Today's Top Ten Automotive list is something a little different. Today we celebrate the precursor to the minivan, the station wagon. Long before Mopar introduced the Caravan to the American motoring public, the utilitarian station wagon ruled the roost.
So here's a salute to the Top Ten Coolest Wagons:
1. Dodge Magnum. Yes, it has a hemi. It's also one of the main reasons the wagon is making a comeback in recent times. Interesting that the company that elevated the minivan from side curiosity to mainstream (thus killing the station wagon) is also responsible for making the wagon cool again.
2. 1957 Chevrolet Nomad. In the pantheon of all things that are cool, the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air is very close to the top. The Nomad goes even one better, yielding a family hauler that can bring sheetrock back from Home Depot and still look just that good doing it. Notable appearance: Jill Taylor's grocery getting (for a while) in "Home Improvement".
3. 1948 Ford Woodie. Immortalized by the Beach Boys, the '48 Wagon (she's an oldie but a goodie) became synonymous with California's surfin' culture in the 1960s. And there's little cooler than that.
4. 1984 Ford Crown Victoria Country Squire. Before the minivan craze took hold, Ford's Country Squire wagon - replete with imitation wood grain paneling - was the stereotypical family car for the early part of the 1980s. Notable appearance: Hauled around Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted "Theodore" Logan in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure".
5. 1960s Chrysler New Yorker. How can you not love a car that's larger than most commercial fishing boats? The New Yorker has always been synonymous with American Land Yacht; the wagon version took this to a new level. The wagon even had the rear-facing jump seats for a Suburban-esque seating total of 9 people.
6. 1987 Audi 5000. Very few station wagons look cool. The mid- to late 1980s Audi wagons managed to pull off a look that was, if not outright cool, a fair resemblence of cool. They at least tried to make the boxy, inelegant wagon look attractive.
7. 1983 Subaru GL Wagon. When they weren't rotting into the ground, the 4WD wagons were passable winter cars, even in snow-laden New England. It's a fair argument that the GL wagon of the early 1980s paved the way for the Outback enjoying such popularity today.
8. 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate Limited. The last of the full-sized wagons, the Roadmonster, err, Roadmaster had a 350 CI motor under the hood and wood grain paneling on the side. Ford discontinued the Country Squire wagon in 1992 when they restyled the Crown Vic, leaving only the GM wagons for full-sized offerings.
9. 1984 Toyota Tercel. The Tercel wagon was Toyota's answer to Subaru's popular 4WD wagon. It offered seating for five plus reasonable cargo hauling, standard Toyota reliability in a world of American engines that lasted 80K miles...
10. Volvo 1800 Sportwagen. If for no other reason than for the sheer "what the hell was that?" it engenders in the motoring public, Volvo's answer to the MGB fastback rounds out the list (in case it wasn't readily apparent already, I have a fondness for the odd...) :)
So that's the end of a rather unorthodox list for this week. Station wagons don't get a lot of favorable automotive press, being that they tend to be heavy, slow, and corner like a convenience store. However, they do offer seating for large groups, passable cargo capacity, and are (nearly) invisible to police radar (if you can get them moving, that is...).
So c'mon! Share the love for the wagon!
That is all.
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17 comments:
Are one-offs allowed? If so, then find the April 1993 issue of "Car & Driver," and read up on the "Billy Wagon." Picture a Taurus wagon with the SHO drivetrain in it: a 220hp 3.0L V-6 with manual transmission.
Panels AKA "dog wagons" AKA "crummies", loggers used to ride to work in the woods in these prime machines. They always smelled like wet socks and orange peels.
http://therodgod.com/list/1958panel.jpg
I have a 1994 Roadmaster wagon. Over 120K miles and still hauling the family, and anything else I need to cram into it. It was my wifes daily driver for years, and is affectionately known in the family as the "Mommy Maru"
I love me some station wagons. Always have.
My aunt had one (no idea what kind) she drove back to SA from West Virginia back in the late-80s. Good memories.
1979 Buick something-or-other. The Yellow Banana. Mom got rear-ended at freeway speed by a little foreign job. Little foreign job got totaled. Yellow Banana had one corner of the license plate slightly bent.
1980-something Country Squire. "My" first car. Drove it to school in the summer the year I graduated to work on the yearbook. Was driving it when I met my ex-husband. Ah, the joys of a V-8 and leather seats...
