'72 Station wagons

[Pencil]

[3acres]

"Look how much fake wood trim we have!"

[Pencil]

"And vinyl roof!"
Why was that ever a feature people paid extra for?

Also, quoting my former college room mate when he showed off the used '74 LTD 2-door he bought:

"Lookit! The engineers of Detroit worked for decades making a car that big on the outside and that small on the inside!"

[3acres]

Originally Posted by Pencil

"Lookit! The engineers of Detroit worked for decades making a car that big on the outside and that small on the inside!"

Oh man, that reminds me of working at the gas station in high school and the first Chevy Monte Carlos would come in. There was like two feet of wasted space in front of the engine - so much space that the fan shroud was like a big sheet metal tube. Talk about a land yacht! I drove a loaner Monte for a weekend once (my Corolla wasn't ready when promised). My friends and I were all laughing that the hood was long enough to use as a helicopter landing pad.

[JackieLikesVariety]

I get nostaligic for those kind of cars and the 70s will always be my favorite decade just in general. I was young and thought life would get nothing but better!

[Sputnik]

That was a time when drive-ins and backseats were, well, never mind.

[teela brown]

We had a station wagon that was very similar to the one pictured above. My dad bought it in the very early 70s. It was Harvest Gold, and my mom drove it for years. I remember being embarrassed if she picked me up from high school, because the car was so uncool in the eyes of my classmates.

[SmartAleq]

Oh look, it's the Wagon Queen Family Truckster!

I love station wagons and I don't care how uncool that might make me. My first car was a '63 Nova wagon and the ex and I camped our way all over California in that thing, sleeping in the back.

I had a '69 Impala with a 350 engine in it that juuust fit the space and my friend had a '70 Caprice with about two feet more hood on it, but she had that big block 400 in there with NO room to work. More space, bigger engine, that's the GM way!

[C2H5OH]

My first car was a (very) used '70s (don't remember exact year) AMC Hornet wagon. Looked very much like this one. I googled and found one the same color. Mine didn't have those fancy hubcaps, though. I actually lived in it for a few months.

[Dr. Winston O'Boogie]

Originally Posted by SmartAleq

Oh look, it's the Wagon Queen Family Truckster!

You think you hate it now, just wait 'till you drive it!

[silenus]

Originally Posted by Pencil

"And vinyl roof!"
Why was that ever a feature people paid extra for?

Also, quoting my former college room mate when he showed off the used '74 LTD 2-door he bought:

"Lookit! The engineers of Detroit worked for decades making a car that big on the outside and that small on the inside!"

As opposed to the '68 LTD, whose interior was large enough for all sorts of things. Especially the back seat. Drove like a tank, but that was a small price to pay for such a great drive-in car.

[Pencil]

The car before the LTD was a Mustang Mach II, which truly was a combination of the worst automaking tech of Europe and the US, even though I think it was wholly American made.

But I'm digressing. Lets enjoy the glory of the faux wood paneled station wagon land yachts from 50 years ago.

[Jaglavak]

Way back when I was a wee delinquent, a friend's dad had a vintage old land yacht Oldsmobile wagon with the 455 elephant motor in it. He gave us a ride downtown once and I was amazed at how smooth and quiet and roomy the thing was. But then, I was used to riding around in my folks' VW at the time. Except for the abysmal mileage and the behemoth weight and the parking challenges, I could see the attraction.

Legend has it that vinyl tops were invented because some detroit exec's wife wanted the look of a convertible without the leaks and cold drafts. So the exec had a brainwave all over the design department and the vinyl top was born. Really, 1970's cars are best forgotten.

[Zeener Diode]

My family started with a '66 Rambler Classic Wagon (or was it the American?). It had the side-by-side headlights (instead of the unsettling vertical lamps). From there we had the '70 Oldsmobile Cutlass Wagon, and then the '72 AMC Matador Wagon. My li'l bro and me learned to drive in the Matador, and we drove it into the ground.

[stormie]

AAAh my dad had a Rambler! White with red and white upolstery, drove like a brick.

Mom had a 66 Dodge Dart. straight 8, could drive anywhere and fast. Unsafe, but fun.

[JackieLikesVariety]

Hi @stormie! nice to see you back, how you been?

[silenus]

The fun thing I remember about Ramblers was that those bench seats folded back straight so the entire compartment turned into a bed.

Handy, that.

[3acres]

Yeah, a coworker at the gas station had an old Rambler Custom that he kept at work and rented out. I couldn't figure out why guys who owned cars would rent such an ugly car* till Jim showed me the seat thing. Like a queen-sized bed inside.

*it looked like this, but beat up, rusty, and faded pink

[Bashorian Clement]

Imagine sitting in class watching a slide show of station wagons.

[blondbear]

[SmartAleq]

Aww yeah, the "lay down Rambler." Somebody was thinking when they made that one!

[Zeener Diode]

I can't remember if our wagon had the "lay down" bench seat. I do remember summer trips to the coast, parking on the beach and laying down in the back with the door down, looking up at the stars.

[What Exit?]

My Dad had 3 large wagons. All had 3 bench seats and the 2nd and 3rd seats folded down. They also had roll down windows on the rear door. Most of the time the 3rd seat would be down and my brother & I would be in the back. But with those wagons, you could bring home a stack of paneling or sheet rock with the rear door closed and the sheets lying flat.

[Pencil]

There was some make where the tail gate (or hatch) slid under the rear, powered.

