the classic and stylish station wagon

I feel station wagons have fallen decidedly out of fashion in past five to ten years. Station wagons seem to get shunned by society. They are turned away as drab, unexciting implements that have long been obsolete. They were first replaced by minivans, then sport utility vehicles and more recently crossovers.  For the new models that closely resemble the classic station wagon the automakers create new terminology, such as sport utility and crossover, anything so long as they evade the stigma of the station wagon.

It seems the station wagon is the relic of another time; maybe a better time.  It’s a shame station wagons are not more fully embraced today, because in their hay day they were truly something special and important to the American family, and yes, even exciting.  Since they were largely a product of the ‘50s and ‘60s, the glory days of the American automobile, they were highly stylish.

1950 Buick Estate Woody

1967 Pontiac

It was a time when bigger was clearly better--making low, wide and long the current vogue in auto design. The station wagon was in excellent taste. Its three rows a seating and cargo space gave purpose to the long sweeping lines so in style.   As kid, my grandpa still drove an old station wagon and that last bench facing rearward was always the best part of riding with him.

1957 Oldsmobile 88 wagon

1960 Buick LeSabre Estate Wagon

Another ‘50s element that added to the beauty of American station wagons was the unrestricted, open-air feel that was so important to create a pleasant driving experience for car owns.  This meant big wraparound windows, razor thin pillars, deleted pillars (hardtops) and vista windows in the roof all used to create an open glasshouse canopy.  American families wanted to be able to pile into the family car for a road trip and have a great view of all they passed.  Families were crisscrossing the nation in rolling works of art.

Then in the ‘60s it was a time of unrestricted high performance.  Cars were offered with huge lists of engine options running from the mundane economy engines to the probably-shouldn’t-be-street-legal, don’t-tell-my-insurance-agent engines.  So, there were the high performance station wagons.  Chevy Nomads (extra-stylish two-door station wagons) were given the now legendary Chevy small-block V-8.

1957 Chevy Nomad

The Oldsmobile 4-4-2 station wagon was probably the greatest and most outrageous of the high performance wagons. It was offered with the vista roof and the Hurst hi-po package which included: 455 cubic inch big-block V8, fiberglass ram air hood, heavy duty suspension, disc brakes, duel mode tailgate (swings down and swings sideways) and power everything.