Station wagons! (Update: A what station wagon??!!??)

[Archae]

Last edited Mon Mar 30, 2015, 08:55 PM - Edit history (1)

Our local PBS station in Milwaukee had a half-hour show a couple days ago about station wagons.

My family always had one, until minivans came out.

We even took an "epic" cross-country trip in the station wagon, (pulling a pop-up camper,) from here in Wisconsin to Nevada.

But in the show they talked to the head of a station wagon fan club, he has a Buick Roadmaster, (and several others he's restoring,) while his wife drives a '57 Bel Air station wagon.

Here's my Mom and my two older sisters, 50 years ago.

[LiberalEsto]

1. Nice little fins

On the wagon, I mean.

[Archae]

2. Oh yeah, I loved it.

I was into space and anything that even looked like a rocket back then.

[Tobin S.]

3. I used to own a 1976 Cevy Impala station wagon.

It was my second car. I owned it at around 1990 when I was 17. It was a fun car. Unfortunately, by the time I had mine it had a boat load of miles on it and it didn't last very long. The motor was shot in it after I had it for about a year and I ended up selling the car for $250.

[WinkyDink]

4. We had a '57 Ford station wagon! I'd sleep in the back after a visit to Grandparents!

[annabanana]

5. Me and our Wagon, circa 1956-ish

kodachrome. . .

[elleng]

14. How SWEET, annabanana!

[blaze]

15. I wonder what the stickers are in the rear window

Any idea?

[fizzgig]

6. i have pretty much exclusively driven wagons since i got my license

started in an old boxy 82 volvo wagon before dad upgraded me to the next model of boxy volvo wagon.

the family backup car was one of these for awhile



that b was wider than the lanes on some of the main roads in town and was perfect for the drive in. fucking absurdly small side mirrors, though.

[malthaussen]

18. I didn't even know Volvo made wagons.

Today's first new fact! Thanks!

-- Mal

[AngryAmish]

20. I have a 2005 volvo xc wagon

[truegrit44]

7. My dad had a 1960 (I think it was)

Nash Rambler station wagon. I used it for my boyfriend and I to go to the drive in one night. Well if you backed it in and opened the back it made a great way to watch the movie and if you closed the hatch it made a great private bed for doing the things you weren't suppose to when you were 17

[CrispyQ]

8. Love it!

My mom dressed me up like that, too, with little coats & hats. Love the car. My mom drove a powder blue convertible Ford Fairlane. Years later I had a Ford Fairlane wagon. I loved that car - not quite as much as the convertible.

[riderinthestorm]

9. My 18 yr old's car is a 2000 VW Passat wagon. She's in love!

I think I may have fostered a life long love affair with wagons for her.

She's taken it to 3 music festivals already (camping) and a long distance trip to FL from IL. Loves the space and the fact she can sleep in it safely.

When we were shopping last year for the car she thought she wanted a bad-ass two door coupe. NOW she's completely sold on the station wagon. They definitely grow on you when you've owned one.

[NJCher]

21. and I'm totally sold on the station wagon!

Mine is a Saturn wagon, white.

I love how I can transport all the things I need from my little "mini-farm:" compost, pots, etc.

The best part: mine was a gift!


Cher

[Mnpaul]

28. I just bought a 2004 Passat GLX 4Motion

that needs an engine. It has almost every option. It even has real wood inlays in the dash and doors.

[riderinthestorm]

29. Oh boy is my daughter going to be spoiled too. Her car has ALL the bells and whistles

This was a one owner car who paid $40k for it originally - leather heated seats, wood trim, you name it, its on this car and all still working. 112k miles driven by an elderly woman. Always garage kept, it's immaculate. Got it for $2K because the check engine light never goes off because ....

.... it needs a new catalytic converter - a problem because we have emissions testing in IL and the car won't pass inspection. It's a big expensive repair job because of where it's located plus this year and model requires two converters!

