History How many of you grew up riding in the back of a station wagon?

My dad drove a '52 Ford Courier and a 56 Chevy sedan delivery but his happiest day was when he finally got a station wagon that we all could see out of and had windows that would roll down.

He traded the '56 Sedan Delivery for a second hand62 Chevy wagon,283 power glide w/t hang under the dash air.

I vividly remember that drive to visit my grandmother in Columbia,South Carolina in August in the middle of the day,with the air on,we had never made that trip during the day preferring to drive at night in the old delivery's because of air circulation and being cooler at night.

As time passed dad became a wagon guy and before he passed away he had owned several big block wagons.

I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree because now I'm a wagon guy also.HRP

 

HRP if you were riding in anything with A/C back then you were "Styling".
Man in the 60's here even the Cadillacs did not have A/C!
I grew up with my parents driving in nice 2nd hand Cars. No Wagons but the best of the bunch was 1963
Mercury Meteor S-33 Coupe, Black with Red interior, really nice and rare car.

My only Wagon was in about 1977, 1966 Plymouth Satellite, White with Blue interior, low mileage and really nice condition, was a great parts chaser.
Really good memories.

 

My wagon memories were not with the cool era of cars you had with me being born in '74, but still good memories none the less.
My dad bought a new 79 caprice estate wagon, complete with brown metallic paint and simulated woodgrain trim!
I spent a lot of time riding in the back of that thing.
No rear seat, i just sat on the left side with my feet toward the pass side and my head near the rear speaker listening to the tunes my dad was playing on his 8 track.
Pretty simple memory, but one that still makes me smile when it crosses my mind.

He used to tell me he wanted to put a 4 speed and dual exhaust on it!
Tony

 

i thought that everyone did.............ours had a foam mattress in the back, so on long trips we would sleep on it. no one seemed to worry about things like seatbelts.

 

My dad ran a radio and TV repair service to supplement his income since a mailman didn't make squat back in the 50's and 60's. So he bought a 1955 Ford 2 door Ranch wagon about 1956 so that he could haul the tvs home to his shop for repairs. The result of this was that when we went to Florida every summer to visit my grandmother, we got to ride in the back with the seat folded down and we could lie down. We could open the top part of the tailgate and get a nice breeze through ventilation going down the road. As the years went by, my sister and I learned to drive in that 3 on the tree wagon. He wore that car out and traded it in for a 1960 Ford four door wagon. Again, it was our only vehicle and served a family well for long trips. I personally grew tired of wagons and finally talked him into trading for a new 1967 Fairlane 2 door hardtop when he quit the repair business. I still have that Fairlane today. While I never fell in love with wagons, my son has. He has a 67 Fairlane wagon he is slowly restoring and wagons are about the only thing he photographs at the car shows. I have a greater appreciation for them now than I did back in the day.

 

I remember going to a dance with my dad and coming home with my mom in a Chevy station wagon.

 

Dad bought a 60's era Valiant station wagon. Slant-six with a push button automatic trans. When the rear end went out on it, he got a '73 Ford L.T.D. station wagon. My brother and I always rode in the back of them.

 

My Parents were the type that bought new every two years. I remember trips from SE. Michigan to Normal, Illinois in a two door 55 Ford wagon. Small V8 automatic. Then in a 57 wagon almost identical to the earlier one. Weekend Canasta tournaments with my grandparents in Ill. Long boring trip for young kid. I still remember how hot the trans tunnel would get. Also the sliding side windows.

The 57 got totaled in 59 and my dad waited for the sixties to come out.. What an ugly boat! But a four door with wind up windows.. Then he started buying Mercury Montclairs and on to window vans..

Wish I had the 55 and 57 today!

 

Yup. Volvo 122S wagon. I guess nowadays some guy would be painting it flat black and putting astro supremes on it...

 

We had a Malibu wagon that had a timing chain so loose it rubbed a hole in the timing cover and started slinging oil. POS never jumped time though.

 

growing up in a family of eight we always had a wagon. everyone was a olds vista cruiser. i remember the hood was up one day and saw the cool rocket air cleaner with use premium fuel on it. the wagons had the cool windows in the roof. the third seat faced the rear. we could throw stuff out the window and make funny faces at cars behind us. with the rear window down I'm surprised we were not killed with all the exhaust fumes coming in. i remember well the day we got our second wagon. my parents and i went to pick up the second hand car at bob weber auto after dinner. it was metallic blue with wood panels and a blue vinyl interior. we went for a test drive. my dad turned on the air conditioning but only for a few minutes. he said it uses a lot of gas and we couldn't afford that. up until then i didn't know what air was. i couldn't believe i was freezing in the summer. we stopped at a drive in for a ice cream cone at one point in the drive. stopping for ice cream was unheard of as there was never money for treats. it must have been their way of celebrating the new car. the car was so big that my dad would have to back it out of the garage for my mom before he went to work. a few times he forgot and the neighbor next door came over and got it out for her. my mom took the car to get gas one day. she filled up with regular gas. as we drove around the car started to knock. she called my dad crying saying the engine was bad. filling it up with premium took car of that problem. those wagons served us well for many years. the last one we had is the one i learned to drive in. there were many good memories in those cool old wagons. i haven't thought about that stuff in a long time.

 

my mom drove an early 60's pontiac, I remember looking over the back seat at the lit up red indian head in the speedo area when the high beams were on.
I also remember our drill she used to do, we would be riding in the back seat and out of no where she would holler "Down!" and we (myself and 2 brothers) were supposed to dive to the floorboards, supposedly to keep us safe in an accident. guess we didnt have seatbelts, dont remember that part.

