Vintage Cars: 1959 ford wagon, 1959 ford ranchero, classic car collectors

Question
I am looking into buying a 1959 ford ( ranchero ) wagon. the guy says his parents are original owners. this is a two door wagon that he says is exactly like the ranchero but covered to make it a wagon. Do you have any info on this car or know where I can find any info? thanks

Answer
Well, it's the other way around.  What they have is a Ranch Wagon, the 2-door model in the Ford wagon lineup, and the model that provided a lot of the sheet metal parts for the Ranchero.  They're making it sound as though they took the Ranchero and added a cover to the rear, when in reality Ford took the Ranch Wagon and CUT OUT the rear roof area to create the basis for a model to produce the Ranchero.  The fact that the names are similar (Ranchero/ Ranch Wagon) adds to the confusion.  

Ranch Wagons aren't by themselves worth very much, unless it's in extremely good original condition, or happens to be factory-equipped with one of the high-performance engines.  I think they're cool-looking cars, especially with a few custom touches (lowered suspension, custom paint, nice rims, etc...).  The "purists" among classic-car collectors will insist this car remain original, but as long as you don't get carried with the custom touches, you won't hurt the cars value.  And here's a great website to heck out if you're looking for more info:

 http://www.aswoa.com/

Good luck with the car- feel free to ask more questions!