Hi guys (and gals)! I love all old cars but especially wagons. I was born in '61 so the first one I remember (probably came home from the hospital in it!) was a '59 Chevy. I don't know what model it was (Parkwood?), but it had the wings on the back with the "cat's eye" taillights. It was probably a base model because I remember my parents complaining that it "wouldn't go up hills" - probably had the six cylinder. They traded that in in '65 for a Catalina Safari. I barely remember my dad arriving at the house with the new car. It was a 9-passenger, navy blue, had the three round gauges with the clock, ps, pb, am radio. Other that that pretty basic - no a/c or power accessories. Next was a '71 Kingswood Estate: "Silver Steel" was the color, 6-passenger, 400 2-bbl, ps, pb, am radio, power clamshell tailgate. But again, pretty basic, beyond that - still no a/c or power accessories. Their next, and last wagon was a '79 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser Brougham. That had a 260 V8, rallye wheels, FINALLY an AM/FM Stereo radio, and all the aforementioned stuff but still no a/c or power stuff (I guess my parents were kind of frugal, lol). All us kids were grown up by then so they switched to sedans after that. I currently own a '72 Olds 442 convertible. I've had it for over 15 years so I'm kind of bored with it and would like to sell it and buy a wagon. I'd love to find a '65 Pontiac or a '71 Kingswood Estate or something similar. I'm happy to have found this site so I can at least look at some nice old wagons!
Welcome to the nuthouse we call home. I do understand what you mean about frugal parents. LOL Ma did not have a car with a radio until 1980, and that was an AM only. Her first car with AM/FM, and it also had power windows and locks as standard, is the car she still drives, a 1990 Volvo 245 DL, her second Volvo wagon. Ma sort so splurged on the 90. There are but 2 options on the car. Metallic paint and the automatic. Everything else is base model for the least expensive Volvo! Still, 25 years later and the car, and Ma, are still going strong. Must be doing something right!
Welcome to the forum. Glad you found us and I enjoyed your introduction. Good luck on finding a nice station wagon. They are still out there and make great family cars and parts haulers, jut like they were made for. As for frugal, we are from Illinois. We never needed AC or most of those power accessories to get to work or to the grocery store. Now the new car adds don't even mention anything except heated power window switches and automatic tire inflators.
Stick around, '65 - with all our postings in the section linked below, we're sure to find you something. This is the section where members post not their own wagons for sale, but others they happen across on the internet. In other words, wagons for sale NOT owned by the SWF members. (Although quite often, some of those posts end up being owned by a member) http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=16 I can relate to your wagon experiences. I've got 10 years on you, but my dad didn't buy his first station wagon until 1965 - when I was 14. it was a '65 Chevy Nova, and in spite of having 5 kids living at home, mom and dad didn't see the necessity of getting a 3-seat wagon, so my brother and I bounced around in the back on family trips to Disneyland and such as 'cargo'. Same thing when they replaced the Nova with a '66 Chevy Caprice wagon. So I never got the 'Way Back' experience of actually SITTING in a 3rd seat. Welcome to the SWF! Marshall