70's land yachts aside, why did we exchange wagons for SUVs? I'm NOT looking only at the US. We Swedes love our wagons, but they've been replaced with SUVs here, as well as in the rest of Yurp.

And as WE said wagons were better. Check the cargo space behind the rear seat in the slides in that video - maybe a Suburban can match that but even large SUV fall short.

I realize that Americans went to pick ups in many cases. I slept some nights in the bed of a Ranger* (?), when going 2/3 cross country (Chicago to California and back). I would've preferred a wagon.




*Smaller mid 80's Ford pick up.

[SmartAleq]

Well, the shift to SUVs happened in the US because of increased standards for gas mileage. Pickups and other trucks are exempt from those requirements so the car companies started putting passenger car bodies on truck frames to avoid having to make them more fuel efficient. Boom, SUVs out the wazoo. And they're not a better alternative, they can't haul like a truck nor do they handle as well as a car due to the high center of gravity. They are bastard stepchildren and it shows. Me, I love my Subaru Outback old school wagon style. Comfortable, I can put a shit ton of stuff in it like all three dogs and camping gear or a million bags of potting soil and it handles and corners like it was on rails. I'm not interested in giving in and getting one of those overly tall tippymobiles any time soon, especially as I have zero need for third row seating.

[Pencil]

Originally Posted by SmartAleq

third row seating.

That's something I really don't understand. So three rows, seats seven or maybe eight. No cargo space. Where the hell are you driving with six passengers and no luggage? Taking kids to school?

I'm not being snarky, I just don't get why you wouldn't get a minivan instead. People hauler and cargo space. Boom.

[What Exit?]

Minivans are the worst vehicles on the road. They drive like crap, handle like crap and are usually crap. I would take either Suburu wagon over a minivan every day of the week.

[silenus]

SUVs have defensible street cred. Minivans......

[What Exit?]

Seriously, minivans, might as well drive a Yugo.

[silenus]

Or a Wasabi.

[3acres]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

minivan!!,

[Pencil]

Toyota tried:



I was thinking more of the VW bus. Aren't those in the US?

Originally Posted by What Exit?

minivanilli

FTFY

[SmartAleq]

Minivans are usually front wheel drive whereas SUVs are usually either rear wheel or AWD. Front wheel drive suffers from massive understeer and having all the weight in back being pulled around by the front makes them a fucking pain in the ass to drive, especially when you have a load of stuff in it. You can't pull a trailer with front wheel drive, it overall has less cargo capability and minivans just suck for anything that ISN'T hauling a shit ton of kids around. They're usually massively underpowered for the weight too. And any van is a PITA to work on, trust me on that. At least my RWD old school van has the doghouse between the front seats so you can get to the engine fairly easily, although it does make things messy in there after a major repair.

[Pencil]

I'm probably dumb but I don't get it.
Almost all cars around here are FWD (BMW and Mercedes are the exceptions), and people tow trailers all the time. Yes, large ones too. And campers. I agree that AWD is superior in many ways, and I was eying a Subaru when I switched cars, but for what I wanted, it was outside my price range.
As for understeering... I grew up with in a Volvo family, no surprise there as it's still the best selling brand in Sweden. I learned to drive a four speed stick, rear wheel drive and my first car was an old 142.
IIRC you live out in the sticks and I understand what you're saying, but no suburbanite or city dweller around here would frown at FWD, even if they're hauling stuff.

A good friend who's a self employed plumber has one of these (FWD) and he drives around with welding gear and loads of heavy stuff without problems.

[Sputnik]

FWD is pretty trouble free today. My current complaint is CVT transmissions. They have upwards of 800 PSI of fluid pressure in them for changing the drive ratio. Plus the "pusher belt" is a weak spot. While a great idea, it's mechanically inferior to a standard auto trans. IMHO.

[NoClueBoy]

72 station wagons is too many

[Pencil]

How bout 76 trombones?

[SmartAleq]

FWD is fine for many applications but if you need to haul a lot of stuff that weighs a lot or need to pull a trailer you're better off with a pickup truck or a full size SUV. And since we have more of those than the smaller vehicles here, that's what everyone ends up driving. I think we probably drive more than people in smaller countries too.

[Jaglavak]

Originally Posted by NoClueBoy

72 station wagons is too many

But think of the nice Christmas gifts you'd get from the owners of your local refinery.

[BJMoose]

Our local refinery got bought up and shut down by Big Oil years ago.

[3acres]

Originally Posted by NoClueBoy

72 station wagons is too many

I bet I could list my 72 favoritest station wagons and still have more. It's a good thing I never won the lottery.

[fucktard loser]

Or you could have run a salvage yard and collect them all.

[3acres]

I'd be one of those grouchy old junkyard guys who don't want to sell any parts off their babies.

[silenus]

"But you have three of them!"

"Yes, and if I sell one to you I'll only have two."

[3acres]

silenus gets it.

[SmartAleq]

I could be a car hoarder SO easily it's not even funny.

[Zeener Diode]

I belong to a car horde, so I guess you could say that I'm a car horder.

[Slate]

One of the first cars I ever drove. 50 feet long and still had a cramped back seat. Ain't she a beauty, though?

[Jaglavak]

:: awe ::

Oh man, look at that. Acres of pristine sheet metal just waiting to be guard rail customized.

[Pencil]

I found another!
It's glorious!