Most enthusiasts understand the idea that some cars are easier to restore than others, but Dave Long is seemingly a glutton for punishment when it comes to the concept. Dave got a taste for unusual cars when he restored his 1975 AMC Pacer, but apparently that wasn’t a big enough challenge. Enter the 1958 Mercury Voyager two-door station wagon seen here, which emphasized the issues associated with oddball restorations–a distinct lack of reproduction parts, rarely seen NOS parts, and very little in the way of a parts-car pipeline. But before diving into how Dave got the project done, let’s explain how he acquired one of the rarest classic station wagons you’re apt to see.
“I had plugged ‘unusual cars,’ or something to that effect, in a search engine one night in 2012, and it turned up the Mercury,” Dave says. “It was an original family-owned car, which I was immediately drawn to. I did some quick internet research and found references to a similar fully restored Voyager two-door that mentioned it was the only one intrue or not, I realized that this ’58 was something I’d be unlikely to see again. I made a deal with the guy who was brokering the car for the family based solely from pictures, and then began the waiting game to see exactly what I’d bought.”
