Returning from Dallas this week, I spotted this 1959 Ranchero in a car lot in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Appropriately enough, the lot faced Old Route 66 (the I-40 Frontage Road). Older than most of us, the years have not been kind to this Ford. This lot contained many more aged and worn Curbside Classics, justifying the time I took to stop and frame up these pics.
This long shot shows about half the inventory. Almost all of the cars were pre-1960 and built by US independent automakers, rather than the big 3.
For example, a Henry J. Based on the sunburned paint and lack of rust on all these cars, I’m assuming most of them were found in the American Southwest.
Joining the Henry J in the front row were multiple Studebakers, an Edsel, a post war Chrysler, and that big sedan behind the light blue Lark. Unfortunately, the proximity of the fence obscured the front row cars, but I climbed into the back of the El Kylemino to get a few close ups shot over the fence.
Kinda sorta. The sign board completely covers up the back of the Lark convertible, the fence post and top rail obscure the sedan, and the Dodge pickup is almost cropped out. However, I included this shot because I’m betting someone can identify the sedan’s make and model. By the way, the Dodge could be the newest model in this lot.
Edsel, Chrysler, and another Studebaker. In the far corner, a 1952 Nash with more Studes, a Willys and Desoto.
And another five Studebakers along the East fence, including a pair of Champ pickups. Based on these photos, I’d say Tucumcari was the Western sales office for Studebaker. In the comments in one of last week’s posts, J. P. Cavanaugh noted Studebaker had a west coast assembly plant. However, it closed before the Lark and Champ came out, so these are definitely South Bend sourced.
But this late forties coupe tucked in the Northeast corner may have been assembled on the West Coast. On either side, even more Larks.
This ’39 Studebaker may also hail from the Studebaker LA plant, and the sign on the building identifies the local dealer. Once I got home, I Googled the name, but only found a Facebook page. Back in 2016 the TV show “Fantomworks” paid a visit, but I don’t know if they brought their cameras.
The aforementioned Nash. Sorry Nash lovers, this is the best shot I have. Keep going though, as I’ve got close ups of the Desoto and Willys Wagon.
This Desoto represents the big three, but at least it’s Chrysler’s first (of several) orphan brands.
In contrast, here’s an orphan brand that maintained a head of steam despite the failure of its parent company. As we all know, Willys morphed through several owners, and went on to make sure Chrysler’s remaining brands remain in business today.
Next to the Willys rests this very sad Henry J, perhaps the roughest car in the lot. We can assume this is the only dealership in America with two Henry Js available for purchase.
Stepping right along, we find another two Larks lurking. I’ve lost count- is that 14 or 15 Studebakers?
Well, it’s not really important. Here we have another Dodge pickup, but a decade or so older than its brother parked on the front row. Next to it is another Nash- For some reason most of these cars come in pairs (except for the Studebakers which came as a flock).
This Corvair was definitely a product of the big three, but as a developmental dead end for GM, fits quite well into this lot of the orphaned and the obscure. Another product of the sixties, it’s also in the running for newest model in the corral.
In the running for the oldest model is this Model A. Wearing neatly tailored threads, I’m reminded that Edsel Ford handled the styling, long before Ford brought out the Edsel parked up in the front row (see what I did there?). Out back, we see a Graham Paige Sharknose, but those signature streamlined headlights have gone missing.
A closer look brings the shark nose into focus, and we can see the fender blister where the original headlights mounted. Somewhere along the line, they have been replaced with traditional sealed beams. Yet another obscure model from our friends at Mother Road Memory Iron.
Well, that completes our whip around of the lot. If you’re interested, I’ve linked to several posts below that take a deeper dive into some of these models.
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love the town
loaded the car up w/ stuff – lamps etc – while there
Wow, what a find! Good job.
Fun to see the “sunburnt” cars, given the completely different way they’d weather and self-recycle here in the Salt Belt.
“Tucumcari” + “Studebaker” turns up all kinds of fun stuff on Google. Beyond many a recent photo, there’s a 19-oughts retailer for Studebaker wagons, and then a 19-teens reader question in Motor Age looking to turn a Stude auto into a “speedster.”
I’m not actually looking for another car, currently I’m getting the two I have sorted for their inspections, but I’d like a wander around that lot and could easily come home with something.
I tend to see all sorts of old car stashes like this around New Mexico. Even as far north as Questa, I’ve seen junkyards dedicated almost exclusively to cars of this era. I think it is just because the state is so dry and the land so cheap that we have an ideal state for automotive storage.
I’ve said that here in NM we don’t have aggressive rust to cleanse the landscape.
Someone runs off the road into the wilderness and the wreck is left behind, it’s still there 30 or 50 years later, just sunburned and with the windows likely broken.
There’s still abandoned vehicles from the Okie migration out there I’m sure
Nice find. Great to see someone preserving these as none of them will ever be big dollar cars. I like the Larks and the two door blue one looks well worth saving.
Very nice find and photos. I haven’t seen that many ’59 or ’60 Lark’s in one place in a long time, perhaps ever. It looks like all body styles are represented except for a two door wagon.
The oldest and newest are parked together in the center of the lot; the Model A and the Corvair. The Corvair is a ’65 or newer while the later model Dodge pickup is a ’61 to ’64.
