| a2Pilot |
How many of you remember long family road trips in one of THESE? :D
I spotted this classic in our parking lot here at work. I'm guessing late 80's. I wonder if it has the pop-up third row seat? Family vehicles have come a LONG way in 20 years! |
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| beer4799 |
Mine was an '84 I think. Bought it used with 65K in 89 IIRC. My wife drove it for 7 years w/o whining once! Bench seat in front held three, three in middle row and 4 in the "way back" Who needs a minivan when your wagon seats 10! Great car that never stranded my wife (stranded me a few times though!). Low center of gravity and drove very nice. Talk about a tank on wheels. Couple things were troublesome: 302 never idled correctly (always ran high, they all did), went through brakes too quickly and paint was shot by year 10. Headliner was falling near the end. Drive it till 144K and still sold it to a guy for $900. All in all, I did OK. My wife was rewarded last week with an '08 Accord in part because she was such a trooper with the "Griswald" wagon.
Side bar - My Dad's '63 Country Squire had the 460 engine. Porsche didn't have anything in '63 that would beat this wagon in a straight line! That thing could pass anything except a gas station.....Good memories...Thanks:cool: |
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| colorider |
| IIRC, the 3rd seat was REAR facing!!!! :eek: |
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| a2Pilot |
quote:
Originally posted by colorider
IIRC, the 3rd seat was REAR facing!!!! :eek:
AND you could roll down the back window to enjoy the exhaust fumes! :D |
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| Josey92 |
... which was the first vehicle I drove when I got my license. In fact, I grew up in MI so that could very well be the one since it's the same exact color.
:D |
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| rlapid |
quote:
Originally posted by colorider
IIRC, the 3rd seat was REAR facing!!!! :eek:
i searched and found one on ebay, the rear seats actually face each other! i hope they designed that area for children, because there isn't much legroom back there...
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| KarenCaren |
If you remove the backseat you are on your way to heaven or hell. :)
It's a creepy car.
___________________
See quality Car Mirrors and Cargo Liner here |
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| a2Pilot |
My Dad had several of these over the years. (Mostly through the '70's) He worked for Ford, and got a new car every year. We had many, many wagons.
I remember brown, gold and dark green exterior colors. Some with wood panel sides, some plain. Vinyl seats. AM radio. Later on he started living a little and got FM too. Our family travelled all over the country in those wagons. My sister and I would take turns being in the "way back". We'd roll out a sleeping bag and nap as we cruised down the highway. Seat belts? We didn't need no stinkin' seatbelts! :D He usually didn't get the third row seat option though. That left TONS of space below the floor for luggage. We referred to it as "the well". |
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| N_Jay |
quote:
Originally posted by a2Pilot
My Dad had several of these over the years. (Mostly through the '70's) He worked for Ford, and got a new car every year. We had many, many wagons.
I remember brown, gold and dark green exterior colors. Some with wood panel sides, some plain. Vinyl seats. AM radio. Later on he started living a little and got FM too. Our family travelled all over the country in those wagons. My sister and I would take turns being in the "way back". We'd roll out a sleeping bag and nap as we cruised down the highway. Seat belts? We didn't need no stinkin' seatbelts! :D He usually didn't get the third row seat option though. That left TONS of space below the floor for luggage. We referred to it as "the well".
The "Way back" and the "well"!!
Most all wagons of that era had those!
These were the original 8 passenger SUVs!!
Of course the best (personal opinion only) was the 1970,. AMC Ambassador wagon.
Not only did it have a wayback and a well (or rear facing seat); it also had a fully reclining split bench front seat!
Bittersweet Orange with wood grain (1973 shown) virtually unchanged from the 1970 model. |
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| colorider |
quote:
Originally posted by rlapid
i searched and found one on ebay, the rear seats actually face each other! i hope they designed that area for children, because there isn't much legroom back there...
I had forgot about the "facing" seats!
:xnuts: |
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| Kalbo607 |
| I remember it well. Our family had one, and that is the car I learned how to drive in. Made the 78 Chevy Nova I took the driving test in seem like a compact, when parking it. |
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| krygny |
quote:
Originally posted by colorider
IIRC, the 3rd seat was REAR facing!!!! :eek:
I wonder how many kids got killed in the back of those things. Even in the '90s, the Sable wagon had a rear-facing third seat. My sister-in-law had one. We were following her one day and of course the kids were clowning around in the back seat, making faces, etc. I couldn't help thinking how f%&ked up those kids would be if I rear-ended the car, even slightly. When we got to our destination, I told her to never NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER, let them ride there again. |
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| OB3 |
My parents had , if i recall correctly, a 1974 Chevy Caprice Estate Wagon, fake wood panels and all. Front bench seats, rear facing 3rd row with the roll down rear window. I loved getting up at 5am, heading to Florida to visit the grandparents in teh summer, loved that rig.
