Black Beauty: 1961 Ford Country Squire Wagon – SOLD!

February 19, 2021 Update – A great low-mileage survivor at a relatively reasonable price.  We’re not surprised to see this wagon sell after less than one week. While this one got away, please reach out either by email or call Rudy directly if you’d like to be informed when we come across something similar.

For 1961, Ford engineers completely redesigned the rear tailgate of their full-size station wagons. Specifically, they swapped out the traditional two-piece tailgate for a one-piece unit equipped with a roll-down window. As part of the tailgate design, a safety lockout required the rear window to be fully lowered before the tailgate could be lowered; the window was lowered either manually or electrically. This black-over-red 1961 Country Squire originally listed on Craigslist in February 2021 in Clearwater, Florida features the revised design. Reported to be a 29 K-mile survivor with the base 292 cubic inch V8, the current caretaker is asking $12,900.   Comparing this price against the Hagerty Insurance Online Valuation Tool confirms this private seller has their Country Squire priced between the #2 “Excellent” appraisal of $14,000 and the #3 “Good” estimate of $10,200.  As a second data point, the Collector Car Market Review confirms the asking price falls between this guide’s #3 “Good” estimate of $12,250 and its #2 “Very Good” appraisal of $18,500.

Ford launched its completely redesigned fifth-generation Country Squire station wagon for the 1960 model year.  Coinciding with the introduction of the compact Falcon, full-size Fords grew in size, adopting a 119-inch wheelbase. As part of a model shift, Ford slotted the Galaxie above the Fairlane as the flagship Ford model range, with the Country Squire becoming its station wagon counterpart for 1960. For 1961, Mercury revised its model range following the discontinuation of Edsel, with the Monterey becoming a longer-wheelbase version of the Galaxie; in a change that would last until their 1991 discontinuation, the Colony Park became the Mercury counterpart of the Country Squire.

Although this commercial currently featured on the Osborne Tramaine YouTube highlights Ford’s 1963 station wagon lineup, it gives an idea of just how big this body style was by the early 1960s:

We like this early sixties Galaxie as it is a nice survivor-quality car that appears to only be in need of a thorough underhood detailing to have the car prepared in time for the car show circuit. Good luck with the purchase!

Here’s the seller’s description:

“61 FORD COUNTRY SQUIRE WAGON, RARE SURVIVOR, GOOD DRIVER QUALITY. RUNS WELL, 292 V8, AUTOMATIC. Come by at take a look, can be seen at 1928 Sherwood St. Clearwater, Fl. 33765“

Do you have a Ford Galaxie Country Squire story you’d like to share?  Comment below and let us know!