Day 7 of Wagon Week…This 1973 AMC Hornet Sportaboutmight have been one of the nicest styled station wagons of the era, IMO. Yes, its sloped rear roof might have cut down a bit on cargo space, but hey, it looked great! AMC interiors of the day also seemed to try a bit harder to look cool (bottom photo), and of course the obligatory fake woodgrain side panels were also offered. Standard power
Day 6 of Wagon Week…Station wagon? Perhaps, depending on who you ask. When this 1973 Volkswagenwas new, VW advertised is a the VW Station Wagon, or, in this iteration, the Campmobile— a version which they advertised as combining “…the best features of three cars and a house.”The house part might be obvious (VW explained it as “a vacation home”).But, thre
Day 5 of Wagon Week…And now for something completely different — the 1972 Citroën Ami8. Depending on where you were at the time, it was either a Break(France), an Estate(Great Britain) or, here in the U.S., a Station Wagon— or at least it would have been had it ever been sold here. The predecessor to the Ami 8, the Ami 6, wassold here from 1963 to 1968, but Citroën onl
Day 4 of Wagon Week…The all-new 1963 Studebaker Lark Wagonairewas unique in the American market with its sliding roof panel which could help owners accommodate… what? A small refrigerator? A potted palm? Or maybe, as was suggested in the brochure photo seen below, a safe place for the kids to stand when the parents park in the middle of a poison ivy patch, Lol… The Lark statio
Day 3 of Wagon Week…Is this 1960 GMC Custom Suburbanreally a station wagon? Well, a full complement of side windows and three rows of seats would seem to say, yes. (It was also available as a panel van, sans all the windows save those in the doors.) Based on the GMC pickup, the Suburban (or Model 1001) was available with a choice of two different rear door configurations: the typical statio
Day 2 of Wagon Week…This 1958 Chevrolet Brookwoodwas seen last summer at the Kinsmen Show & Shinein Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Station wagons were a big thing in the late 1950s, fueled in part by the migration to suburbia and the need for a second car — or a larger first car — for many families. For 1958, Chevy, and the other GM wagons, still had the two-piece tailgate wi
Day 1 of Wagon Week…This 1948 Buick Super Estate Wagonis from back in the day when New York State saw fit to register station wagons as Suburbans. In Buick-speak it was Model 59, and here’s how they described it in the brochure: “For white-tie occasions or country living, the car that changes quickly from playboy to workhorse. Beautifully finished in every detail.”It would
This 1967 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiseris seen at the start of last summer’s Hemming’s Motor News Great Race, which started right here in Buffalo, New York on June 23 and finished in Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 1. The Vista Cruiser was the priciest of Olds’ wagons for 1967, what with the absence of a full-size model in the lineup; lesser models were the Cutlass and F-85 wagons, which
Back when this 1988 Ford LTD Country Squirewas new, the Blue Oval folks were still singing the praises of the versatility of the 3-way doorgate. And why not? Ford was the first to offer it back on their 1966 models across the line. Then known as the Magic Doorgate, it was standard on Fairlane and full-sized Ford wagons, and optional on the compact Falcon. As my 1966 Buyer’s Digest of New Car
Somebody in Niagara Fallsreally liked their wagons back a few years ago when this photo was taken just around the corner from Niagara University. Readily visible are four of the ultimate Buick Roadmasters(the h-u-g-e ones), a couple of Chevy Caprices, two Suburbans, and a Blazer. That’s a lotta carrying capacity!Jim Corbran, RRofWNYGot a RealRideyou'd like to see featured here? Drop us a lin