Now that's rare!

[gasman826]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Other-Wagon-Kombi-Estate-1957-ford-taunus-17-m-p-2-kombi-wagon-rare-restore-original-or-hot-rod-/171632370039?forcerrptr=true&hash=item27f6162177&item=171632370039&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

[Jeff Norwell]

wow!Never heard of one.

[Zapato]

German Ford bit on the strange side do love the front turn signals on top of the fenders, yet more futuristic looking than the English Fords of 1957, have to wonder how many of those ever crossed the pond.

Zap-

[Jeff Norwell]

That rear bumper would be Killer on a custom.Cut,pull,shape.The rear tail lights would rule on a mild custom too!

[Zapato]

Be very, very careful Jeff or your build could end up like the Canadian  Ranchero that got everyone's panties in a bunch.

That Taurus reminder me of another German car in the neighbor hood i grew up in Portland. Looked like a shrunk down 55 chev with Opel badging. And in trips to Guatemala there are a bunch of cars we'll never see up here one being again shrunked down about 3/4 size GM vans and the look almost identical to our versions.

Zap-

[Jeff Norwell]

ha ha
That ain't gonna happen Zap.

[djfordmanjack]

that is an absolute bargain ! these cars are SO rare here, even in Germany. They were all used up in house construction and what not, they had extremely bad rust. very modern engineering though, MCPherson front axle and a 65hp 1700ccm  4cyl engine. A wagon like this in good shape will go up to 15 to 20.000$ in Germany. Today they are even more rare than a 57 US Country Squire or Courier. A local friend of mine owns one in two tone green , much like the Cumberland/willow green with the 'Camping' 2 pc tailgate. That is rare rare rare ! and 57 is the first year (up to 60) In Germany they always build models for several years. They got a beautiful dash.
the spare parts are hard to find, only mechanical parts available. It took a guy 10 yrs to restore such a wagon because of the missing trim pieces. No reproduction, no NOS ( the German spare parts facility burned down in '79), very few scrap yard parts.
Restoring a car like this you might as well build an Auburn or Duesenberg.

[djfordmanjack]

these cars were officially sold by Ford dealers in the US ! they were of unibody design (no frame, hence when the rockers are rusted out the car is ready to go to the yard) I bet it was difficult to get  parts for it even back when it was new.

[sprink88]

eh, you guys can have it. Not my cup of tea

[djfordmanjack]

Here's a few vintage ads I took from a German Ford advertising collection book. can you make out the NY Empire state license plate in the German ad ? then there's the original US ad in English and a 58 ad along with the US and British models.
of course these cars were scaled down 56 US models with 57 or 56 Mercury alike trim

[gasman826]

Bid to win.  Pop it in one of the ocean cargo boxes and ship it off the Europe before the Great Lakes freeze over.  I was thinking about taking a look for you.  Looked it up on the map...pretty much in the middle of no where.  No cell service!!!!!!!

[RICH MUISE]

I had a few pics in my archives of another one that was on ebay 3 or 4 years ago...no info, just pics. Can't remember where it was either. I had this one as a 57 also.
You're a walking encylopedia (talk about things from the past, lol), DJ! Great info on the Taunus. Thanks for the enlightenment.

[Ecode70D]

Günter
   Thanks for taking the time to research the Taunus for us.  I remember seeing them when I was studying in Germany.   Funny thing ....About 2 years ago someone was trying to sell me a 2dr sedan that he found in a garage right near my house.  I told him that I was not interested.  It's tough enough to put a real 57 together.  That's a car for someone that has a lot of time on his hands.  Jay

[djfordmanjack]

Rich and Jay, you're welcome. I thought it might be interesting to some of you to learn about other 1957 Ford products too.
These cars are called 'Barocktaunus' here, because of their taillights and swoopy trim, reminding of baroque architecture.
The station wagons were called 'Turnier' up into the 60s

Gasman, I am not going to ship that car, I have enough projects of my own and a close friends of mine who's looking for one he currently unfortunately is out of the country, so we'll let that go to somebody else. I see there is a first bid.

Here's one of my local friends' car. not bad looking I think.

Concerning how rare that stuff is, for example a good pentagon shaped backview mirror ( as pictured) will cost $250 up on ebay.
in 20 years of attending swap meets I have only once found a good one ( still have it, because they are the same on the Taunus Transit Vans).

[Limey57]

English Ford styling was heavily influenced by US Fords and I guess Ford of Germany had similar ideas.  While I like the look of them the "compact" length & width don't suit the style quite as well as the US models I.M.O.  Having said that trying to drive a US 57 Ford round crowded English roads and park one in a typical English 16' x 8' garage negotiating the typical English 7' wide door) is better suited to an English Ford!

There is a guy over here with a set of N.O.S doors and rear fenders for a 57 Taunus sedan, but the cars are so scarce that his mega-rare panels are worthless because no-one is restoring one to use them.