My current baby is a 1995 Taurus wagon. Not pretty, but one hell of a workhorse.
Ah the New Yorker wagon. Friggin Holy Grail of redneck derby drivers all across the fruited plain..
The 1969 Cutlass Vista Cruiser with a small block V-8. The roof windows let in enough sun to overwhelm the A/C but gave it a damn rakish look. As Jay noted it was all but invisible to police. I could easily cruise I-95 at 70+ (during the 55mph interregnum) between Fredericksburg and Richmond, VA. Found a photo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%2769_Oldsmobile_Vista_Cruiser_(Rigaud).jpg
No AMC???
The Pacer and Eagle were classics! :)
I've only had one wagon in my life, and it was one of only 2 non-chrysler products I've ever owned (and I didn't pay a dime for either of them). It was a bare-bones manual steering, manual brakes, 6 cyl with a powerslide 1964 Chevy Biscayne that my grandfather had bought new. I got the use of it when he got too old to handle that tank. Quickly sold it to a family friend. Mow, I *do* have plenty of fond memories of a 67 Fury wagon that a friend of mine owned when we were kids. 440-V8 with the usual bolt on goodies, the old Ansen Sprint wheels with N50-15s on the back (I never have totally embrace the new tire sizing standard) and a big old snorkel scoop. That's one wagon that flew, but not under the radar by any means! Another friend way back owned a Pinto wagon with a 302 crammed in it, and a different friend's *MOM* drove a vega wagon with a 350 and side pipes. Now THAT was one hell of a grocery-getter. Her boys had faster track cars, but mom had the fastest street legal car in the family.
I or family have had all of these -
66 Chevy Impala w/396 (it had the badge and gas jockeys stared). Speedometer only went to 120.
73' Volvo 145 - beat it into the ground. Dead simple car. Old B24 4cyl.
86? Honda civic - just ran and ran and ran.
Ditto for the Olds Vista Cruiser. Me luvs the roof windows. I've always loved station wagons - a pity they lost favor in the 80s.
How about "concept wagons" (almost a contradiction in terms): Olds' 1990 Expression...
Jay, take this to the next level.
Which of today's cars would be best suited for a wagon variant?
Off topic, I just returned last Monday from my round trip from Galveston to Orlando & return.
Pulling a cargo trailer on the return trip, my mileage suffered.
But on the outbound, unladed leg of the journey, my '97 Crown Vic returned a measured 26.92 mpg, with the cruise mostly set at 75 mph.
Had my 14 year old yellow cat along for the ride. He's diabetic, and needs his daily insulin shot. No leaving him behind.
He was fine in the Vic. Room to roam, room for his food, battery powered water fountain, and even a litter pan.
I'm shopping for an '05 to '87 Vic, so I can own this one a decade after Obama screws the market.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
We had a Subaru Legacy which we got for small money in 1993. 12 uncomplaining years and 140,000 uncomplaining miles later we replaced it with a Nissan minivan, which is a total POS.
I had a Country Squire, other than the 302 continually burning out the bearings in the alternator it was a decent car.
How many of you ever saw a Citroen wagon? They were wonderful cars, way beyond just different!
WTF???
Jay, you need to get that Jan & Dean 8-track out and listen to it again!
I'm trying to remember a Beach Boys song about a "woodie" and can't. But Jan & Dean sang that they "got a '34 wagon and we call it a "woodie"" while they were on their way to Surf City... where there were two girls for every boy.
Seriously... what song are you talking about? "Ol Betsy" was a 32, so that can't be it. I thought I knew all of the Beach Boys car songs, and I can't think of what you're talking about.
FAIL!!!
How can you leave out this 70/80's era Volvo station wagons like the one below.
I mean, it was the car associated with Yuppies and soccer mom's before the mini-vans and SUVs took over.
Heck, I think it's the station wagon ever to be featured in an advertiser's commercial and complemented. (Subaru advertised how much they liked the Volvo's safety that they modeled their wagon after it.)
http://tomwier.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/ymca-hike-1-006.jpg
The coolest wagon by far is the 1980-83 Toyota Corolla 1.8(1.6 in '83) wagons... with their bulletproof reliability and very popular to us latinos in the 80's-early 90's, even to this day. They are the only wagon that looked... just as good as the coupe, hatchback and liftback models... modding with rotary engines, or jdm old school rims. They look great(as we used to do 'em) lowered and slammed to the ground.
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