It’s Wednesday. The holy day in the middle of the week when we praise the longroof. In thinking about wagons, I was curious as to which of all the greats might we consider to be the most iconic?
In the modern era, it’s likely to be a Mercedes-AMG E63 or the Audi RS6 Avant. Back a few decades, we’d say it’s the Volvo 245. You can step back along the Volvo family lines even further, however, and arrive at the 1800ES and the Amazon.
In the more American side of things, we have the Country Squire and Country Sedan. There are others of course, but the Fords stand out most fresh in my mind.
Of all the wagons, which is the one that stands out as the most iconic machine to wear the longer roof? This is a tough question with many answers, so I look forward to seeing what arrives in the comments below.
Hooniverse Asks: What's the most iconic wagon of all time?
By Jeff Glucker
Feb 21, 2018
By Jeff Glucker
Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff
Amazon is nice but the Duett was really the car that founded Volvo’s tradition of combining utility and leisure, leading up to their more widely known wagons like the 245 and 745. And I would even say it’s better looking than the PV it was based on.
Can’t find fault with your choice, but I’d give the Amazon the nod.
http://vintageswedishcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Volvo-122S-Amazon-Wagon-Combi-Estate-15s.jpg
Whether or not anyone will ever agree (admit) if it’s a station wagon or not, it’s hard to argue the shape, seating, and overall purpose aren’t the same.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1ab59041ee42fab26d9f2aa7a73ab4e7ce59af11fd9115dcd926e68bad7fcda5.jpg
I’m a big sucker for those generational pictures.
https://drivemyfamily.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/volvo-v90-legacy.jpg?w=860&h=280
As the current owner of this Volvo 66 GL wagon I am outraged– um, I mean, unsurprised by its omission from that lineup.
https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/050117-Barn-Finds-1976-Volvo-66-GL-4.jpg
Especially since they included the 1800ES!
It looks like this photo was taken on Belle Isle, just offshore from Detroit – the silver silos aka GM HQ are in the background.
Correct, Scott Fountain is in the background.
Old Suburbans are very cool, but they’re still trucks. A wagon is derived from a car, most typically a 4-door sedan. While I agree the function is similar, the roots are different. Incidentally, I don’t consider the P1800ES a wagon, either.
1957 Mercury Colony Park – quintessentially American in every sense of the word. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b721a87082a229e7dae1796a4227968d0ec7f685aff4724804b1d5d60e0cf8e6.jpg
A pity it wasn’t available with the “Twin Jet” air vents of the Turnpike Cruiser.
http://cdn.barrett-jackson.com/staging/carlist/items/Fullsize/Cars/201095/201095_Misc_2e8de91b-437e-424d-bc4d-732ace130fd9_Web.jpg
Hard to go past a pillarless wagon. I bet if they really tried they could have deleted the C-pillar too! Even if you had to keep replacing the side window every time you drove over a bump larger than a playing card…
Radio Flyer
http://cdn3.radioflyer.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/800×800/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/c/l/classic-red-wagon-model-18_1_3_1.jpg
The ’65 thru ’72 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. You can literally cruise the vista in one!
Here in the North , these were popular. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8c4c59e471701294f6096c46db8a3a4cb9c1618ed18bb035ac0da87e5da9a6f4.jpg
SUV of the 70s… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/494d64e9830d1c9884f9e4cd53f44fbaf059da9dc539bce01ad3a88f229e90ea.jpg
Or the Falcon wagon:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e23439a971acbe44a5dcfaa54c22b471029e931b70143b1c67a474056391cecd.jpg
Or combine the two, this is a 1972 Australian Ford Falcon wagon. T https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/302befe2194c924c9d36f33167fa4d0d1e34c64b71a3b0aa8f8c7ff83517097a.jpg his one is the top Fairmont trim level, among other things with the 2-way tailgate.
Just the right size
OG Chrysler woodies
Vista cruiser
Volvo 145
I’m going to put in another vote for the ‘65 – ‘72 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser…
My family had a 1971 model, with “455 Rocket” power (7.5 liters if you don’t dance to cubic inches). It was the first car I got to drive. My dad, a dyed-in-the-wool Buick man, grudgingly bought the Vista Cruiser because there was not a medium sized Buick wagon offered in ‘71, as there had been when he’d bought our prior car, a 1967 “Special” wagon. He and my mom think it was a mistake to this day. I loved it though – that car was the reason I bought a ‘71 Cutlass SX convertible to restore.
In the early ‘70’s, Vista Cruisers seemed to be as plentiful as Tahoes and Suburbans today, particularly on the highways…particularly in various shades of green!
The most ICONic wagon? The first Derelict.
https://www.icon4x4.com/derelict/pastprojects/1
https://www.icon4x4.com/uploads/default/derelicts/Main_D_Gallery_012_large.jpg
The most iconic “of all time” is the covered wagon, but this is Hooniverse, so…
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6734beeddd2d421e595d6ebf87c2bc7e0762a68e397919ec0f13c0195cd4532c.jpg
Those Barris Kustom Cars blew my 6yr old mind.
