1971-1976 GM "clamshell" wagon production figures (all years/models)

I think I posted this years ago and some may have seen it elsewhere, but a few years ago I compiled this list of production numbers for the 1971-76 GM full-size wagons. Below is a copy/paste from a site I had put these on years ago, but like I said, I think I posted these here years ago, but thought I would share again since the "clams" have became a little popular again. The highest production clamshell was the 2-seat 1973 Impala wagon and the lowest was the 1975 2-seat Custom Cruiser without woodgrain. Only the 73-76 Olds had a breakdown available between woodgrain/non-woodgrain models. All of the production numbers were taken out of several different old car catalogs I have collected over the years. I am not responsible for any errors or typos. LOL.

Note how they started out with fairly reasonable production figures and seems to peak out around 1973, then drops like a rock starting in 1974 and bottoms out for 1975 (with low production numbers across the board in 1975 and no particular model went beyond 20,000 units, the highest production in '75 was the 3-seat Impala wagon with only 19,455 units), but does seem to pick back up a little for 1976. I guess the low 74-75 production numbers was due to the fuel issues of '74-'75.

CHEVROLET-
1971
Brookwood- (Biscayne)- 2 seat - 5,314
Townsman- (Bel-Air)- 2 seat - 12,951
Townsman- (Bel-Air)- 3 seat - 6,870
Kingswood- (Impala)- 2 seat - 26,638
Kingswood- (Impala)- 3 seat - 32,311
Kingswood Estate- (Caprice)- 2 seat - 11,913
Kingswood Estate- (Caprice)- 3 seat - 19,010

CHEVROLET-
1972
Brookwood- (Biscayne)- 2 seat - 8,150
Townsman- (Bel-Air)- 2 seat - 16,482
Townsman- (Bel-Air)- 3 seat - 8,667
Kingswood- (Impala)- 2 seat - 43,152
Kingswood- (Impala)- 3 seat - 40,248
Kingswood Estate- (Caprice)- 2 seat - 20,281
Kingswood Estate- (Caprice)- 3 seat - 34,723

CHEVROLET-
1973
Bel-Air- 2 seat - 14,549
Bel-Air- 3 seat - 6,321
Impala- 2 seat - 46,940
Impala- 3 seat - 43,664
Caprice Estate- 2 seat - 22,969
Caprice Estate- 3 seat - 39,535

CHEVROLET-
1974
Bel-Air- 2 seat - 6,437
Bel-Air- 3 seat - 2,913
Impala- 2 seat - 23,455
Impala- 3 seat - 23,259
Caprice Estate- 2 seat - 12,280
Caprice Estate- 3 seat - 23,063

CHEVROLET-
1975
Bel-Air- 2 seat - 4,032
Bel-Air- 3 seat - 2,386
Impala- 2 seat - 17,998
Impala- 3 seat - 19,445
Caprice Estate- 2 seat - 9,047
Caprice Estate- 3 seat - 18,858

CHEVROLET
1976
Impala- 2 seat - 19,657
Impala- 3 seat - 21,329
Caprice Estate- 2 seat - 10,029
Caprice Estate- 3 seat - 21,804
--------------------------------
PONTIAC
1971
Safari- (Catalina)- 2 seat - 10,322
Safari- (Catalina)- 3 seat - 9,283
Grand Safari- (Bonneville)- 2 seat - 3,613
Grand Safari- (Bonneville)- 3 seat - 5,972

PONTIAC
1972
Safari- (Catalina)- 2 seat - 14,536
Safari- (Catalina)- 3 seat - 12,766
Grand Safari- (Bonneville)- 2 seat - 5,675
Grand Safari- (Bonneville)- 3 seat - 8,540

PONTIAC
1973
Safari- (Catalina)- 2 seat - 15,762
Safari- (Catalina)- 3 seat - 14,654
Grand Safari- (Grand Ville)- 2 seat - 6,894
Grand Safari- (Grand Ville)- 3 seat - 10,776

PONTIAC
1974
Safari- 2 seat - 5,662
Safari- 3 seat - 6,486
Grand Safari- 2 seat - 2,894
Grand Safari- 3 seat - 5,255

PONTIAC
1975
Safari- 2 seat - 3,964
Safari- 3 seat - 4,992
Grand Safari- 2 seat - 2,568
Grand Safari- 3 seat - 4,752

PONTIAC
1976
Safari- 2 seat - 4,735
Safari- 3 seat - 5,513
Grand Safari- 2 seat - 3,462
Grand Safari- 3 seat - 6,176
-----------------------------
OLDSMOBILE
1971
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 4,049
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 9,932

OLDSMOBILE
1972
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 6,907
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 18,087

OLDSMOBILE
1973
WITH WOODGRAIN:
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 7,142
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 19,163
WITHOUT WOODGRAIN:
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 5,275
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 7,341

OLDSMOBILE
1974
WITH WOODGRAIN:
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 2,960
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 8,947
WITHOUT WOODGRAIN:
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 1,481
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 2,528

OLDSMOBILE
1975
WITH WOODGRAIN:
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 2,837
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 9,458
WITHOUT WOODGRAIN:
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 1,458
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 2,315

OLDSMOBILE
1976
WITH WOODGRAIN:
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 3,849
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 12,269
WITHOUT WOODGRAIN:
Custom Cruiser- 2 seat - 2,572
Custom Cruiser- 3 seat - 3,626
-------------------------------

BUICK
1971
Estate Wagon- 2 seat - 8,699
Estate Wagon- 3 seat - 15,335

BUICK
1972
Estate Wagon- 2 seat - 10,175
Estate Wagon- 3 seat - 18,793

Buick
1973
Estate Wagon- 2 seat - 12,282
Estate Wagon- 3 seat - 23,513

Buick
1974
Estate Wagon- 2 seat - 4,581
Estate Wagon- 3 seat - 9,831

Buick
1975
Estate Wagon- 2 seat - 4,128
Estate Wagon- 3 seat - 9,612

Buick
1976
Estate Wagon- 2 seat - 5,990
Estate Wagon- 3 seat - 14,384

 

Thanks for those figures, Tony!

