What is it about your wagon

Wow! Orthmann that is truly touching. Nothing I've ever owned belonged to family members. I guess for me my 1955 Chevy wagon family affair begins with me.
I bought it as just a parts hauler and got carried away adding things.
We adopted our youngest son after being foster grandparents his first 1 1/2 years. By the time he was two he was actually helping me work on the wagon while I was supposed to be babysitting him playing in the rear of that seatless wagon, as in photo one. Steven has always helped me work and play with the wagon.
Now that I am old and lazy he has been the sole caretaker, improving it with modern upgrades that I really don't care for. He added things like AC/heat, cruise, digital dash, etc. Yes these are all nice additions that make driving even more fun.
As for why I choose a 55 Chevy wagon, I already had a 55 2-door sedan and wanted a 55 sedan delivery. Couldn't find one in our area. Way before I knew about internet everything I bought was local.
To me the 55-56-57 Chevy was everything America; baseball, Chevrolet, and apple pie. Maybe Diana Shore started it singing "see the USA in your Chevrolet."
I learned to drive in high school in a 55 Chevy and just liked the looks of the new Chevrolets. I love the grille, the chrome bumpers, and just the looks in general. Much cleaner than a 57 Chevy, altho I actually like a 56 Bel Air better. Still the 56 started having more shiny metal which takes away the clean looks of those 55's.
When we ride in our 55 Chevy wagon it's like we are back in high school living the 50's. We enjoy the smiles, waves, and thumbs-ups altho while driving it I forget I'm even in an old wagon. It's smooth and enjoyable to ride in. As others mention, it takes us back to a simpler time in our lives.
And without it I'd never met all of you station wagon friends!

 

Thank you very much.

 

This is it for me, as I get older and have to deal with "Real Life" problems our parents warned us about, like having teenagers and onry parents It brings me back to simpler times...a happy place, so for me it's not just my wagon, it is seeing wagons period!

 

Quote:
I was one of the last generation of kids that literally grew up in the family wagon so it's my own, personal time machine.


I never had the privilege of growing up in the back of one but my daughter did and she remembers it very well, our 80 Colony to be exact was her favorate. Other than a morning ride to school I don't think she ever sat anywhere else other than the way back, it was like her personal toy room full of dolls, Lego, colouring books, and crayons long before every brat needed TV's, I-pods and all the other junk to keep a kid busy. I can still remember driving in a straight line down the highway with her and if she had a friend along feeling the rear of the car 'wiggle" a bit as they played. When I started dating my wife Deb nothing changed, Tia still sat in the way back and Deb's King Shepherd Apollo made himself at home on the rear seat behind us head hanging out the window.

Over all what I like about wagons is they are practical, after my first one a 78 LTD beater I had no use for a regular car. Ironically I only bout the LTD wagon as a parts car to flip a 4 door sedan but I couldn't take apart the wagon as it was so dam practical.... How ever I did flip after a few months because of the gas pig 400, ran great but what a alcoholic Following the LTD was 2 Volaries, a Fairmont, the Colony, Fox body LTD and Marquis + a parts wagon, My Olds, My Buick, Olds parts car, The Beateor, and finally the Buick parts car. I have never had a 2 or 4 door regular car insured for myself in apx 25 years

But when it comes to a connection, I don't think there is anyone on this planet that can come close to Orth and his Grandpa's wagon

 

That is so very cool, Orthmann (even though it's a Mopar), and our family has never had that ourselves, even though there were five kids and Mom & Dad. Imagine this family driving from Tigard, OR to North of Seattle, WA, in a '66 Bug convertible! The only wagon our family had was a '56 Ford CS that Dad gave to a newly-married sailor and his wife when we were moving from Pennsylvania to Oregon before he shipped out to Viet Nam. It wasn't until my bro Geoff and his wife and four daughters got an '83 CS that the family got another wagon.

 

I guess just rowing through the gears with the 5 speed transmission and the strong running V8,,,I really enjoy driving that wagon. HRP

 

It was beautifully said and please repeat as often as you like, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thank you.

 

That is so cool...

The '54 was purchased new by my wifes grandmother Jessie and used in her daily duty's as a florist delivery..the wagon was used and abused for many years and then my wifes dad used it as a fish/hunting/work truck...including hauling concrete blocks and tying a john boat to the roof.

Eventually he was going to sell the wagon and Brenda spoke up and he gave her the car.