The car was owned by a friend of a friends mom's who had just passed away and the guy 1. Didn't need another car and 2. Didn't want to pay to replace the catalytic converters and 3. Hated station wagons.

So we're gambling my daughter doesn't get an emissions testing notice before she moves out of state in September. Of course, if she does and we have to pay out, I'm still thinking we got a bargain. It's a beautiful car and she's in love...

Good luck on your project!

[Special Prosciuto]

10. I've always wondered how they got that name.

They're not wagons as most prior wagons were pulled. And what kind of station? Train station?

Anyway I remember three in my family. A 1940's Studebaker Woody, a black 1950's Ford former hearse, and a 1970 Plymouth.

[mnhtnbb]

11. I drive a station wagon.

2007 BMW 328i. Red. Bought it when it was 2 years old with 14,000. miles on it.
Flew to Cincinnati to pick it up and drive it home to Chapel Hill. Love it.
Great road trip car. Mostly, it goes to the beach from here, but will also
be making its 3rd trip to Charleston at the end of May for the Spoleto Festival.
Snowy (my rescue dog) rides in the back seat when she gets to go with us
to the beach or Charleston. Currently 42,000+ miles on it.

[IcyPeas]

12. We had a Ford Country Squire...

that had a rear-facing back seat (with no seatbelts of course). My sister and I used to wave at all the people behind us. Good thing we never got rear-ended.

[elleng]

13. HERE'S MINE!

Last edited Mon Mar 30, 2015, 12:54 AM - Edit history (1)

Took this pic just for you/us! Dad gave it to me 5? years ago. We didn't have anything but sedans when growing up, but somehow he decided he should have one for his travels up and down the east coast, after he retired. He sometimes hauled cow manure from uncle's 'farm,' in Vermont, for Dad's tomatoes, in NY and then in Florida!

Happily Mom persuaded him to stop driving, so when I visited from MD, he gave it to me. I think it's happy here!

'93 Toyo Camry

[Kali]

16. LOL

1964 Ford Country Sedan

[progressoid]

17. The Chevy Bel Air

Ah, the memories. .

[hunter]

19. My parents had a Volkswagen 1600 "squareback."

It was sort of like a station wagon...



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_3



The battery was under the back seat. Batteries were pretty sad in those days, nothing like a modern gel-cell or even a modern Wal-Mart special no-maintenance car battery. There was always a faint smell of battery acid fumes in the passenger compartment. This was in addition to the heater which sucked air off the exhaust manifolds burning any road dust and the slightest invisible untraceable oil seepage. Oh, and gassy vinyl upholstery. The interior of those cars had a very distinctive odor.

For a short time we had a big Chrysler station wagon. Immediately after I got my drivers license I was put in charge of chauffeuring my younger siblings and their friends around in it. The "cool" factor of driving was immediately lost to me, and I never regained it. I hate driving and I hate cars.

Nowadays it's against the law in California for sixteen and seventeen year olds to do that sort of chore.

[MadrasT]

22. Hey, we had one of those in the 70s! It was awesome.

It was dark green. I miss that car.

[RebelOne]

23. I have a 1999 Ford Taurus station wagon.

I bought it in 2002 for my Rottweiler so that she would have more room in the back. She is long gone now, but I still have the station wagon, and it has been a good reliable car. I will keep it as long as it is still running.

[Archae]

24. A Mustang Station Wagon?

Yup...

http://www.stationwagonfinder.com/2011/12/1965-ford-mustang-station-wagon/

[Laffy Kat]

27. No way! Who knew? nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

25. 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage "Shooting Brake"

If James Bond/Sean Connery needed a car to go sport shooting for game in the country like a country gentleman, he would have driven this I suppose.






When I was a little kid in the 50s, my parents bought a Chevy Bel Air station wagon. Great car.

[sakabatou]

26. We had one in the 90s. We called it the Blue Crapper.

I think it was a Volvo 240.