Safari Time Capsule

This is my first post. I've been waiting until I cleaned up "Ruthie" before composing my story and linking pictures. I inhereted the car after my Aunt Ruth past away earlier in the year. I'd always admired the car and shared her interest in maintaining our rides, so she willed it to me. My aunt was the original owner and she kept detailed records over the car's 50 years. Ruthie has 104,000 miles and the engine, transmission, and drive have never been touched. The car has zero body rust, having spent it's entire life garaged in Southern California. You might also note from an interior picture that the seats are ensconed by a clear cover; the original vinyl has never been sat on! It was up on blocks the past 8 years before being trailored to WI earlier this year (thanks sister Laura). I found a good garage to perform overdue maintenance and brake rebuild, with a few more projects planned for winter. But it runs great! I spent a fair amount of time detailing her inside and out but enjoy returning her to show condition.

I've enjoyed reading your posts and will likely be picking your brains on occasion in the coming years.

http://www.punakea.com/Punakea/59Pontiac/DSCN0087s.jpg

http://www.punakea.com/Punakea/59Pontiac/DSCN0086s.jpg

http://www.punakea.com/Punakea/59Pontiac/DSCN0089s.jpg

http://www.punakea.com/Punakea/59Pontiac/DSCN0088s.jpg

Welcome Aboard!
Having such an unique car is cool but having that car with that type of family connection and history makes it truly special. Hope it stays in your family for a very long time.

It doesn't appear that you'll have very much to do it. This is a good site for help and info. Me, I know just enough to be dangerous but many of the other guys that post here know their stuff.

Good luck with it.

WOW! Great story and great car! Welcome to the site

That thing sure is clean

i love that wagon!! very nice and cool that its in the family still.

Holy Crap, that's exactly like my wagon all the way down to the color, minus the A/C and wiper washer setup.

I hope you don't mind if I ask you for tons of pics 'cause my wagon is currently in pieces for a frame up restoration.

Congrats on that beauty!!!!

Welcome Aboard!

Thats a fantastic Safari you got there my man. I love it when cars are all original its the best. I wish mine was haha.. Beautiful car man! Do you have any pictures from shows?

The best part about any old car, whether original surviver or restoration, is the story. Especially a family story like that thats cool.

Jay Leno talked about his 1951 Hudson Hornet he bought from this elderly women, her husband passed away ten years ago and since then the car never saw attention except for a weekly drive round the block and a dusting. Her and her husband bought the car brand new in 1951 right after getting married and it was there family car for years. They owned the car for 58 years, and when she couldnt afford to keep it anymore, and she wanted somebody to care for it, she called Leno, and he bought it and restored it, then took it over and took her for a ride in it and showed her around it. She said it was the nicest she had seen the car in 50 years. It was a great story... anyway haha stories are great

No problem for all the pics you need. It may not be available soon as I'll be taking it in for a carburator rebuild, emergency brake work, and have the gas tank relined. I hope you have a good rack for this baby 'cause she is heavy!

59safaricat wrote:

Holy Crap, that's exactly like my wagon all the way down to the color, minus the A/C and wiper washer setup.

I hope you don't mind if I ask you for tons of pics 'cause my wagon is currently in pieces for a frame up restoration.

Congrats on that beauty!!!!

Great!!

Don't be afraid to ask any questions if you decide to tackle some of those projects yourself. I tinkered around quite a bit with the wagon after I brought back from its 28 year nap. Replaced everything in the brake system except the brake pedal (finally acquired an NOS one, lol) , rebuilt the carb, major tune-up, ect.

They say frame off restorations start with an oil change. Mine started over $2.00 worth of valve seals (burning just a wee bit of oil). Penzoil oil coupled with short trips caused quite a bit of sludge (thanks gramps, lol), so the motor came out. Found a guy who worked on these 4 speed auto transmissions so I decided to pull that and have it rebuilt before he up and dies on me. The steering wheel had about a half-a-turn of play (suspension seriously worn out), so I pulled all of that out. Well, next thing ya know..........

Man, I sure hope my wagon looks as good as yours when it's done. Just seeing your pics completely renewed my interest getting the project going again. It's hard to get started again when the whole thing is torn apart and you don't know where to begin.