Ok time for the big reveal. Don't get too excited, it's not that big! Dodge Wayfarer Sportabout

[alsancle]

The intakes are more plentiful than the heads and exhaust.   I had a Fenton on my 49 plymouth in HS.   Gas mileage went from 18 to about 9.   Probably because we didn't jet the cars right.

 

[avgwarhawk]

The blackwall and dog dish caps are the combination that work for this car as well as many others. It was the look and dollar savings for the day. 

[Xander Wildeisen]

3 hours ago, alsancle said:

It might not be lowered.   Many of 51's seem to sit like that.   

 

[Guest]

While I'm a fan of blackwalls on many cars I believe this car shows best with white walls.

Plus this car represents the more affluent 1950's rather than the frugal 1930's.

Edited November 3, 2019 by GregLaR (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

I guess one thought would be say it's 1951 and you just bought this brand new off the lot.  You had a choice of other cars but you bought essentially a 2 door 2 seat convertible.  You definitely bought it for sport not the family.  What do you think that owner would have done. Especially since he put the GAs filler guard and door handle shields on it.  I'm betting he might have sprung for the whitewalls or atleast outfitted it with a set of porta walls at the time since the tires would have been brand new.  I wonder if a dealer might have even ordered it with whitewalls for the lot. Like when they order in the special edition vehicles or ones with fancy wheels to help draw people in to sell them the practical 4 door sedans. I doubt Dodge made much money on these as they didn't make that many to begin with, though atleast tooling from the coupe probably took care of alot of the beltline and below pieces. 

[auburnseeker]

Probably no speed equipment for the old girl.  Strangely enough I have a bunch of Speed equipment laying around from my Vintage hot rod days,  but none of it's Mopar. 

[John S.]

Auburnseeker, nice Dodge. I like the blackwalls, but either way, it is a good looking car. Have fun with it. John

[TerryB]

Wide whites for sure!

 

[FLYER15015]

Seeing the comparison above, I vote for wide white walls.

And if you ever consider an engine swap, and early Dodge Red Ram hemi is your only choice.

A '55 Red Ram did wonders for my '52 Plymouth Cranbrook, flat head 6,  the first car I owned, and we did the engine Tx , and diff swap in my high school auto mechanics class.

I got an "A" that semester. Only time in high school I ever got an "A", and boy did I need it to bring the average up.

 

Mike in Colorado

Edited November 3, 2019 by FLYER15015 (see edit history)

[neil morse]

Great purchase!  I hope you're as excited as the young couple in this pic from the Dodge brochure!

 

 

It's hard to say from the one photo whether it's been lowered.  Based on the brochure, it actually looks about right when you look at where the wheel wells hit the wheels.

[ericmac]

I too tend to be a blackwall fan but the dark wheels and tires under a dark car; everything sort of gets lost. If it were my car I would definitely spring for wide whites. I might even paint the wheels red. It looks like a great car. 

[Marty Roth]

Cream colored wheels with correct sized wide whites would accentuate the relatively sporty nature of this rare beauty

[Guest]

1 hour ago, neil morse said:

Great purchase!  I hope you're as excited as the young couple in this pic from the Dodge brochure!

 

 

It's hard to say from the one photo whether it's been lowered.  Based on the brochure, it actually looks about right when you look at where the wheel wells hit the wheels.

 

Even the Dodge literature shows the car with white walls.

 

[CHuDWah]

On 11/1/2019 at 11:34 PM, auburnseeker said:

It's a 51 Dodge Wayfarer Sportabout "Roadster".  Basically they took the 3 window coupe and chopped the roof off.  Huge trunk and space behind the seat.  Kind of like a Business man's Roadster. They built them from 1949-1952.

They called it a Roadster as in 49 it actually had removable windows but they weren't popular so they went to conventional roll up windows I think late in the year. 

