My Dads 74 Chev Caprice

Hello all you wagon fans out there. My name is George and i have a 1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon that my parents bought new in May 1974. The wagon was purchased in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where i grew up but i presently live in Milton, Ontario, Canada. Our family only used the wagon for family trips and outings in Canada and the U.S.A. and this explains the extremely low mileage of 50,324 miles on the odometer. The 74 is all factory original except for the usual wear items that need tending to. The 74 came loaded with all the usual goodies. The power plant is the 400 V-8 four barrel that has power to spare. The only mods i have done are dual exhaust (turbo mufflers), electronic ignition conversion and cruise control. My dad Anthony (1927-1993) sadly passed away on July 16, 1993 and left me the wagon. I show the car at car shows and cruise nights in his honor. I usually put 300 to 600 miles a year on the car. I do not drive the 74 much for three reasons, i want to keep it a low mileage original, it loves to eat up fuel and i have a 1957 Pontiac original restored that i put 3,000 miles a year on. This wagon rides like a dream boat and today's cars do not ride any better. I love this car and it will forever be in our family. Thanks for listening. Cheers. George.

 

Welcome George. Great that you are taking over with the family wagon and enjoying it. Hope you also enjoy this forum.

 

Welcome Caprice Estate!

 

Welcome aboard, George!

 

Welcome to the madness George!

Can't remember who, but we have a member that has been looking for a 74 CE wagon for a long time, they're tough to find especially in condition like yours. Make a few posts where it'll let you load up a few hundred of your pride and joy?

 

Welcome to the forums George.

What model of 57 Pontiac do you play with? My ears always perk up when I see one mentioned in a post. I'm somewhat partial to them.

You are very fortunate to have the family wagon tucked away. Not many have been that fortunate. Your Dad obviously cared a lot for the wagon.

 

My 57 Pontiac is a Canadian model Pathfinder Deluxe sedan. The car was built in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada and originally sold in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. The car is restored original and still has the original 261 inline six cylinder motor. I have added many factory and dealer accessories to the car and it is a manual shift on the column. I drive on average about 3,000 miles a year to car shows and cruise nights all over southern Ontario and sometimes venture off into the U.S. with my baby. I have owned the 57 since 1996 and completed the restoration in 1998. Tell me something about your sweet 57 Pontiac. Cheers. George.

 

Sounds like a nice car George. I lived 90 miles west of Medicine Hat until the late 80's and my buddy's '57 Laurentian 2dr sedan came out of Bow IslandSeven Persons not far from the 'hat in '81. We went to look at a Safari wagon not realizing it was a Canadian 4 door and he discovered his 2dr on the same farm. Meanwhile, I found my wagon is Winnipeg. It was in tough shape having been in a bad accident but I had a Star Chief hdtp at home so put the two together. It now has a Pontiac 455, 700R4, and we use it to tow our Airstream trailer (1960) all over Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. The frame was bent too badly from th firewall forward so replaced it with a '76 Trans Am clip, a perfect fit. I also had a '57 four door Laurentian, 283 automatic, for several years until the original owner tracked me down and bought it back. I really enjoyed that car and for our American readers, the Canadian Pontiac's of this vintage are on the same frame as Chevrolet and share many of the same parts. So my wagon is 122" wheel base where the Canadian version, 4 or 2 door only but no Nomad style available, were on the 57 Chev wagon frame.

My buddy has a stroked 350 in his 2dr, tri-power, a real nice car. We have both owned our cars since 1981.

 

Welcome George!

 

aboard George,
I always love to hear stories of original owner cars that have remained in the family. It sounds like a real cream puff. You're gonna have to post some pics of it..
Also would love to see pics of the '57 Pontiac.

Jack

 

Welcome CE. I, too, love stories where the wagon stays with its original owner family. Are you old enough to remember the day he bought it home from the dealer? I'm sure that must've been an exciting day for everybody. See if you can post more pictures of it.

 

Welcome. How is the 1974 Caprice optioned, In all?

 

Thank you everyone.

I appreciate the nice comments everybody. I would love to post photos of my 74 Chev wagon but i find this site very difficult to navigate. I am an "old middle aged fart" that has a hard time learning new fangled stuff. Can anyone help? Is it ok to post photos of non wagon cars as well. I have a restored 1957 Pontiac sedan that i have had since 1996. Thanks again folks. Cheers. George.

 

I was 16 years old when my dad purchased the 74 Caprice Estate new. I am the oldest in our family of seven kids and my dad asked me to come to the dealer with him to order a car. My dad and i sat down with the order form and i filled out the order form according to my dads wishes. My dad handed the paper work to the salesman and the salesman said that my dad should look at a car on the lot before he submits the order. The car that the salesman showed my dad, my dad fell in love with because of the color. Bronze metallic with the Caprice Estate wood grain. The car was new, not a demo and it had far more options than my dad would have ordered. My dad bought the car in May 1974 but it was in February 1974 that my dad decided to by a full size wagon. We were a family of nine people and our 1967 Buick Special sedan was not getting the job done anymore, even though that Buick was a sweet wonderful automobile. My dad kept the 67 Buick as his go to work car and shopping car, the wagon was our family hauler. To go on fun family trips. Once we all got older, my dad stopped driving the 74 and just parked it in the garage. The 74 sat for a number of years before it was put back on the road. In March 1993 my dad asked me to go over the car mechanically, so he could start driving it again to go to car shows with me. I was very involved in the old car hobby and had a 1957 Chevrolet BelAir hardtop that i showed. I was thrilled that my dad and i could go to shows together with our cars and started going through the 74 front to back for him. Sadly my dad was battling cancer as of April 1993 and by July 1993 my dad died from his illness. We never got a chance to take our cars together to shows. I finished the "go through" on the 74 and put it back on the road by June 1994. I to this day i show my dads 1974 Chevrolet Caprice Estate wagon in memory of my father Anthony (1927-1993) and continue to enjoy it. Thanks for listening. Cheers. George.

 

George, I am beyond middle aged and know several old farts. I know little about computers but fake it often.
This may or may not work. Scroll down to where you see MANAGE ATTACHEMENTS and click it. You will see a panel. Click the first BROUSE. This will take you to your folders. Find your car folders and follow directions.
We are all old car nuts here and as long as it has wheels, or should have them, we like pictures.

I took this to show people the difference in a regular wagon and a Nomad. With luck another 55 was across the lane.