During the years before we got married her grandmother loaded me the wagon to haul band equipment when my old car broke down,we dated in that wagon and after we took ownership we brought out twin girls home from the hospital in that wagon,,,

The day finally came when the front wheel bearing went south and destroyed the spindle so the old car was parked,,for almost 27 years in the barn.

The day I pulled it out to start the restoration I realized it would be more a labor of love because the car was a mess....9 long years later I get a smile on my face every time I get behind the wheel.

To be honest we still talk about we can't believe we still have the car and it's nicer than it ever was new.

The wagon is now 60 years old,,I ain't saying how old Brenda is now but if any car can be a member of the family the wagon sure is.

The little girl in the photo is Brenda. HRP

 

What is it about your wagon

The Fox-chassis Fairmonts and Zephyrs are so easy to give them both class and sporty style, as well as all the performance that any Fox-chassis Mustang, Lincoln Versailles, or Thunderbird ever had, and like the Model T, people still make parts for them.

But as a wagon, I get all the utility, and nobody pays much attention to them for performance.

And in my case, since its a 1979 model, I don't have all that computerized gimmickry to fight with to keep it tuned. And it weighs less than a 4-banger Mustang!

She rides quiet, comfy and stable. Hope to take her down to Mexico next summer, to get another one. Mexican Fox-bodies came standard with DANA 44 axles and an 8.5" ring gear. Piece of cake to add traction-lock and rear disc brakes. Any Bronco trac-lok will slide in. Don't need disc brakes, since the drums are 10" on the Fox wagons.

We've had her since 1997, and she serves us well. Should be back on the road in a couple weeks.

 

Well, the only thing I can say about my Passatt wagon, was that I liked it (and bought it) because it was easy to transfer my mother from a wheel chair into the passenger seat and it had room in the back for her wheelchair without folding down the back seat. What I like most about my Plymouth wagon is that it will be replacing the Passatt which has been too expensive to maintain, and not as reliable as I would like. When my mother was alive she called it the "Pissant".
The Plymouth should be cheaper to maintain, and more reliable than the VW once its on the road. Once I start driving the Plymouth I expect to have more to say about it. For now though, I have had the car for 3 years but still have yet to see it in person.
That said, I had a little shock yesterday. I have a bunch of old cars and I live on a corner lot with a fair amount of through traffic. I am used to having people, who are passing, stop and say something like "nice car" when I'm outside and one of the old cars is in the driveway. Yesterday I had all my old cars out in the driveway and on the street, so a buddy could pull his 71 Comet (he bought it at Carlisle on Saturday) into the garage for us to work on. Another friend had stopped by and his 1974 Inocenti Mini Cooper was in my driveway. So with all these old cars out, a car driving by slowed down and the driver called out "Nice car!" as he pointed to one. He pointed to the Passatt wagon parked on the street! I responded with, "That one???" and that's when I noticed he was in a Passatt. By then he had driven on up the street.

 

With my 85 Custom Cruiser, it's the comfortable open space inside that car that I like best. The dashpad is all one piece, hanging from the front of the car, with nothing to get in the way down there by your feet. The rear-facing back seat is even nice and comfy to sit in while you're stopped somewhere to enjoy the scenery.

In the 72 Vista Cruiser, the thing I really like about that wagon is it's iconic and completely unique exterior design which incorporates curves with straight lines. To me, it isn't just a Cutlass station wagon. It's a muscle car station wagon. It's a 442 Wagon now.

 

always loved the look of the 70's wagons-but then I also grew up in one in Germany,which was unusual for sure; and then of course the huge loading areas-car chok full of family gear for vacations, full of antiques my parents sold with fully assembled armoirs simply pushed in the back of the car and the 2nd row seats leveled down, to the just recent trip in my now '76 CE to San Francisco full of trade show stuff and running as smooth as can be -and of course the many thumbs up on the way from other drivers!!!

 

Interesting stories guys, thanks for sharing.

 

I think this is my favorite thread on this forum. Loved these stories!

 

I like mine for three reasons - first, it's got woodgrain on it. Nothing else made in the last twenty years does. Second, it's the only car in the parking lot at work that has chrome bumpers. Third, in the year I've owned this car, I've seen a grand total of TWO others in the metro area! OK, four reasons...It's not so old that it's hard to find parts for and keeps up easily with traffic.