August 2020 • By Tony Thacker

When you think about it, a two-door wagon is a bit of a giant shrimp or some other ‘oxymoronic’ concept but nevertheless Ford’s Del Rio was a reasonably successful wagon that outsold the Chevy Nomad by almost 40,000 units (46,000 compared to just 6,000). Weird because sales in general for the dueling brands were almost neck and neck and it makes you wonder why the Ford Del Rio wagon was so popular compared to the Chevy?

Based on the utilitarian, read inexpensive, two-door Ranch Wagon the Del Rio was intended to be a Nomad beater but turned out to be little more than lipstick. Yes, there was optional tow-tone paint, more sparkly gold anodized trim and an optional 5.1L 312 ci ‘Thunderbird’ Y-block delivering 215 hp while a 283 with fuel injection powered the Nomad. Better, yes, but neither wagon was outstanding and both were dropped for the ’58 model year.

Bob Florine, VP Sales & Marketing at ARP-Bolts.com, and Juan Carrillo of MicksPaint.com discuss the color combo of Steve Stanford’s rendering.

Enter the ever-creative mind of Steve Strope of PureVisonDesign.com who suggested to his friend Bob Florine, VP Sales & Marketing at ARP-Bolts.com that they do what Ford didn’t and build a real hauler of a Del Rio Ranch Wagon.

 After the donor vehicle had been located, Strope had artist Steve Stanford pen the design and then ordered a fully custom Art Morrison frame complete with their Corvette C6 ZR1-derived IFS and Baer’s monoblock six-piston brakes, JRI coil-over shocks and Detroit Speed power-assisted rack-and-pinion. Out back there is a 9-inch from Speedway Engineering with coil-overs and a torque arm from Mike Maier Inc.

Between the AME rails resides a Jon Kaase Boss Nine ‘Shotgun’ engine (full spec below). The engine is fed by a Borla-Kaase stack injection eight-pack controlled by a FAST EFI management system.

While the underpinnings of Bob’s wagon are impressively in your face, it’s in the body department where the mods are far more subtle yet nonetheless impressive. All of the bodywork was carried out by Joey at MicksPaint.com, Pomona, CA.

From the fab shop at MicksPaint.com the wagon moved over to the paint department where Mick’s amazing team of craftsmen headed up by Poncho Contreras shaped and sanded the steel until it was perfect. Only then was Juan Carrillo able to apply the PPG paint that contrasts Ferrari Avorio with Aston Martin Bridgewater Bronze. Indeed, the body and paint on this car is the main subject of a book by Mick Jenkins called How To Paint Muscle Cars and Show Cars Like a Pro.

Meanwhile, Rick Lefever who had meticulously reconfigured and extended the side trim painstakingly extended the paper-thin aluminum sill plates while retaining their stamped pattern. Incredible work.

After the paint was dry, the wagon went over to Gabe’s for upholstery in Italian leather and then back to Pure Vision in Simi Valley for wiring and final detailing.  Final assembly is the hard part where everything has to be meticulously detailed and assembled including the ’57-only MagicAire system coupled to Vintage Air air conditioning, Bluetooth-enabled iPad, a custom instrument cluster by Redline, custom dash trim by Scott Sullivan and a steering wheel downsized by Dennis Crooks. Meanwhile, special thanks go out to the team at Pure Vision: Kelly Cox, Troy Bray and Peter Harksell for all their amazing work.

Indeed, Bob’s wagon is a work of art from the modified grille through the Starliner taillights. In the sunlight on the freeway it’s a flying Faberge egg sitting square to the ground with just the right rake and just the right burble. It’s everything Ford cudda, shudda built fifty years ago.

Part II: Coming soon.

Vehicle: ’57 Ford Del Rio Ranch wagon
Owner: Bob Florine, ARP-Bolts.com
Builder: Steve Strope’s PureVisionDesign.com

Powertrain:
• Engine: 521 ci Boss Nine
• Builder: JonKaaseRacingEngines.com
• Compression ratio: 9.8:1 for pump gas
• Horsepower: 750. Max hp at 6,500 rpm but produces 700 hp @ 5600 rpm with a really flat curve for great throttle response
• Torque: 690 ft-lb. Max torque is right at 4,700 rpm  
• Block: Performance.Ford.com
• Crankshaft: Forged Lunati 4.300 stroke
• Bearings: Calico coated rod, main and cam bearings
• Pistons: Diamond pistons / Custom Boss Nine with H13 wrist pins
• Piston rings: TotalSeal.com
• Rods: Lunati steel 6.700
• Cam: CompCams.com hydraulic roller
• Pushrods: TrendPerform.com
• Rocker arms: TDMach.com
• Timing gear: Performance.Ford.com
• Cylinder heads: Kaase Boss Nine
• Valve covers: Kaase Boss Nine
• Distributor: MSD distributor / cam sync with bronze gear
• Gaskets: Cometic and Fel Pro gaskets
• Injection: Borla-Kaase stack with FuelAirSpark.com management
• Fuel supply: VaporWorx.com PWM
• Wet sump: Aviaid.com
• Serpentine drive: BilletSpecialties.com Tru Trac
• Cooling: CRRacing.com aluminum four-core radiator with dual SPAL fans
• Exhaust: Aced headers and system with Magnaflow mufflers
• Fasteners: ARP-Bolts.com
• Trans: HughesPerformance.com 4L80E, Gear Vendors overdrive unit

• Chassis: ArtMorrison.com, Corvette C6 ZR1-derived IFS
• Axle: 1Speedway.com 9-inch
• Rear suspension: MikeMaierInc.com
• Steering: DetroitSpeed.com power-assisted rack-and-pinion
• Shocks: JRIshock.com
• Brakes: Baer’s monoblock six-piston
• Wheels: BilletSpecialties.com custom design
• Tires: Pirelli P-Zero 255/40R-18 front, 305/35-ZR19 rear

Interior
• Upholstery: Gabe’s Custom Upholstery
• Material: Italian leather
• Instruments: RedlineGaugsWorks.com
• Dash trim: Scott Sullivan
• Steering wheel: QualityRestorations.com

• Paint: MicksPaint.com
• Materials: PPG, Ferrari Avorio and Aston Martin Bridgewater Bronze
• Striping: Brad King