 

Eight of us went from DFW area to Taos New Mexico. In a nine passenger 1954 Ford wagon. No aire.

 

was a kid of the early 70's ( I hate bell bottoms and wide collars to this day !) remember my dad and the Tank a Mercury Marquis wagon with a 460 , in that ugly ass green ( was faded to olive green ) that Ford used and vinyl wood trim , that thing hauled Butt quite litterly we went on a trip to florida in that thing in 72, right before the gas crunch and remembering not passing up too many filling stations . it also possibly contributed to my weird sense of humor as we always rode withthe back window down on that thing and I still remember the smell of exhaust ( love the sweet smell of Tetraethyl )

you know the phrase" it looked better in the crate Fred" , that I ocassionally use ?? I learned that from my uncle Bill when Dad decided to repaint the tank and peel off the vinyl woodgrain and it looked real bad underneith , he painted the car white and they rehung the siding back on it , it was straight on one side and had a slight angle on the other as it wasn't Ford wood grain it was shelf paper from the local lumber mart , and it was really bad to see a green interior with that white car . dad couldn't find a buyer for it as the gas crunch was on , he had it for a while and one winter going to work hit some black Ice and put it down a creek enbankment totaling it and banging him up kind of bad too . lucky some saw it happen otherwise the white would have blended in with the snow .

 

Ladyhrp grew up in this wagon,it has been a member of her family almost as long as she has and this is the very same wagon she is driving more than 59 later.





When I met Brenda here dad had a '56 Ford Wagon and a '57 Chevy 4 door wagon,Brenda says her dad was always a wagon guy. HRP

 

Do not remember the year ,1970-73 or so Buick with a folded up rear seat , where the Spare tire well would be ,

 

We always had Studebaker wagons, I wish I had one of them now. We also had a 56 Chevy and my dad had a Crosley wagon that he played around with.

 

With your clos association with thw Ranch Wagon you have been working on in the last few years I can Imagine you might end up with a super cool wagon project before too much longer. HRP

 

I remember it was always a battle to see who got to ride in the rear facing seats (big ol 60's Chrysler) It was fun, but I remember feeling woozy when we got out after a long ride to grandmas house.

 

Didn't really "grow up" in the "way back" but did plenty of learning to drive in a 1960 Dodge Dart Seneca wagon. 318, push button transmission, lots of good times in that car.

 

There were 6 kids so a wagon was a must for my dad and mom. First one I remember was a Chrysler Town & Country. He always commented on how it was built by the Sherman tank company.....was close to the same color too from what I remember.

He sold that in 81 and got an Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser wagon. Had the 350 diesel in it which was a converted gas motor. That sucker would leave a black cloud like no other diesel I've ever seen. Had 4 quad headlights....to this day have not seen anything brighter. Still too young to drive I did spend time in that back rear facing seat. Was just far enough away that mom and dad couldn't tell what we were doing. He eventually sold it and got a Jeep Cherokee but by then I was a wagon man. Have three of them now and am always looking out for more.

 

Our 1st was a '62 Chevy, also. 235 w/3 speed and o/d, no air or power anything. Next came a '64 Vista Cruiser, It had a 330 V-8, air and power steering, but had manual brakes and a 3 on the tree. After that it was a '67 Country Squire, loaded, with a 390.

Gary

 

About the time I came along my parents figured they needed wagon so they bought a new '59 Ford 2 door Ranch Wagon. It originally had a 292 with a 2 barrel and 3 on the tree. In late '65 or early '66 Dad had a new 312 with a 4 barrel put in it. My parents also had a '63 Fairlane wagon, and a '66 Ranch wagon.

 

Mom had a 70 chevy wagon. I took it out partying when I was 17, and my hot rod was broke. Lots of room, big seats, and it had a 400 small block ta boot.

 

Our first wagon was a 53 Chevy dad bought in 57 when I had just started first grade. We didn't keep it long as Dad was a Buick guy anyway and that stovebolt lacked power to pull our camper. In 58 he traded the Chevy for a 56 Buick century wagon, next came a 58 Buick estate wagon then a 65 Buick SportWagon. By the 70's us kids were out of school and on our own and the camping days were over so he went back to Electra hardtops. I still have a soft spot for wagons and have had a few myself, the hell with mini vans!!

 

Growing up,
my family had a 48 Willys jeep station wagon. When the four banger gave it up my dad had a Studebaker champion six put in. When the six got tired he had a 232 Stude V8 installed. That jeep was our only transportation until I was about 12 years old. We took all of our camping trips and vacations in it. A lot of fond memories.

 

1965 Olds Vista Cruisier wagon (nine passenger) white with red interior... loved sitting in the very rear third facing seat ! FUN !

 

My folks bought a new 1957 chevy 210 wagon and kept it till 1965, dad won stock class with it one weekend racing against 2 door sedans and hardtops. It was the first car I ever rode in while he street raced! I've loved wagons ever since and finally got a 1964 Dodge 330 about a year and a half ago, am currently using it for a daily driver as I fix it up.

 

was talking to my brother tonight about it and always wondered why he sat in the middle when we had the bombbay in the back I called it , I found out after 40 + years he got car sick facing backwards !!!
I asked him how did he get over it in the military with the backward seats in the transports , he said as long as there wasn't a window to see the backwards movement he was ok .

 

The first car I remember my parents had (growing up in NZ) was a Triumph Herald like this:


Same colour as well. The rear seat was seized in the down position, so us 3 kids would rattle around in the back. I learnt to drive in it.

Then we got an Aussie XP Falcon wagon, which I passed my driving test in - a 170cu in, 3 speed.
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