There's a classic car auction over here soon, all vehicles were collected by one enthusiast and he's now thinning down his collection. Browsing through the catalogue I noticed this, an original English supplied 57 Ranchero in right-hand drive.
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Now that would be a cool one to have. If you here of the selling price let us know, I'm just curious what they sell for on your side of the pond.
Its got an "estimated selling price" of £5,000 to £6,000 (about $8,000 to $9,500), but as it's an auction, published estimated prices are usually low to tempt people to turn up and bid. High bids are usually from (foolish) telephone/internet bidders that haven't actually seen the vehicle in the flesh. It rains here (a lot) and salt is used on the roads in the winter so rust is a huge problem and to be honest a lot of the original RHD American imports rusted away years ago, so it could well be hiding some nasty surprises under the paint......
An immaculate 57 Ford would usually sell for around $25K upwards, with tidy/presentable/usable ones going for $15K & up. I'm tempted to go to the auction just to have a look, but then I'll be tempted to go along dragging a trailer & a pocket full of money "just in case", then spending the return journey trying to figure out how I'm going to explain it to my wife. The old "it followed me home like a stray dog" exscuse is wearing a bit thin now!
The RHD 57 Chevy, not the most desirable being a 4 door sedan and those fender-mounted mirrors would have to go, but the estimated price is similar to the Ranchero, probably about $4.5K below what a usable (but untidy) one would normally sell for over here. Surprisingly RHD lowers the price here even though it makes them easier to drive, a lot of people consider a RHD US car to be "wrong".
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Thanks, seems prices are about the same as here in the states. One guy I know buys up complete 57's and parts and exports them to Sweden and Australia were they seem to get the highest price, it's pisses me off. The ranchero I have now followed me home, I went to sell a guy parts I had but he said he was done with working on cars.
The Swedes go mad for American iron, one of the biggest US car shows I've ever heard of takes place there every year. They must have a strong economy as a lot of the top-dollar cars in England also end up over there, leaving us with the rust-infested wrecks!
When I get time I'll start a thread of English American cars. Quite a few were sold through selected dealers here in the 50's & 60's, while they were instantly recognisable they often featured subtle differences to the US versions, with strange dashboards to cater for the right-hand drive steering wheel. Due to the high price of gas (even back then) most cars were sold with the smaller straight-six engines and manual transmissions. The lack of rust proofing and damp climate finished a lot of them off within only a few years. There are a lot of US air bases over here and when the service-men returned home they would often sell or scrap the cars that they'd bought over with them, seeing as most of the cars they'd bought over were V8's with automatic transmissions they weren't easy to sell and most got scrapped. There were two famous yards here that up until the late 1990's still had 50's tin rotting away in the undergrowth in the back of the yards.
That would be great Gary. I would be interested in reading some history on the 57's over there. You've done an amazing job on your restoration so far, very impressive work.
Gary, any chance you could post a picture of a RHD 57 dash, a factory one not one of the local manufacture ones.
Thanks,
Zap- :unitedstates:
You know what Zap? That was one thing I was hoping I'd find in the auction details for the RHD Ranchero, but nothing! Of the few 57 Fords I've seen in RHD form I've never paid much attention to the dashboard...... I'll see what I can find out, I saw a 58 retractable a couple of years ago in RHD at a show, if I see it again I'll photograph the interior.
Leave it with me people, I'll see what I can hunt out on the English sites.
That didn't take long:
(http://imagehosting.rodsnsods.co.uk/242522df2b29abe0.jpg)
Ford (US) built RHD cars for England, Australia and South Africa (possibly Sweden too as they used to drive on the left until they switched to the right in the mid-60's), so the numbers possibly justified specific RHD tooling for the dashboard, steering etc. A bit different to the mid 70's Mustangs that were sold here with a chain-drive behind the dashboard to crudely convert from LHD to RHD.
Hi Guys, I was the guy that could not resit and she followed me all the way home ! It was a gamble as it was a non runner and had been in dry storage since it was brought over from S/Africa in 2010. No major problems, body work is rock solid, general recommissioning of the brakes, flush out of the fuel tank & lines, new fuel pump and she fired up and runs well. That makes it two 57 Rancheros in the garage, must start taking the medication to resist the temptations :002: Will try and post pics.
Welcome aboard. Nice catch....medication don't help!
Thanks , that's exactly what my therapist said :002: Photo of the other one if your interested.
Always good to see more 57's that are alive and well.
Both great looking cars. Glad to hear you won't have the rust issues to deal with Limey has....but then what would he do with his spare time?
Hi Roy, the blue one looks good, but it's wierd seeing one in RHD.
Hi Gary, I agree it sure is weird being R/H/D and I keep getting in the wrong side ! There are some really interesting build differences compared to the original, the dim - dip switch location being one ?
Beautiful score!......Saving one 57 at a time..please. more pics!