Are you sure it’s not: http://atomictoasters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/269826_2226842595127_6289801_n.jpg http://atomictoasters.com/2012/08/extraordinarily-stupid-road-trip-%e2%80%93-part-one/
That’s the answer had the question been asked on Atomic Toasters.
I don’t even feel like that would be fun to drive around a parking lot in
Studebaker did have rights to the Conestoga name….
https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/08-1955-Studebaker.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/240402e68fb78915d2c47197410e993e15b1d032898e2cda8a010818fa9e957b.jpg 1963 Pontiac SuperDuty 421Tempest Wagon factory-built drag racer.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0629cb3f46133a5dba026d18d8a517d8dfc8549647fcda601ecd885b88495584.jpg
’49 Ford “Woody”
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3975d83ab86f3e4a65c91fc8a50c5af20f91f72a2db3fe71870f043aff6c7dd8.png
Great photo above.
“You think you hate it now, but wait till you drive it!”
As much as I love your American land yachts and Swedish IKEA trip Longboats, I reckon the humble Corolla KE70 would get more recognition and nostalgia from more people from more parts of the world and across a greater span of generations.
http://www.pena-project.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/twinKE70_02.jpg
I had an 83 Corolla Wagon in brown. It had a roof rack, AM radio, vinyl seats and a 3 spd automatic when I got it. That is the car that I most regret selling.
I thought of the fast Audi wagons, the 1999 RS4 which was about the first car to offer supercar performance in a low-key package, thanks to about 380hp and awd, ahead of the supercharged E55 for example, but then the Porsche-developed and built RS2 came before that.
But then when you think “wagon”, you are just as likely to think Volvo and the ever-lasting 240.
But to add to crank_case’s point about other parts of the world, in Africa it would be the Peugeot 504 – surely one of the best wagons ever, along with the 505 which basically just updated the package. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1eb996861cf3b90cc88fb7cd1c2ff7b6f761a0570e05858c66cac7915f4778c8.jpg
http://pics.imcdb.org/0is116/jaguarxkehearse7112tg3.6506.jpg
BONUS ROUND! The wagon in the garage is…? I’m thinking Rambler, AMC, something in that vein. No time to image search, and some loon on IMCDB thinks it’s a 1970 Datsun 510
EDIT: or they think the roof and lights on the Jag are from a Datsun… that makes more sense.
It’s a Ford Country Squire from around 1962. The TRUE iconic station wagon of all time. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2b03b7bf38eb501f2a13fab736549a43de1a6855257f01831bed9a2f2772c60f.jpg
The wall may have gotten torn down and socialism defeated, but revenge is a dish best served from the grave through a two-stroke engine.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/98f31ea381dcf3e7a01ceb2cfc15c9ea25b4f1979779bfd9a44dc8af23e8ebea.jpg
A mid-to-late-70s Town & Country which has an Imperial/New Yorker nose grafted on.
Win!
Naturally, I’d transplant a Hellkitty engine/drivetrain, but keep it really quiet.
http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.ebayimg.com%2Fimages%2Fg%2Fz7YAAOSwwbdWLaxX%2Fs-l1600.jpg&hash=33d6bc772d5fe55d718115fc1a332599
Love the car. Wouldn’t ruin it with an overpowered modern engine.
How about a slightly-built 440?
There is a woodgrain one which has a tweaked 426 in it…looks proper in that rather spacious engine bay.
Wow, what a beast! That one might actually require a CDL.
Nah.
My ’73 Coupe DeVille was that size, a couple of inches longer (remember, a two-door)…same color, too. At most, a harbor pilot is nice to have when in unfamiliar parking lots.
If nothing else, call the harbor master and check to see if there’s anything you should be aware of.
And, yes, I once got somewhat stuck in a parking garage, though it wasn’t wholly my fault.
Harbor pilot… ha! The Deville was a boat of a car too, but I’m pretty sure the T&C had it by an inch or so. The Caddy may have been wider, though.
Nope.
1973 Coupe DeVille, 228″.
1977 T&C, 227″.
They’re effectively the same, but put this wagon’s body in a 2-door sedan configuration, and yeah….
I miss certain aspects of that car…the huge, heavy doors are not one of them if I had to park in tight quarters.
8 MPG is another I don’t miss.
Ah, I was thinking earlier 70s, when the T&C was pushing 230. I think my biggest ride wasn’t much over 220, but it still barely fit in the garage, and I managed to average around 11 or 12 mpg. I like big cars for cruising and interstate travel, but around town I prefer a much smaller ride.
Similar to the T&C was the Plymouth Suburban my dad had as a company car back in the early 70s. Not sure of the year, but the front of this ’71 looks to be about right. Same green color, though. Somehow the speedometer would quit working when we would take it out west on vacation, and miraculously start working the Monday after returning home. *cough* I still remember all the space in the back, the pockets in the top of the wheelwells (where I had melted some crayons), and the ability to carry home an entire load of wood paneling, flat, in the rear with the seats down.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dd213649fd5d9474b10d24bdd1c6a2ecd0904077875e8fadd9b0958ae0e5a310.jpg
Come on Hooniverse, no love for the E46 Bmw ?
Toronado Jetway for the win. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0c585e631f845fb87c1895f5403ed9db11b144d049f54bb50a247c3f506151d4.png