The Most Fascinating Car in Raleigh
Hidden in an auto shop off of West Johnson Street (near an abandoned DeSoto and Chrevrolet) lies a 1957 Ford Country Sedan station wagon. What makes this car particularly unique is that it is the result of combining the front ends of two identical cars. That means two steering wheels, two radios, two sets of headlights, and so on.
Two station wagons were chosen because the pitch of the roof was just right to be flat once both cars were joined. The emergency brake on each end doesn’t function as a brake; rather it is used to lock the wheels in place for whichever end will serve as the rear. Although it has only one engine, it can drive in either direction, if put in reverse.
If there are two drivers, the car can crab walk, dog walk, drive diagonally and nearly sideways as well as other unique car dance moves as a result of having four wheels that can turn. It was built here in Raleigh, and has been in several local parades.
Although it is street legal, it hasn’t been driven since about 1994.
An ad for a 1957 Ford Country Sedan station wagon
Looking at what this car used to look like, I can’t help but wonder what happened to rear sections of both cars. It seems like they could be combined, to create a camper trailer that could be towed by the car with two front ends.
The car was created by brothers Linwood and Roger King in the late 1950s. Roger’s son Phil was kind enough to give me a bit of the history of it.
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03/06/2010
Thanks for digging up the real story on this crazy car. For several years I worked in the building next to the lot the car sits on, and I always wondered if it was drivable and how it came to be.
03/06/2010
I remember seeing that car on the streets back in the 1960s. Just the other day I was wondering whatever happened to it — amazing that it is still around. Thanks, John!
03/07/2010
I remember seeing this car in a parade when I was a kid. Thanks for the back story!
03/08/2010
When I moved to Raleigh in 1979, it was in a yellow Spri-dget, a car that was made from the front end of a Austin Healey Sprite and the back end of an MG Midget. I understand that a body shop took a Sprite that had a rear-end collision and a Midget with a front end collision and welded the salvaged halves together. This may be what Linwood and Roger King did with two rear-end collision 1957 Ford Country Sedan station wagons.
12/16/2011
When I was a child (in the very late 60′s/early 70′s) we lived next door to a family on Medway Drive (and I can’t remember their names now but my mother or brother might know)that had a car with two front ends.
We moved away but I was a older and in college I was visiting in Raleigh and stopped by to see our old house. I stopped by and said hello to the family and other neighbors-they remembered me.
I think this might be it? I was always fascinted by the car. I was talking to someone about the cars and mentioned it, was looking for a photo to help describe it and came across this site. It would be nice to know if it is the same?