Are wagons falling out of fashion?

I've had a couple Vega's in my time as well. I had a sweet 76 GT wagon, white outside, red inside, dropped a stock 327 Chevy in it. I also had a full-on Pro-Street '73 hatchback, narrowed 12-bolt, full cage, all tin inside. I never got that car done, I ended up trading it for a 67 GTO. Still love 'em, though.

 

Did you guys have the Pontiac version - the Astra? The GM plant built a lot of those in Oshawa, Ontario. and everybody called them the Dis-Astra. One rustbelt winter and they looked worn out.

 

My Dad bought one. It was one of the worst cars ever built for him. I like driiving that little wagon with the 4 speed. I wonder if that had something to do with it?

 

You never have them long enough.

 

Nah it was crap and was totaled after a year

 

I'm currently looking for one. I love the front end on them!!

 

I'm starting to notice a trend. We tend to like and want the unloved and abandoned cars.

Astre
Vega
Pinto
Pacer

We are indeed trendsetters aren't we.

 

Why follow when you can lead!?

 

Astra
Vega
Pinto
Pacer

The Pacer would be able to keep up power wise in a wagon cruise down the highway but in the other three in stock form, you'd follow

 

Accept for the almum block, the Vega was a cute car. Once it overheats, the motor would literally warp and couldnt be rebuilt. I had a 1973 GT and loved it. One of the very best cars ive ever owned. By 1976 GM had the overheating issues sorted out but by then the car's reputation was beyond repair. GM killed the Vega in the 1977 model year.

Mine got backed into by the garbage truck early one morning in 1998. The insurance company called it a loss without even sending a claims adjustor out to look at it.

 

I always kinda liked the Astre GT Wagon in my 76 dealership brochure. I don't remember ever actually seeing one, though.

 

my motto..."why be a sheep...when you can be a shepard"

 

I'll tell you what I've wanted to do. Take an Astre wagon, drop in a Cosworth Twin Cam motor and 5-speed, convert the FI to Weber sidedrafts, add a 4.10 gear and add Cosworth stripes. I saw a guy that did this to a Vega wagon, and it was fairly quick. Looking at it, you'd swear it was a factory Cosworth wagon even though they didn't make them.

 

It has been my experience that wagons go through love/hate cycles with the rodders. I purchased my car 30 years ago, selling off a '55 BelAir convertible project to fund the Safari project purchase. We do a lot of towing with our car, hauling a '51 Airstream around the rod runs, on our holidays, and use the car for most of our reasonably nice weather pleasure driving. What we've seen within the vintage trailer group is that once they have a vintage trailer they start thinking it would be fun to have a vintage TV (tow vehicle) to go with it and then they realize that it should be a wagon. Just in the last year I know of three folks in our area who, having acquired a vintage trailer, then went out and bought a vintage wagon to go with it. Most are 60's and 50's cars, the buyers range from mid twenties to late fifties (sorry Gerry). Our buddy tows his vintage trailer with a '54 Ford wagon and it is surprising the comments we get when out traveling. The point is, people continue to realize that wagons are very functional, still attractive and get a lot of attention, and the buy-in, as mentioned by others, is less. Over the years we've seen wagons out in big numbers at car events, then the numbers drop off for a few years, then they come back out of the woodwork - well okay - garages. Women in particular seem to be attracted to them when they are parked, and are more likely to comment on the cars.

I do agree that today's kids will view the SUV in the same light as those raised in the 50's, 60's and 70's view station wagons, but I also believe that many of the youngsters today are attracted to the wagons when they see them and they just might head that route given lower prices, neat looking cars, and fairly decent availability.

Barry

 

Funny that you should mention the combination of vintage trailers and vintage wagons. A buddy of mine bought a 68 Plymouth Sport Suburban wagon, and a 67 travel trailer of some kind to tow behind it. In his case the plan has been to save money by staying in the trailer with the family (he has 4 kids under 8 years old) rather than hotels when he goes to shows. But, hes been using his 2008 Ram truck to tow it because he can't find a trailer hitch to fit the Plymouth.

There is a guy with a 57 Bel Air 2 door sedan that comes to our local cruise in. Sometimes he's towing his 50's Shasta camping trailer when he comes. Its not a wagon, but I still like the overall vintage appearance with tail fins on the car and little wings or fins hanging of the top of the trailer at the rear.