Classic American
Little Blue Wagon (Part 2)
Fuel
forethought
The
rarity of the Brookwood does throw up some problems though. “Because of the
fuel injection I needed to fit a fuel pump in the fuel tank, which meant cutting
it open,” explains Ian. The ’59 wagon fuel tank is different from the car
version due to the location of the spare wheel. It’s vertical in the boot on
sedans and convertibles, but horizontal on wagons and El Caminos where the
U-shaped tank instead fits between the spare and the rear axle. “In the end I
had to fabricate a new tank out of aluminium and my mate Tony Westcott kindly
came over and welded it up.” That does mean Ian has a ’59 Chevy wagon tank for
sale if you know someone who needs one… “I have had a few people asking for
bits off the car if I do ever redo it. “Parts have been the biggest problem,”
continues Ian, “because wagons are so rare no one does the trim parts for them.
And it doesn’t help when you order, say, a small bag of clips and they then
send their catalogue that weighs about three kilos on top. It’s parts such as
the taillights that are tricky. On the cars they are one-piece and you can find
them for about $30, but the wagon versions are two-piece to allow the tailgate
to open and they go for $200 each. “Most people who see it ask if it used to be
a two-door,” reckons Ian. In fact they are not far wrong since the rear windows
are shared with the four-door wagon’s back doors. From our perspective here in
mid-2014, the concept of a full-size station wagon with only two doors might
seem a little odd, especially since a four-door wagon was often offered directly
alongside by most manufacturers. Willy’s was among the first postwar with an
all-steel two-door back in 1946, but Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all
offered them at various times throughout the Fifties. Ford reverted to
four-door wagons in 1952 until Chevrolet’s 1955 Nomad –and Pontiac’s Safari
–gave GM wagons a sporty flavour, compelling Ford to Wood wagons reintroduce a
two-door Parklane wagon for 1956. As a nod to thriftiness Studebaker’s bargain
basement two-door wagons were badged ‘Scotsman’, while Plymouth also offered
basic two-door Plaza wagons. Mercury pushed the boat out offering a glamorous
pillar-less hardtop version for 1957. Two-door wagons were usually about $80
cheaper than the four-door equivalent and relatively easy to tool up provided
there was a wagon and a coupe in the model range. Likely many were sold to
parents with young children who, in the days before baby seats or child safety
locks, probably felt their kids were safer in the back of a two-door.
Ford reverted to four-door wagons in
1952 until Chevrolet’s 1955 Nomad –and Pontiac’s Safari –gave GM wagons a
sporty flavour, compelling Ford to reintroduce a two-door Parklane wagon for
1956
Wood
wagons
Introduced
in 1958 as Chevrolet’s mid-priced station wagon, Brookwoods were trimmed in
line with Chevrolet’s Biscayne models. The Brookwood offered for the 1958 model
year was a four-door station wagon, available in either six- or nine-passenger
models. The Nomad badge now appeared on the premium four-door Chevrolet station
wagon, while Brookwood replaced the 210 series wagon. For the 1959 model year
the Brookwood would become the base model wagon as a two-door that effectively
replaced the Yeoman. The Parkwood was the middle wagon series with Nomad again
as top wagon model. ❯ The ’59 Chevrolets rode a 119in
wheelbase and were about 2in wider and longer with some 150lb more weight than
the previous year. Eyebrows were raised over the bat-wing styling and this was
the only year when an Impala would not have six taillights. Wagon buyers could
order any engine and transmission choice, including the 348cu in V8 and the
fuel-injected 283cu in V8 engines. For 1962 the Brookwood name, along with the
Parkwood and Nomad, would be discontinued when wagons gained the badging of
their equivalent sedan series; Biscayne, Bel Air and Impala. The Brookwood
returned for 1969 to 1973 yet the two-door wagon never completely went away;
the ’64Chevelle and later the Vega were available as two-doors. There’s not
much information on the VIN plate of Ian and Janet’s Brookwood, but we can
decipher that it was a Los Angeles-built car and was around the 11,500th built
for the 1959 model year. It rolled off the line with a straight-six engine and
was painted Magic Mirror acrylic lacquer satin beige over Cameo Coral Metallic;
the interior was grey vinyl. The 3870lb wagon would have stickered at $2689
base price and was one of 20,760 two-door 1959 wagons built, compared with
188,623 four-door wagons –Chevrolet evidently didn’t break production numbers
down into separate series. The only option listed on the Fisher body stamp
plate is tinted glass.
Wagon buyers could order any engine
and transmission choice, including the 348cu in V8 and the fuel-injected 283cu
in V8 engines
Another
thing to note on this Brookwood are the one-piece bumpers. Supposedly this
marks out a California-built car since Chevrolets of the era built in one of
the other plants usually have three-piece bumpers. Some sources suggest
California law required one-piece bumpers (something to do with impact
strength, supposedly). Others assert the California-based contractor who made
the bumpers had better facilities for manufacturing larger items or that the
one-piece bumpers resulted in less material wastage. Many Canadian-produced and
export- market Chevrolets up to late 1962 also often seem to have one-piece
bumpers, but no one agrees precisely why. This Brookwood is painted House of
Kolor TruBlue Pearl and silver – a paint scheme that lights up when the sun
comes out. Future plans for the wagon are a respray of the silver paint on the
roof, a change to an aluminium radiator and perhaps a redo of the interior from
polyurethane leather to the real thing. “I really enjoy driving it now,” says
Ian, “the four-speed gearbox makes a big difference and it’s got so much power.
This has got me away from hot rods into classic American cars. I quite fancy a
classic pick-up next but the Brookwood won’t be for sale, unless a really
wealthy Arab shows up with his chequebook…”
