Of all the awesome, bold, and completely over the top styling work that Detroit cranked out though the 1950s one of the most beautiful and short-lived among them was the hardtop station wagon. Lots of glass, open airy looks, and styling that keeps your eyes glued, they were neat cars. Among the most beautiful ever produced was the 1958 Buick Caballero Century Estate Wagon and we have found one for sale on eBay that needs lots of love but it is a wholly complete car, right down to the little Nailhead engine. Very, very few of these cars were sold. We’re guessing that they were mightily expensive for the typical family looking for practice transportation. Less of these wagons were sold by Buick in the 1957 and 1958 models years than convertibles! They were only produced for those two years as well.
The car for sale on eBay is listed for just under $15,000 buy it now. That’s not a ton of money for a complete car, but this thing needs work on every possible front. We’re guessing it would be 100k or more to bring this thing back to factory shape and then there’s the question of whether or not you bring it to factory shape or if you tastefully modify the thing as you are in the process of reviving it. Putting any engine in it outside of the Buick Nailhead would be grounds to have your citizenship on this planet revoked, though. There’s got to be a Buick freak who wants to have one of the 1950s ultimate collector models in his collection and this would be it.
While the outside has “extreme patina” the interior of the thing is really, really nasty. We’re guessing that all of it can be restored or reproduced but again, it is just adding to an already stratospheric bill (but a worthy one if you had the cash!). Before finding this advertisement, we had never seen one of these cars. It would be pretty spectacular to see this thing back in its factory form again someday, right?
Check out photos and then dozens more at the link – Insanely Rare Buick Coolness
That is so damn cool!!!
I’d like to see Mike Brewer and Edd China work their magic on this beauty and it would be Wheeler Dealers’s biggest ever challenge. But I’m sure they would spend way less than 100k and still make a handsome profit.
I’d like to see Edd throw a Toyota 5.7 in it. At least it’s not an LS.
Well I guess I would loose my citizenship because I hate trailer queens and would absolutely restore it as a dependable driver. That would mean disc brakes, an LS engine, and upgraded A/C unit, etc, etc.
upgrade the AC I remember this very car spitting ice chunks out me growing and for all us kids complaining to turn it down cause dad would freeze us out as far as the drivetrain if I would have had the foresight to have kept this disc brakes ya drive train I think rebuildt factory with fuel injection would be perfect peace
Very cool wagon. I’m a Mopar guy, but I must agree w/ Mr. Lohnes about the Nailhead. Maybe a nice 401 w/2 4’s, and maybe a TH 400 with a switch pitch converter……. I also read this someplace “Just because you can put an LS motor in something doesn’t mean you should” The quote may not be exact, but that’s what I think also.
If there is a demand for these in the US,and some of you may like to know where they went..they are in Sweden :).
Arild, take the Buick, please! There is one thing that is WAY overplayed is “patina”. It’s just another word for POS.
Ah, that felt good!
I am freaking I was born in 1962 and mom an dad brought me home from the hospital in this very car dad made mom quit driving it in 73 but he kept it until just before he passed in 2005 he sold it to bill Daniel Daniel Motors 417 358 4072 carthage mo a place I worked at the time I sold it over the phone to florida the last I seen it they were loading it for transport
I remember this car in my grandma and grandpa’s garage. Bought from Howard Buick in Carthage Mo where my grandpa and my dad both worked!
Shame it had to travel through one of these profit shops and not go straight from the original owner to the end user .
“The floors are soft” In my lexicon that means, ‘its rotted out but I don’t want to admit it.’