There are some slightly newer Mopars on the other side of the fence; two pickups and an Aspen/Volare
I bet pulling a dollar bill through the points, fresh gas and a set of tires would get that Model A back on the road in short order.
“This train will stop at Tucumcari.” That’s the first thing that popped in my head.
I’m glad you stopped to take this pictures — what a remarkable collection of vehicles.
I love the picture of the ’39 Studebaker under the similar-vintage Livestock Association sign… squinting a little we can pretend that it’s 80 years ago, and a cattleman just drove his new Studebaker up to an Association gathering.
That 39 Studebaker looks more like a 1934 to me. I will admit that on first glance, I thought that the shark nosed Graham was a Willys. The sealed beam headlight modification fooled me. In my eyes that Graham is the real prize in this yard, even with its unfortunate, but very well done modifications.
Thanks for pointing that out about the Studebaker. Incidentally, I was somewhat amused by that sign above it… I live in Virginia, but one of the long-ago owners of my house was a cattle rancher from Amarillo who had been a long-time head of the Panhandle Livestock Association (he lived here for about 10 years in the 1930s & ‘40s before moving back to Texas).
I agree about the Graham Paige… truly amazing to see there.
The Studebaker identified as a ’39 is a 1934 President later in the model year called the Year-Ahead model identified by the horizontal hood vents. Only the Presidents had a noticeably longer front door compared to the rear door, the window width is the telltale.
The unidentified pre-war sedan between the blue Lark hardtop and red Lark convertible is a ’39 or ’40 Nash.
Once the sealed-beam headlights became industry standard, it wasn’t unusual for cars with the old reflector/bulb/lens types to be replaced even when sheet metal modifications were required as seen on the Graham. Remember, this was still the era when body shops hammered out dents and leaded to smooth for paint, not just replaced panels as today.
For some common models there were adapters so that you could bolt in sealed beams, of course not for something like the Shark Nose.
LOL-
I Googled “Studebaker” and “Tucumcari,” and someone out in the ether identified it as a ’39. Having no expertise in the subject what so ever, I defaulted to their choice.
Quite a collection, thanks for stopping and sharing.
Great stuff.
I say, usually, a post about, say, a Zil look-alike that was made for 2 weeks in 1983 – in Zambia – will attract a commentary from Our Man In Indianapolis as to the way in which it is connected to Studebaker, so one can only presume his lack of a reaction to this particular post could only mean he has, sadly, ceased to be. Of course, it is possible the extreme excitement of seeing that just about everything in the post is not just close to Studebaker but actually IS a Studebaker itself has given him the vapours and he has yet to regain his equilibrium – which frankly, I do hope is the case – but if it is as I fear, please pass on my condolences to the family JPC.
Nope Justy, I am alive and well and enjoying the view.
I recall Scoutdude pointing out the phenomenon of International Harvester trucks that begin to breed when two are placed in close proximity. Nobody seems to be able to stop at just one. Studebakers are the same way. I guess once the company went out of business they started to huddle together for safety.
Those of us in Rustopia look at that 59 Ford Ranchero and see something that has been amazingly preserved rather than something that has suffered from neglect. I think the 59’s squarer lines worked the best with the original Ranchero.
I agree on the Ranchero. You sure don’t see neglected ones that nice here in the Hoosier state. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I saw a ’59 in any condition. Usually the ’57 is the one you see of this generation. Having owned a ’73 Ranchero once, and being a fan of the ’59 Ford I would love to own one of those. The Ranchero and the El Camino that followed were the two most handy and versatile vehicles I have ever owned.
I have to agree. You don’t see neglected ’59 Rancheros that look this good here in the Hoosier state. Having once owned a ’73 Ranchero and being a fan of the ’59 Ford, I would love to have one of those. My Ranchero and the El Camino that followed were the handiest and most versatile vehicles I have ever owned.
Sorry for the double post. I wrote the first one and it disappeared when I tried to submit it. Then I wrote the second one. This AM when I was reviewing the thread the only one of the two that showed was the second one. Oh well, I guess I got my point across, that’s for sure.
That looks exactly like the Ranchero Harry Dean Stanton drove in the movie “Paris, Texas”
I called in on this place back in 2010, when I spotted it at the side of the road on my way from Chicago to Santa Monica. Met the proprietor, whose name was Danny Ellis, a really nice guy, showed me round the inside of his workshop.
He had a ’56 Chevy and and a ’57 Studebaker up on ramps at the time, being worked on. Shot some video footage for a film about my trip, including an interview with Danny. if you’d like to see it, let me know how I could get it to you.
Hey bud. I just spotted the place going back to Dallas about 30min ago. Would you be so kind to send me the video and contact info of the place? I want to stop by on my next visit to NM. Seems to be like there is a lot of history to take in there. Let me know if maybe you’ve uploaded the film/video somewhere on Youtube where I can check it out. Thanks!
Dear Eduardo,
I’d be happy to share that sequence with you. I haven’t uploaded it to any websites (yet) so i can’t provide a link, but I’d be happy to send a Quicktime file to an email address if you can find a way to let me know what it is. The file is almost 2Gb in size, so it’s too big to be an attachment, but I could use an FTP site – Mail Big File – if you’d like to receive it.
As I mentioned before, it’s just a short scene in the movie I’m making about the whole trip, which I think will run around one hour when I finish editing, soundtrack etc, and which hopefully can then be uploaded onto Youtube — eventually!