There are few weirder tales in automotive lore than the one in regards to the origin of in the present day’s Good Value or No Cube Powell Sport Wagon. Let’s discover that story and see if it makes this undertaking truck’s value palatable.
Like seeing the golden arches on the finish of the day on an extended street journey, there’s one thing comforting in regards to the considered a V8 Mustang. Heck, it may very well be just about any V8 Mustang; with just some exceptions, they’re all fairly nice. A kind of exceptions, it appears, seems to be the 1993 Mustang LX 5.0 convertible we checked out yesterday. At first look, issues appeared as much as snuff. A fast peek inside, nonetheless, revealed what gave the impression to be an ostrich and crimson velour customized inside that, aesthetically not less than, hasn’t held up all that properly. At $13,900, lots of you discovered that discomforting and the one reduction was an enormous 92 p.c No Cube loss.
As odd because the customized inside on yesterday’s Mustang was, it will possibly’t maintain a candle to the historical past of in the present day’s wild, completely distinctive candidate: a 1957 Powell Sport Wagon. The truck itself is fairly fascinating, however its origin story is one thing else.
All of it started within the Twenties when two Southern California brothers, Hayward and Channing Powell, being contemporary out of commerce college, started a enterprise manufacturing residence radios. That segued into constructing motor scooters, with the corporate then increasing within the mid-Fifties into auto manufacturing with the introduction of the Powell Sport Wagon pickup and two-door taking pictures brake. Powell was capable of produce the four-wheel automobiles of their small Compton, California manufacturing unit as a result of the Brothers primarily based their design on the prevailing chassis’ from 1941—49 Q Sequence Plymouths, pulling these chassis’ from native wrecking yards.
Every was completely inspected and rejuvenated, with the Plymouth 6 engines rebuilt and all worn objects changed. They have been then mated with a easy metal and fiberglass physique designed for ease of manufacture and restore. With the recycled underpinnings and easy, economical design, Powell was capable of promote the vehicles for underneath $1,000 at a time when a median automotive price extra like $1,700.
Powell produced round 1,050 Sport Wagons and fewer than 120 enclosed vehicles earlier than ending manufacturing, not on account of monetary difficulties however as a result of the corporate had merely used up the native provide of previous Plymouth chassis. The Powell brothers then switched to creating off-roader mini bikes.
Jalopnik buddy and automotive collector extraordinaire Myron Vernis owns a Powell. I’ve a private connection to the corporate, as the primary self-propelled automobile I ever owned was a Powell Challenger minibike.
You can add your identify to our illustrious group with this 1957 Sport Wagon undertaking. The truck is tough, however total, it appears to be like to be principally full. We don’t get to see the again or a lot of the mattress, which is just too dangerous since one of many Powell’s celebration items is a bit of stovepipe constructed into the right-hand mattress cap that gives storage for lengthy skinny objects like fishing poles or celebration platter submarine sandwiches. One noticeable factor on the truck is the sequence of holes within the bodywork on every flank, indicating that this truck seemingly as soon as had the elective aspect trim. When new, the trim was pulled from a Ford sedan, however it will seemingly be difficult to search out in the present day.
Luckily, the 201 CID L-head inline six appears intact, save for an air cleaner. Naturally, that can require a whole overhaul (once more), as will the ‘three-on-the-tree’ handbook gearbox. Different points embody some banged-up bodywork, lacking passenger-side door deal with and badging, and an inside that has seen the Powell’s bench seat changed by a pair of a lot later buckets and the elimination of the instrumentation.
As I famous, it is a undertaking, and the bones appear to be a stable begin to making this an important weekend whereas away. In keeping with the advert, the truck truly has a clear title and has lately been pulled from—prepare for this—50 years of storage. The asking value to get your Powell on is $8,000, and per the advert, solely critical folks want apply.
What’s your tackle this small slice of automotive historical past and that $8,000 asking? Is {that a} honest value for the Sport Wagon because it sits? Or is that an excessive amount of to resurrect this Lazarus of a truck?
You resolve!
Dallas, Texas, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
Assist me out with NPOND. Hit me up at [email protected] and ship me a fixed-price tip. Keep in mind to incorporate your Kinja deal with.
