Pre-mid-fifties Chevrolet station wagons don’t make the review cut often, but here’s one where the owner had, at one time, some sporting intentions for its future. It’s a 1953 edition and appears to be a One Fifty-trim line, a car that has clearly seen better days. The already performed modifications extend beyond what’s initially visible so let’s take a closer look at an often bypassed Chevy model. Sparta, Wisconsin is this wagon’s home and it’s available, here on Facebook Marketplace for $3,800. Thanks are due to NW Iowa Kevin for this tip!

Chevrolet’s trim levels in ’53 placed the BelAir at the top, the Two-Ten in the middle, and the One-Fifty bringing up the rear. One Fifty body styles included two and four-door sedans, a Business Coupe, and station wagons. Our subject car is one of 22K entry-level four-door wagons assembled that year while Chevrolet, in total, placed number one in the ’53 production race with a total output of 1.3 M units.

As can be seen, this car has experienced some trying times. It’s dented and rusty with some of that rust being considerably more invasive than just the surface variety. As for missing trim, being a One-Fifty means there wasn’t much to start with so it’s not really missing much if any of it. Still, this 71-year-old Chevy seems to be all intact and not facing the likelihood of collapsing when moved.  Oh, I almost forgot, its original chassis has been ditched in favor of one that used to support an S-10 pickup truck (I’ll assume that it’s bolted together). This wagon’s down on its haunches because it’s supposed to be air-ride equipped but the system hasn’t been completely installed.

In the days before the venerable small block V8 engine, Chevy owners had to make do with a 108 HP, 235 CI in-line six-cylinder powerplant. That motor is no more and in its place is…nothing. The cross-member does have what look like fabricated mounts that have been attached to the cross-member to support a small block V8, whether they are engineered for a traditional SBC or an LS derivative is not disclosed. There’s no transmission either.

Can’t see much of the interior as it’s cluttered with lots of parts that ostensibly are to be used for the air ride system. The seller does claim, “Interior has front seat, frame for rear seat, door panels, and headliner” but it’s going to be a complete start-from-fresh undertaking to creat any sort of a useable environment.

So, what to make of this? I really don’t know, maybe someone will want to take this wagon conversion on and try to do something, anything with it. I would suggest that any way that you cut it, it’s going to be a tough undertaking. My parting thought is GLWTS, what’s yours?