. “He spoke about the Ford’s history, originality and its low mileage then sent me more images and even a video of a test-drive in the car,” Martin explains. “I phoned him back, we agreed a price and, hey presto, I became the owner of a huge American wagon!”
Having had experience of shipping cars from the USA in the past, Martin arranged for the Country Squire to be transported from California to Southampton himself, nominating London-based Hill Shipping (www.hillshipping.com/01795 876000) as he’d done before. “It took around four weeks for the container to arrive,” Martin says. “On closer inspection, the car was in a better condition than Steve had described, and I was very pleased with my purchase.”
The preserved originality was mainly down to the Country Squire having lived a sheltered life, Martin discovered. “The first owner was Marther Williams of Massachusetts who’d bought the car from Abel Ford, Revere, in her home state,” he explains. “Its first trip was quite an epic one as she immediately drove the car to Santa Monica, California, where she was getting married.” Remarkably, the bulk of the mileage clocked up by the time of the Ford’s first service and oil change was undertaken in that first trip. In 1985, Martha passed the Country Squire on to Fred Roth, a collector in California who kept hold of it until September 2016. “Fred had undertaken a valve regrind of the 390cu V8, but the car only clocked up an additional 6000 miles during his 31 years of ownership,” Martin adds, “Steve acquired the car from Fred which is where I became involved.”
Looking around the car, Martin was also pleased to find the Country Squire LTD (Luxury Trim Department) spec came with factory air conditioning, power front disc-brakes, power-steering, a two-way opening tailgate, FM radio, electric tailgate window and 15in wheels with hub caps. “It took me some time to get used to driving the car as at 19ft long and 6ft wide, it’s a bit of a monster,” Martin continues. “Once you get used to the sheer size, the power-steering, power-brakes and smooth four-speed automatic FMX transmission make it a relaxing cruiser.”
Thanks to spending its entire life in the sunny Californian climate, the Country Squire had managed to remain rust-free other than for a few slight blemishes on the inner wheel arches. “The paintwork was original and had held up well, though it had become a little dull due to residing in the sun for so long.” Martin tells us. “It had been garaged throughout its life which meant the dash had no cracks, while the interior still looked new.” Unusually, for an American-built car of this era, when most interiors matched their exterior colour, Martin’s Country Squire had been specified with black seats and headlining as an option.
“I’d noticed straight away the car squeaked a lot when driven,” Martin tells us, “I decided to take it to Ray Worrell at Daytona Motors in Congleton (01260 297957) who has looked after my cars for the last 20 years, to see if he could locate the problem.” Ray promptly inspected the Ford and suggested replacing the rubber steering and suspension bushes, which did the trick, while he also renewed all the aging rubber hoses in the engine bay. “I also asked Ray to install Pertronix electronic ignition (www.pertronixeurope.com) for improved reliability,” Martin tells us. “He also fitted new plugs, ignition leads, wheel cylinders, brake pads and linings too.” As Martin planned to rack up some miles in the Ford, he also wisely had the existing radiator upgraded with a modern core by a local company, while a replacement carb and water pump were added to the list too. “I’ve covered around 6000 miles in the car so far and the only failures have been a brake servo which I replaced with a larger servo.” Martin points out. “The alternator also packed in recently, so this has been replaced too.”
We’d mentioned that original metallic green paintwork from 1968 had held up well, but with a few tiny rust spots now appearing on the roof and various other panels, Martin opted to have the Country Squire fully repainted. This would be no quick blowover either, as Martin intended to keep the car long-term which meant finding a specialist he could trust. “My friend Dave had his beautiful blue 1958 Buick Limited resprayed by Chris Murphy at Gratt Motors in Clayton, Manchester (0161 223 0284) who runs the business with his wife, Gaynor and son,” Martin continues. “I was very impressed by the quality of Dave’s respray and asked Chris if he could repaint my car too.”
Since its return to the road, Martin’s station wagon has managed to attract attention wherever he takes it; let’s face it, you’re hardly likely to miss this car anywhere! While the fresh paintwork, wrap and inventory of new parts may suggest some of this car’s originality has been lost, in truth, you’d be hard-pressed to notice. That untouched interior and sympathetic restoration, along with the various necessary replacement components ensures this wagon still feels like a true unmolested survivor from 1968, but with the bonus of improved reliability. It may not quite fit in with his previous inadvertent Cuban theme, but with such a mouthwatering choice of cars at his disposal, Martin often finds himself grabbing the keys to this big green wagon first.
Thankfully, Chris was only too happy to oblige and a full strip down and respray went ahead which even included sourcing and arranging for the replacement DiNoc wood trim to be applied using a local wrapping company and 3M decals. “This replicates the original trim perfectly,” Martin adds. “Throughout the whole process, Chris had been astonished by the condition of this car considering its 55 years old.” Unsurprisingly, Martin was ecstatic with the result of Chris’s skills and opted to have the bumpers, hub caps and various other pieces of trim rechromed by Derby Plating (www.derbyplating.co.uk/01332 382408) to bring them up to a similarly high standard. “I’ve also been lucky enough to track down some newly made exterior door handles, a radio aerial, along with a pair of NOS rear lights and reflectors as these original parts were looking slightly worse for wear,” Martin adds.
