This is my 1963 Rambler 550 Classic. This car was originally purchased in Ellisville MS in February of 1963 by a gentleman who very rarely used it. Following his death, his daughter sold it to a local classic car enthusiast, who spent many hours fixing the things that inevitably get crappy when a car goes unused: Rebuilt carburator, new brakes, new radiator, new belts and hoses, and so on. He also added new cloth seat inserts, installed carpet (the car originally had a one-piece rubber floor mat), and repainted it. It's from this man that I bought the car, on March 20, 2005.
Known issues:
Bent rear bumper
Dings in chrome around grille
Slightly wavy right rear quarter
Missing passenger's sunvisor
Missing passenger's window crank knob
Nonworking wipers
Nonworking horn
Needs new weatherstripping
But enough of that, on to the pictures:
Another pic of the back end. The bent rear bumper (left side) is obvious here.
The side of the car. The color was changed by the previous owner from a light turquoise to a sky blue with a heavy pearl. I think I prefer the original color, but the guy's paintwork was flawless (yes, he did it himself) and the car looks great when the light hits it. Notice the right rear quarter is a little wavy from an older repair, probably many years ago.
Left: The front. It's peeking through the bushes at you.
Right: A nice upclose shot of the grille. Toothy, ain't she?
The almost totally original engine compartment, 58,000 miles young. It's a 196 cubic inch straight six with a single-barrel Holley carburator. Behind it is a three-speed manual transmission. Notice the original washer fluid bag, which I understand is very hard to find.
The seats. I'm not sure how close to the original material this blue velour is, but it sure looks and feels nice. The previous owner added the dark blue carpet. Notice the weatherstripping on the door in the lower lefthand corner: It's not as bad as it looks here, but it could stand to be replaced.
Left: The dash view. The original AM radio picks up static, but I can't get any stations on it. Notice the missing sunvisor. The bracket for it is broken.
Right: An up close shot of the odometer. That's actual miles, kiddies.
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