 

 

Very nice!  Just my opinion but, while I like the 3-windows, their proportions aren't quite right - maybe it's the long trunk deck and short length, high turret.  But the convertibles look "sleek", especially with the top down.  Oh, and definitely wide whites. 

Edited November 4, 2019 by CHuDWah (see edit history)

[Isaiah]

My vote for wide white's !

I have some on my 42 Packard Clipper and like the looks !

I did not get the hub caps with it so I have some 1975 Cadillac wire look  full disk caps that make it look sharp

[FLYER15015]

2 hours ago, neil morse said:

Great purchase!  I hope you're as excited as the young couple in this pic from the Dodge brochure!

 

 

It's hard to say from the one photo whether it's been lowered.  Based on the brochure, it actually looks about right when you look at where the wheel wells hit the wheels.

Yup, and notice the BIG white walls.........

[auburnseeker]

I'm leaning white walls right now.  As you said with everything dark it all kind of flows into the pavement. 

Just scored an NOS horn ring and button on ebay for 31.00 shipped with the original Mopar box. Was quite pleased with that as my bid was quite a bit north of that.  From my personal selling experience of Mopar parts from this era,  stuff is usually pretty cheap with patience.  Of course that excludes the 2 Sportabout scripts which are probably near impossible to find reasonably in good shape. 

Fortunately all the other Conv't specific parts are there and have been nicely rechromed. 

On the want list is a nice heater control as the one is really scuzzy.  They are out there.  I have bought them new in the box at Hershey before for 25.00 and had them sell as cheap as 50.00 for an NOS one on ebay properly listed in beautiful shape. That's part pf the fun,  hunting better parts.  Alot more available than there was for the Hudson. 3 years and of the few parts i bought one ebay for it,  half came from Xander. 

[auburnseeker]

That looks like a 4 inch whitewall.  I was thinking 3 inch.  Of course we are going off an artist rendition which often was a bit exagerated. 

[Steve_Mack_CT]

WWW would not look out of place here Randy.  Kind of late for the white trim rings, imho, more of a 41, 48 thing I think.

[Laughing Coyote]

Here you go.  WWW

 

 

 

 

 

 

[edinmass]

This is where AJ chimes in and starts talking about black walls.............

[auburnseeker]

11 PM here.  Everyone else went to bed.  Time to go out and do some cleaning on the new toy.  

[alsancle]

9 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

Probably no speed equipment for the old girl.  Strangely enough I have a bunch of Speed equipment laying around from my Vintage hot rod days,  but none of it's Mopar. 

 

I was thinking about this.  I'm a bone stock guy on everything.   The only exception is the those flat six Mopar engines,  and maybe Cragars if I ever get another GTO.   And doubtful on the later,  but I'm 100% in on the former.

[alsancle]

4 hours ago, edinmass said:

This is where AJ chimes in and starts talking about black walls.............

 

A day late and a dollar short as usual Eddy,   Go back a couple of pages.

[alsancle]

4 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

11 PM here.  Everyone else went to bed.  Time to go out and do some cleaning on the new toy.  

 

Still out there?   Interior pictures?   Engine pictures?   I can live vicariously through your purchase,  which seems like a great way to enjoy cars I might otherwise be tempted to buy.

 

[edinmass]

1 hour ago, alsancle said:

 

Still out there?   Interior pictures?   Engine pictures?   I can live vicariously through your purchase,  which seems like a great way to enjoy cars I might otherwise be tempted to buy.

 

I admit I also enjoy watching people have their fun and enjoyment without having to wright the check myself! 👍

[Marty Roth]

13 hours ago, Marty Roth said:

Cream colored wheels with correct sized wide whites would accentuate the relatively sporty nature of this rare beauty

 

On second thought,

Keep the body-colored wheels - (or go light cream color),

Small Caps,

Trim Rings,

but go with 4" Wide Whitewalls-

 

but skip the Curb Feelers

[auburnseeker]

I knew that would happen.  Ended up going to bed at 1:45 and that's only because I decided I really needed to quit before I got out the buffer.  Got a bunch of the Chrome cleaned up. Found some oddly loose things, so she'll need a good going over. Paint is a base clear and according to a tag in the glove box was done by a body shop,  which fortunately has the paint code on it.  Lots of chrome was replated or NOS.  Much of it really cleaned up nice.

