Junkyard Find: 1960 Chevrolet Brookwood Two-door Wagon

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin
junkyard find 1960 chevrolet brookwood two door wagon
Once the original 1955-1957 Chevy Nomad two-door wagon became a sacred icon among those who prize Detroit machinery of the Eisenhower Era, all GM two-door wagons attained a certain prestige among those who enjoy cruise nights, car shows, Time Out dolls, and the 119,544th repetition of Hot Rod Lincoln (no, not the gloriously hillbilly original 1955 Charlie Ryan version, the still-excellent-but-now-overplayed 1971 Commander Cody version, which incorrectly refers to the souped-up Lincoln motor as a V8). I would have thought that a genuine two-door 1960 Biscayne wagon ought to have found someone willing to keep it on the street, but this car in a northeastern Colorado yard proves me wrong.
In the full-sized Chevrolet hierarchy of 1960, the Biscayne was considered cheap transportation, the Bel Air was a bit more flashy, and the luxurious Impala parked on the top of the pyramid. Each of these trim levels had a corresponding wagon version, with the Nomad, Kingswood, and Parkwood names going on the Bel Air and Impala wagons; the lowly Biscayne wagon got the Brookwood name.
The chassis build tag indicates that this car began its life at the St. Louis Assembly plant.
We’re looking at about the cheapest possible North American-market GM wagon for 1960, complete with two doors, three-on-the-tree manual transmission, manual brakes, manual steering, and the good old 235-cubic-inch straight-six engine, rated at 135 gross horsepower that year.
There’s some rust, probably from sitting outdoors with missing glass for decades and filling up with snow every winter. Maybe the two-door 1959-1960 Chevy wagon restorers are holding out for the Kingswoods.
McCook, Nebraska, lies just about 220 miles to the east of this car’s final parking space and about 650 miles to the west of its birthplace, so it appears that we’re looking at a car that spent most or all of its life on the Great Plains.
If you’re cheap, buy a Biscayne!If you like these junkyard posts, you can reach all 1,650+ right here at the Junkyard Home of the Murilee Martin Lifestyle Brand!
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  • Ajla Ajla on Jul 15, 2019

    "we may not have those lovable but poor crash worthy land yachts of the 50s and 60s" I disagree. The birds just turned into dinosaurs this time. tinyurl.com/y62u9yav tinyurl.com/y6gzao3c

    • JimC2 JimC2 on Jul 17, 2019

      "The birds just turned into dinosaurs this time." (chuckle) Yep!

  • Jeff S Jeff S on Jul 15, 2019

    We do have full size crew cab pickups which are today's equivalent of the Olds 98, Buick Electra 225, Cadillac Deville, Caprice, Lincoln Town Car, Grand Marquis, LTD, Imperial, Fury, and Polaris sans the enclosed trunk. So yes the land yachts became the large crew cabs.

  • Inside Looking Out In June 1973, Leonid Brezhnev arrived in Washington for his second summit meeting with President Richard Nixon. Knowing of the Soviet leader’s fondness for luxury automobiles, Nixon gave him a shiny Lincoln Continental. Brezhnev was delighted with the present and insisted on taking a spin around Camp David, speeding through turns while the president nervously asked him to slow down. https://academic.oup.com/dh/article-abstract/42/4/548/5063004
  • Bobby D'Oppo Great sound and smooth power delivery in a heavier RWD or AWD vehicle is a nice blend, but current V8 pickup trucks deliver an unsophisticated driving experience. I think a modern full-size pickup could be very well suited to a manual transmission.In reality, old school, revvy atmo engines pair best with manual transmissions because it's so rewarding to keep them in the power band on a winding road. Modern turbo engines have flattened the torque curve and often make changing gears feel more like a chore.
  • Chuck Norton For those worried about a complex power train-What vehicle doesn't have one? I drive a twin turbo F-150 (3.5) Talk about complexity.. It seems reliability based on the number of F-150s sold is a non-issue. As with many other makes/models. I mean how many operations are handle by micro processors...in today's vehicles?
  • Ravenuer The Long Island Expressway.
  • Kwik_Shift A nice stretch of fairly remote road that would be great for test driving a car's potential, rally style, is Flinton Road off of Highway 41 in Ontario. Twists/turns/dips/rises. Just hope a deer doesn't jump out at you. Also Highway 60 through Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario. Great scenery with lots of hills.
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