I have a similar story. A friend bought a 57 more door chevy, and we went with his dad to tow bar it home. While there I see sitting right next to it a 55 Ford 2 door "Ranch Wagon". I was in love! LOL.. Nice solid car , bone stock and the interior was still in good shape, the exterior paint was faded badly and it was covered in leaves but it didn't look to bad. After the 57 was paid for and hitched to the pickup and we were saying our good byes, I asked the cars owner if he'd consider selling me the wagon. he said yeah, I'll let it go for 200. I agreed and said I'll be back in a week with the cash. When I returned, he said things had changed and his son wanted the wagon. I was less than happy for sure, but like Glenn's story - the next time I saw it was almost heart breaking. the interior had been gutted and some ugly bucket seats mounted on a stack of 2X4's were tossed in, I don't know what it had for a motor, never heard it run.. almost thankfully!! LOL. The paint was still faded and dirty.. I never saw it again, can only imagine what happened to it.