1973 was quite a year for car sales!

David

 

That's good news for me. Of all the clamshells the 1973 Impala is hands-down my favorite.

 

Yeah it sure was... well over 100,000 "clams" made in '73. Where are they now?

Sure was a bunch of those! Almost 84,000 made.

 

Never really had experience with these...

 

Or the relatively severe economic recession the country went through right then. But, yes, with fuel prices rising rapidly after the '73 Arab oil embargo, interest in big, heavy, low-MPG cars was definitely on the wane.

I still remember gas at about 35 cents per gallon in 1973 jumping to the unheard of 55 cents per gallon by '74 or '75.


Here's an interesting chart. I know it's for super-unleaded fuel and not regular, but it's interesting to see that, when adjusted for inflation, the price of gas now is the same as it was in 1979/1980.

 

That is an interesting chart, thanks for sharing!

.55¢ per gallon... can you imagine now? lol. I know that was a lot though in '75.

Looking at these production numbers, seeing some interesting facts. The 1974 Caprice Estate wagon (as well as the Impala wagons) were made in higher numbers than the 75-76 Impala/Caprice wagons, yet you seem to see many more 75-76 Impala/Caprice wagons for sale on the net... rarely do you see a 74 Chevy wagon for sale, especially a Caprice wagon. I cannot tell you the last time I have seen a '74 Caprice Estate wagon listed anywhere for sale other than that yellow one that has been for sale for years for $20K, lol.

The '75 Custom Cruiser 2-seat wagon (non-woodgrain model) was the lowest production clamshell wagon... when was the last time anyone has seen one for sale? I wonder if any still exist?

 

I also had a breakdown of the 71-78 Ford and Mercury wagons typed up and posted somewhere, but I cannot find it anywhere.

 

I'd like to see 79 #s(ford) or find a way to see how many like mine were made i don't think many!

 

I will have to keep looking. lol.

 

I found it using the search on this site, I posted this back in 2009. I will also bring it "back to the top" for the newbies to see...

71-78 Ford #'s::

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3667

also the old link where I had posted the GM #'s...

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3059

_________________________________________________________________

Notice how these numbers trended like the clamshell wagons... peaked in '73, then dropped for '74 and bottomed out in '75 and picked back up for '76.


Production totals for the 71-78 Ford and Mercury full-size wagons. Sorry, no breakdowns for 6 vs. 10 passenger models.

1971-
Custom Ranch Wagon - 16696
Custom Ranch 500 wagon - 29957
Galaxie Country Sedan wagon - 60487
LTD Country Squire - 130644

1972-
Custom Ranch Wagon - 13064
Custom Ranch 500 wagon - 16834
Galaxie Country Sedan wagon - 55238
LTD Country Squire - 121419

1973-
Custom Ranch 500 wagon - 22432
Galaxie Country Sedan wagon - 51290
LTD Country Squire - 142933

1974-
Custom Ranch 500 wagon - 12104
Galaxie Country Sedan wagon - 22400
LTD Country Squire - 64047

1975-
Custom Ranch 500 wagon - 6930
Galaxie Country Sedan wagon - 22935
LTD Country Squire - 41550

1976-
Custom Ranch 500 wagon - 4633
Galaxie Country Sedan wagon - 30237
LTD Country Squire - 47379

1977-
Custom Ranch 500 wagon - 1406
Galaxie Country Sedan wagon &
LTD Country Squire - 90711 (no breakdown available for this year)

1978-
Custom Ranch 500 wagon - 1196
Galaxie Country Sedan wagon &
LTD Country Squire - 71285 (no breakdown available for this year)

and the Mercury wagons.... (again, no 2 vs. 4 seat model breakdown)

1971-
Monterey - 4160
Marquis - 2158
Colony Park - 20004

1972-
Monterey - 4644
Marquis - 2085
Colony Park - 20192

1973-
Monterey - 4275
Marquis - 2464
Colony Park - 23283

1974-
Monterey - 1669
Marquis - 1111
Colony Park - 10802

1975-
Marquis - 1904
Colony Park - 11652

1976-
Marquis - 2493
Colony Park - 15114

1977-
Marquis - 20363 (no breakdown between woodgrain/non woodgrain models)

1978-
Marquis - 16883 (no breakdown between woodgrain/non woodgrain models)

 

I just noticed though that you said 1979 Ford wagon totals, not the 71-78 models. lol. You may can find those numbers in the standard catalog of Ford. I don't have one of those.

 

I knew about the inflation adjustment thing. I feel gas prices should be between $3.00 and $3.50 a gallon and that's exactly where it's been for awhile. I paid $3.17 a gallon a couple weeks ago and $3.27 a gallon this morning. I know recently (around Christmas) it was under $3.00 and that's fine by me. Gas has been cheap for a long time. I expect it to go up. If I was still a cab driver I'd be pretty upset about it. If I was still doing package delivery I'd be livid about it. But honestly I don't drive as much as I used to and it isn't affecting me.

 

I also wonder that if the installation of catalytic converters on USA cars beginning in 1975 and all of the ads stating how the cars ran leaner and cleaner helped the sales increase for '75-'76?

Did it actually improve fuel economy?

 

Ahhh NO! lol