Are wagons falling out of fashion?

I have to say that using my story as an example there is still a strong demand for older wagons especially....the rarer the better because it is a good conversation piece and no offense to any chevelle, mustang or camaro owner but does everyone want to be driving the same thing.....I have (2) '65 ford falcon 2 dr wagons....one my dad made into a custom and man it gets attention when it is on the road or at car shows.....the attraction that I find is in the 2 dr wagons since you just don't see them....my other 2 dr '65 wagon that is in the bodyshop is constantly the conversation piece as most people checking it out think it used to be a 4 dr....I have been to many big cruises and car shows and again you see 4 dr wagons but not 2 dr wagons....the newest 2 dr that I picked up I paid $800 for it and it needs extensive bodywork but I have already had offers over $2k in as is shape....out west the wagons are flying off the chart!

 

Norm,If you,Rev,and I go to Fla and take over????

 

At this rate my wagon will make a better investment than my 401K. Pretty soon all the older ones will be had and my 82 will be golden.

 

Its always been sorta a fact. While our world economy is in shambles, Banks fail, businesses go under, and the vALUE of your land has dropped classic cars, trucks and wagons has either held steady or increased. Old car values only go up as the rest of what is supposed to be sound investments drop or go bankrupt. There will always be someone out there who has money that will want your clasic, wagon included only now-a-days they have their cash stuffed under their bed mattress instead of a bank since you can no longer trust banks anymore.

If you had asked me 3 weeks ago if id ever own a stationwagon, id have told you the wagon is what ou pay 200 bucks for simply because I needed a car ....right now ! Id never own a wagon. All that has flown out the window today

 

bwahahaha....our eeeevil plan is working

 

I think people follow fads too much. SUV's became a fad, so people bought them. Then they found out that they aren't as good as they thought in the winter, get lousy gas mileage, are expensive to fix and the tires cost alot. I don't know how Chevy sold so many of the (S10) Blazers. Those were really small inside and handle lousy.

I know some owners on this forum don't consider the DoDge Magnum a true station wagon or at least not in the same class as the big wagons of the 60's and 70's, but to me it's still a wagon. I'm 5' 10" and with the rear seats down I can lay stretched out (don't have to bend my legs) in back. That's something you can't do in a hatchback or a small wagon.

People that I meet ask me what I drive and when I say station wagon they think of Clark Griswold until they see the Mag. Then I get comments like "nice car".

To me my Magnum is way cooler than any SUV.

 

That is exactly how I define "station wagon".
Anything less is a "compact wagon".

 

Got that right!

 

Looks like a wagon to me.

 

Let me rephrase that ....

To me, ANY wagon is way cooler than an SUV!

 

Volvos. Horrible vehicles, especially with the AUDI 6 cyl diesel.

Next to the worst car I ever owned was a 71 Volvo 145. It was a complete piece of crap. At the time, it was just 10 years old. Didn't have many miles on it. It broke down on me, the so-called superiore brakes had to completely replaced twice (we're talking lines, calipers, rotors, master, booster). The dang thing broke down on me more times than I could count. Hit a street level railroad track at 25 mpg and things would fall off of it. Finally sold it for 100 bux scrap after it rusted out (and it was a Swede built, not Belgium assembled). Volvo's are pure-T crap. The last good Volvo was a 544. The 122's were okay, but completely unattractive. There wasn't any cuteness factor. This was about the time Swedes lost their work ethic completely, replacing it with the pursuit of sex, drugs, and sauna. Only thing worse was Saab after they got rid of the 99's..5-speed transmissions just "break" and Saab hasn't been able to fix the problem in decades.

M-B's on the other hand were great wagons. The old one I drove needed alot of doo-dads replaced but mechanically just kept going. It was a 300TD,,,Haul about anything I could shut the rear lid on.

Audi's have come a looong way. Also, BMW makes a tough looking "newer" wagon. Hard to beat a Subaru though..The early ones had rust problems and rode horrible BUT were impossible to break. I'm talking 1600 and 1800, not the Legacy's which weren't that great.

AND you might laff, but Peugeot diesel waggies weren't that bad either. Little difficult to get parts, but a good one would go and go.

 

There are a few factors at play here:

Up until a year and a half ago all car prices were inflated. This pulled up the prices on niche vehicles such as wagons. There was also a slight wagon FAD as was evidenced by a few very high end custom wagon builds.

Since the bubble burst car prices have been all over the place. Some people bought high and WILL NOT sell unless they get what they paid, some people realize the market has dropped and have adjusted accordingly and some people are in dire straight and are selling low just to get some cash.

I think the FAD is passing a little but I thing wagons will continue to be more popular than they were say 10 years ago.

Carmak
Riverside, Iowa
68 Coronet 440 wagon
67 Bonneville ambulance

 

People can't afford fads now

The wagons/ambulance you have are defiantely cool.

You're right about "fads" People cannot afford fads OR much of anything these days. Gas prices scare people away from the big stuff.

 

...And there is where modern day wagons ahave the advantage over SUV's. Better mileage, better handling, and still plenty of cargo space. And many wagons come in AWD to boot. Still don't know how people can say SUV's are stylish and wagons aren't!

 

Are wagons falling out of fashion?
NO!