The Family Wagon

What a great pic.
It's what wagons were all about back in the day.

 

Quintessential example of American wagondom!!

 

I wonder of any of them is now on this forum as a wagon nut like the rest of us?

It is pictures like this that bring back so many memories of my families trips when we were kids, and why I'm so hooked on the darned cars.

Thanks for posting this Fox. I'm going to have to share it with a few buddies who I know will also thoroughly enjoy it.

 

So, maybe this could start a new trend for station wagon car show accessories. Ditch the surfboards, throw an old canoe and a couple of inner tubes on the roof, and drive down the highway with your kids (or even some borrowed manekins) hanging out the back.

 

Does a cooler, a dog wheel chair ramp (strapped to the roof), and 2 dogs in the back count?

 

Well, I'm not sure about the "dog wheel chair ramp". Other than that, it kind of sounds like my VW Passatt wagon. Or, at least it did before "Alex", the blind diabetic dog with the heart condition, passed at the age of 14. He didn't have a wheel chair, but my 92 year old mother's wheel chair is in the back of the wagon often enough. Who would have thought that my Passatt wagon that I dislike so much could ever be considered to be a slice of Americana?

 

Yup, I built a dog ramp for the old guy and strap it to the roof. Brout my Honey to the Air Port this past saterday, took the Crewzer, dogs in the back, and her luggage on the roof, held hands on the cosole the whole time. Funny how we have different wagons, different uses, yet it comes down to the same....wagons are so usefull. I could never do what i do with out a wagon, sounds the same for you.

 

Yup, that was every summer for my family. 2300km round trips through British Columbia. Pee breaks at lakes and a watching dad fire up the hibachi before we set-up the giant canvas tent!

 

Remind me not to go in the lake after your pee break!
My family had wagons as well, mostly Fords. But we also had a yellow 66 Econoline camper with the pop up top. We took that six cylinder Econoline camper from Virginia to Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Great Salt Lake and Mesa Verde in the summer of 66. After that, we took it to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and the Outer Banks most summers till we traded it in on a new 71 Country Squire and a 2nd hand 23' Terry travel trailer. I had the cot that hung over the front seats. My older brother had the cot under the pop up top. The last couple summers we had that Econoline, I had to roll down the passenger side window to stick my feet out (the cot was rather short over the front seat).

 

I found a nice Econoline in a special area of a local junkyard. Lots of windows too. 6-banger.

 

I think I want one of these T-shirts...

http://www.zazzle.com/griswold_family_vacation_tshirt-235219926021468298

 

Yes, exactly. My family had a 1974 Holden Kingswood wagon (Australian car) and I would love nothing more than to drive one of those old tanks now; 202 engine, 3-speed manual and all.

 

Canadian lakes are freezing until noon, you wouldn't be going in anyways.

My dad switched between wagons and vans my whole childhood, with a family of 6 you always get multi-row seating and a pissed off waitress that has to push tables together in resturaunts.

 

do they sell kids on Egay...???

 

Maybe, but once you got them to mow the lawn and take out the trash you would have to feed them. They aren't returnable, and they certainly aren't cost effective. Besides, that breed can turn on you, they are rough on upholstery, you'll always be cleaning up after them, and sooner or later they will likely wreck the family wagon. Forget the kids, just use the canoes on the roof for the car show display.
Come to think of it, the "way back" wagon third seat is wasted on kids. I wanna sit back there.