What wagon is the ultimate wagon to you?

the ultimate 1 wagon for me would probably be a checker marathon wagon.....does anyone on here have one?

they had good engines and were very simple... built to run over 200k miles

hey Taranau if you HAVE to replace the colony park, would u consider a taurus x ...aka freestyle? its kinda got old school lines!

 

replacements

One of the reasons my wife and I got our Colony Park,was for it to be "our classic baby".Operating along the lines of a story I'd heard,when I was about twelve.;Overheard at a car fix-it shop in the early seventies,"Are you sure you want to spend more money on this car?It's a 57 Nomad!" "Well,,,YES!!!" That's how we feel about our Colony Park.I really don't think we'll be replacing it.We'll probably just add a third car to our line up.
I guess the point I was trying to make is,that there's that pressure on(in advertising and society)to get rid of the passe past and embrace the wonderfull future...At this point in time,only the SUV hybrids come anywheres close to making me want to buy a brand new car.Compared to the passe past our Colony Park represents,nothing else in the wonderfull future actually looks that wonderfull.

 

ill agree ... the passe past is getting attacked! screw convention!
i like my cars low and long! i feel bad for you... i understand out in LA you folks have to deal with rampant wacko enviromentalists! have you ever been approached by someone telling you you're killing the environment by driving a 20-some year old wagon?

 

those looks

We used to get it more in our 77 Dodge Aspen stationwagon.And then,strangely enough,from people in diesel MBZ's and younger Chrysler versions of the same car we were driving...We'd pull up at the stoplight next to one these other cars,and they'd look over.Upon seeing our Dodge,they would get this look on their face,like our car was covered in creamed spinach or raw sewage.:confused:Like,how dare we even take this thing out on the road?
The big problem we have with the Colony Park is that people have taken the view that stationwagons are real slow and can stop on a dime.And then,either think it's incredibly funny or we're offensive snapcase freakers for skidding to a stop to avoid t-boning them.
I work in the Hollywood area(but not for a movie studio)and there are a sizable minority of older vehicles around.It wasn't happening before I had my Colony Park,but it's happening now.There are being more and more mid-80's woodiewagons rolling around.And some of them even look freshly painted and woodied...I like to think I had something to do with that.

 

Hey Taranau, I realize to each his own, but what is it about "hybrids" that you like so much. When the first-generation came out a little over a decade ago, it was advertised as new technology. what a joke! Hello, has anyone heard of railroads? Their locomotives have been using diesel-electric hybrid technology for nearly 40 years now. When it first started being it was determined for them that it was economically practical for railroads to use but not for cars and trucks.

I still say that is the case. You figure that battery technology, being what it is, will last at most 10 years before needing to be replaced (and at quite a freakin' cost) and imagine all of those batteries filling up the land fills. Meanwhile the fuel savings you get when require you to drive for 10 years to just break even with the higher cost of a hybrid model versus a comparable non-hyrbrid vesrion. That is just in time for the battery to go.

 

hybrids

(1)Here in Southern California,a guy with a PBS show named Huell Howzer,did a show last year about hybrid vehicles.There were several forms of hybrid drivetrains,including one that worked just like diesel-electric locomotives.All the examples shown on the show were from the first thirty years of the twentieth century.So,no,the current trend is nothing new,really.
(2)Our 86 Colony Park gets 17 and 23 mpg.The highway mileage rating does not include commuter drive time on the freeways.That 23 is open road mpg.Rush hour traffic doesn't count as highway mileage.No brand new SUV of comparable size does better(some are even getting single digit mpg's when fully laden,from what I hear).Even minivans and crossovers don't do much better:confused:...The only brand new vehicles that get appreciably better mpg's and have the room me,my wife and three kids need,are the hybrid SUV's.Prius's get great mpg's,but are lacking the room for five people and all the stuff they need to go camping in the woods for a week(or just a weekend even).Why buy something brand new,just to get 1,2 or 3 more mpg?And why get something the whole family can't get in to?
I've also been thinking that maybe a diesel drivetrain might not be a bad idea either,providing I can find one that'll get us appreciably better mpg's---and be bio-diesel ready.Wouldn't even mind converting to all electric,with overnight plug-in.Think I'll skip the steam powered engine hybrid.(one of the examples an Huell's show)

 

on the diesel note.....here is an eye candy conversion for you.

 

I can understand that Taranau. The greenies simply don't understand that some of us need big cars and the laws of physics and economics are what they are. That is why I favor more drilling of our domestic sources, build more refineries, and keep gas taxes LOW in order to promote low gas prices. So we can afford to drive we want and need. This used to be called freedom but now it is "selfishness" and "greed". A pity because we need cheap gas. Until the free market discovers a truly vaible alternative to fossil fuels.

 

Hey Norman,Didn't you want one of these wagons?

 

I was just reading this morning that Toyota is losing money on their electric rechargeable hybrids. The battery costs $8,000 in the new GM Volt! Something is wrong with this picture.

Also read that Yemen will run out of oil by 2017. They didn't plan a 'dry-times' piggy bank. Global Welfare system coming. The IMF can't lend to a country with no revenues.

Hydrogen cars from Toyota can't run in -30C (Friggin' cold!), so the Hydrogen Highway from our West Coast to the East, has to stop at Saskatchewan, and pick up 800 miles east in Ontario. Also means ND, Montana and SD are SOL (Sh!t Outta Luck).

North America's growth and strength is due to the Automobile, with vast countries to criss-cross. You don't have to be a greenie to look at economical power systems. The Oil Princes are claiming they've lost $700 billion since October's Bailout requests. They don't like realistic oil prices, so when things stabalize again, we can rest assured that Fuel prices will ZOOOM too. I'd rather drive or take the train, than fly.

 

You need 5 acres to fuel up that horse, at least! Besides, I'm not at that 'Station' in life. I'm a bear on punctuality, but I do plan on being late for my own Funeral.

 

WELL!!!! I thought you would like it.

 

I like the headlights - great for low-speed driving. The steering wheel is simple enough - no tie-rods or greasing, and at least the 'motor' has 4 on the floor, but that exhaust system would need a heck of a pooper-scooper!

 

Might want to tie a bucket to catch the poop,

 

Makes you wonder why they never got windshields for the driver. What if the horse got the runs? :banghead3: Too much vapor coming out of the tailpipe? You can't tweak that carburetor.