Ramblin' Man

Dean Osland’s ’59 Super American Rambler.

- Eric Geisert

Hot rodders have always used what was around them to build their rides but, for many decades, they built only cars that came from a well-defined group. Model As on Deuce ’rails, T-buckets with blown motors, ’32 Fords, and some ’33-’34 Fords were about the extent of likely hot rod candidates for many years, but that all changed in the ’90s. Looking for something new, rodders expanded their scope to include different nameplates and years of cars to hop up, they even went as far as to build one-offs and phantoms—cars that never rolled off the factory’s assembly lines. Having something that was unique appealed to these new-era rodders, and the concept of owning something that couldn’t also be found in your neighbor’s garage (or even in your hometown) really gained traction. 

“Unique” is an attractive word, one that Dean Osland understands pretty well. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, Dean saw many of his friends and coworkers building cars in their spare time and going to car shows, and they convinced him to build a car on his own. In 1996 he started on a ’65 Malibu SS and, after its completion, he was hooked, even though he’ll liken the hobby to a non-treatable terminal disease car so much that when that project got done, he decided to combine his love of both wagons and Rambler and look for a Rambler American wagon. 

And though there have been a couple of notable Rambler wagons built in the past decade, it certainly isn’t the first choice of most builders or owners, but he kind of liked that unwanted orphan persona Rambler wagons had, and part of the challenge would be to find the beautiful swan hiding somewhere in that factory ugly duckling.