This past june my dream of owning a clam shell became a reality. I had always lusted for a Vista Cruiser but a 71 Buick estate wagon fell into my lap. I had know about the car for 15 years and it was available for purchase. One condition with the purchase, you had to also buy its twin 71 Buick estate wagon! DEAL! I got one and dad got the other. Both 455 cars. We also got a ton of parts with them as well. As soon as we sort out what we have the spare parts will be sold. Here are the wagons. Previous owner is in the pic. He is a local car legend/painter/racer. He added unique touches to the cars. Both cars have crager SS mags, black paint, wood grain. The near wagon in the pic is mine now. It has purple ghost flames on the front, John Force signed the hood and rear wing on the roof, Joe Amato also signed the wing. This wagon was driven from Md to Fla for the Gator Nationals MANY times. It has been converted to bucket seats and console out of a 66 Buick, has dual exhaust, stock 455, cruise control(non factory), factory traction control, Pontiac GTO Hood tach, am/fm cassette, CB,trailer hitch, original style Buick tissue dispenser and pin striping. Everything works as it should, except there is no belt on the AC, YET. This wagon was used to tow a 70 Cuda Sox & Martin re-creation car around to various events. The other wagon was obtained "for parts" but deemed to nice to part out so it was painted to match the other wagon. It has power front bench seat and power windows. Also a 455 car that runs like a top. That car is now my fathers. another shot of my wagon sitting besides dads 57. You can see the hood tach and roof wing in this pic.
Welcome BFree, sounds great and the father son thing, priceless. My dad and I do the car hobby as a duo also...so much so that 8 years ago my mom and dad moved a cross the yard from me so know it is even more fun. You will also get to know 81X11 if you hang around, another father/son and now his son all doing the car hobby together...lots of great members here geared towards the family thing, with a affection for station wagons what else would you expect though! Welcome again and enjoy your new wagon!
More pics........ Dads wagon has a roof rack, not a wing. Both wagons have this on the tailgate Previous owner was a custom car painter and does awesome flames. link to video of the rear gate and window operating perfectly! -----> http://www.fototime.com/8E3F79A2C0E0C40/convx264.mp4
Welcome aboard, BFreeZ28! Great story and wonderful looking cars; I'm sure you're going to enjoy them immensely. Nice score!!!
Ooooo Weeee, your family's got it bad! Meaning the wagon disease...... Those are both beautiful wagons. You'll have to post up some more pics in the gallery.
Welcome. Nice Cramshells. Sorry, but that hood tach looks weird and out of place where it's mounted, or was that the only flat part of the hood to mount it to so it's level? It should be directly in front of the driver, If you do the "Detroit lean" when you drive it's fine. I have one factory on my '68 GTO, at car shows the spectators flock to that thing and ignore the rest of the car.
aborad...awesome...twice the fun! So will dad be signing on as a member too? How's the interiors? Will you be hauling campers? DD? What's the plans? Glad you found your way here, nice intro, thanks for sharing.
I dont why the tach is mounted where it is, im not bothered about moving. At the moment it is not even wired up.
Dad cruises the web looking at cars for sale mostly, he doesnt follow any forums. He spent 27 days at NIH in Bethesda, Md this month (July) getted treatment for Melanoma. He Made it through and is home now recuperating. I took the carb off his wagon and took it to a guy to be rebuilt and should have it back soon so dad can tinker with his car. He loves to to mechanical restoration/maintenance type stuff to all his cars. The interiors are VERY NICE in both cars. We wont be towing anything with them but its nice to have a hitch "just in case." Both wagons will be driven for fun and to shows. My nine year old niece and I went for a long ride one Sunday afternoon and had a blast. She loved "the wagon".
Sounds like the whole family are into wagons, awesome . Sorry to hear about your dad's health, hope he's over the worst of it. Nice to hear your having fun with your wagon.