I'll probably eventually wet sand and buff the whole car as it's got various scuffs and scratches,  though the paint on probably 80 percent or better is really smooth.  A good cut and buff would really make it glow.  

[auburnseeker]

The hubcaps look like they will clean up real nice, they were probably NOS so I'll be keeping those. 

Never had curb feelers so you won't have to worry about me adding those.

[alsancle]

Curb feelers are the ultimate expression of “I’ve run out of constructive things to do to my car”

[JACK M]

55 minutes ago, alsancle said:

Curb feelers are the ultimate expression of “I’ve run out of constructive things to do to my car”

 

Or  "I live in a city and have to do a lot pf parallel parking".

They are not just to look at.

 

[58L-Y8]

r"It's America's lowest-priced convertible!"  Which might have been an answer to a question no one ask, but for returning GI's who had a good paying job and no children yet, these were ideal for daily transportation and a little fun.  Hope you have a great time with it.

Edited November 4, 2019 by 58L-Y8 (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Would that have been accurate advertising?  The Crosley was available that year in a Conv't I think.  Of course maybe they were referring to it's class. 

A side note.  I turned the radio on today in the shop with the flourescent lights on and got a bunch of static.  The owner said it didn't work so that's a bonus.  Of course the wipers didn't.  I'm pretty sure they are electric.  Lots of little things to take care of.  

[edinmass]

Randy......what do you want for 30K? A V-16 Cadillac Roadster? 😛

[alsancle]

55 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Randy......what do you want for 30K? A V-16 Cadillac Roadster? 😛

 

Speaking of 30k,  I find this one strangely alluring for 29k.   About the cost of a tune up on that V16

 

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/dodge/wayfarer/2271772.html

 

[auburnseeker]

2 hours ago, edinmass said:

Randy......what do you want for 30K? A V-16 Cadillac Roadster? 😛

Of course.  Let me know when it turns up. 

I saw the one in hemmings for 30G.  Just too much and since it's been for sale for 3 months I believe,  market must agree.  It's neat.  

I will say mine was quite a bit south of that in price. 

I hate spending at the top of my budget because it leaves you no reserve for the problems so many old cars seem to come with. 

Of course for 30G I would spend at the top of my Budget for that V16 Caddy and save up until I can afford to fix those little things.  

[alsancle]

The Hemmings car is the sort of thing I'm attracted to because of its honesty,  but you are really stuck since it is priced at the top of the market.  

 

This one is for sale not too far from me at the other end of the market.  Maybe a parts car?   I like the black top and tires.

 

 

 

[Isaiah]

I think you  may want to get a split manifold or headers and run the pips out the back with chrome  tips.

It will give it a neat sound.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Would be a bummer to part the black top car but I bet it would take 2 or 3x the price difference between what that car sells for vs. What Randy likely paid for his to get them in comparable shape.  Thats the rub, when one looks at black top car the vision of what it could look like is there.  There seems to be a lot of sedans of this vintage in really nice shape for next to nothing.  Could one save a lot by cannibalizing a lesser body in great shape?  That also seems to speak to pretty stout cars.

 

If you go with curb feelers don't forget the fuzzy dice.

[alsancle]

49 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

If you go with curb feelers don't forget the fuzzy dice.

 

Somebody who is old enough to remember please confirm that Fuzzy dice was a real thing and not something we made up for American Graffiti?

 

I think the rough car sold,  so maybe somebody is diving in.   They wanted 5k for it   I agree with your comments,   Randy is much better off even if he paid 4k as much.