Similar to this, but ours was maroon.
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| hondacuraworld |
My dad had a '71 Pontiac Lemans wagon, ,identical to this, but had the woodgrain.....
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/car/621566520.html
I used to ride crossways in the spot between the second seat and the rear facing third seat. My dad even cut out a small piece of carpet to fit in there so it would be a little cushier than the hard metal board.....
Ah, memories :) |
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| OB3 |
quote:
Originally posted by hondacuraworld
I used to ride crossways in the spot between the second seat and the rear facing third seat. ...
Seatbelts, we don't need no stinkin seatbelts . lolol. Loved the 70's lol.
I remember one year our family and the nieghbors going down to Disney during summer vacation. My parents rented a 11 passenger extended cab van, and since we were one seat short, they stuck me, the smallest, in a beach chair in the cargo area, wedged between the cooler and the suitcases.
Safety First !!! |
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| Shindig78 |
quote:
Originally posted by krygny
I wonder how many kids got killed in the back of those things. Even in the '90s, the Sable wagon had a rear-facing third seat. My sister-in-law had one. We were following her one day and of course the kids were clowning around in the back seat, making faces, etc. I couldn't help thinking how f%&ked up those kids would be if I rear-ended the car, even slightly. When we got to our destination, I told her to never NEVERNEVERNEVERNEVERNEVER, let them ride there again.
I remember riding in the rear-facing third row quite a few times. My family had a Volvo GL wagon with a seat like that.
Believe it or not, you can buy a brand new Mercedes-Benz E350 Wagon with a rear-facing third-row seat (with cupholders and all)! I assume it's passed safety tests, but it's still surprising to see it in 2008.
http://www.mbusa.com/models/gallery...odelCode=E350S4 |
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| Tim |
quote:
Originally posted by rlapid
i searched and found one on ebay, the rear seats actually face each other! i hope they designed that area for children, because there isn't much legroom back there...
I had a 78 that looked like this. although I removed the rear seat cushins and had quite a bit of room for my tools..........:18: |
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| N_Jay |
| I would bet that rear facing is safer then front facing as long as head rests and seat belts are properly installed and used. |
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| robrecht |
| We had several Ford station wagons in the 60s and 70s and we took some awful long trips in them, like from Illinois to Virginia Beach several times and even to Florida and back. Back then people were thrilled with the Interstate highway system; it was actually considered a thing of patriotic pride. I remember being surprised when I did my graduate studies in Europe and discovered that not only did they not have gravel roads but that their highways and cars were much superior to ours. Of course, it's a much smaller continent. |
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| Sportymonk |
My step-father worked for a Ford dealer and he had a 71 (??) fire engine red Country Squire LTD Wagon with the wood grain trim. Why do I remember it so well? Well there was the yellow light (I say) and as I went through the intersection I noticed a police car three cars back to the right side street. Then I noticed a pair of headlights pull out and pass on this two lane city street (hhmmm) then they pass agian, either an idot or that cop. I pull over in the shopping center and hope he won't see me. RIGHT - remember that fire engine red with wood paneling? The judge told me to always stop for a yellow light. Three months later I stopped for a yellow light in my 1960 Ford Falcon and the Volkwagen Beetle behind me decided to make the light and he left a demple in the fuel tank when he went under my rear end (no comments :bootyshak ). After than I decided to quit trying so hard to stop at yellow lights.
BTW way it had a 427 or close to it engine, a 4 barrel (you folks won't understand four barrels) carburator ( something that held the 4 barrels) and it would go. |
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| krygny |
quote:
Originally posted by N_Jay
I would bet that rear facing is safer then front facing as long as head rests and seat belts are properly installed and used.
Except perhaps for the Mercedes example above (appears to be a buffer area), all those odler wagons had the rear-facing rear seat, rearward of the rear wheels. (OK, no I don't have a "rear fetish".) In most cars, that's a crumple zone. In these cars, it's a kill zone.
In the Sable wagon, the kids' knees were right at the tailgate. A rear-end collision would easily amputate all their legs below the knees. If they aren't wearing their seat belts, well just fuhgetaboutit. |
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| N_Jay |
quote:
Originally posted by krygny
Except perhaps for the Mercedes example above (appears to be a buffer area), all those odler wagons had the rear-facing rear seat, rearward of the rear wheels. (OK, no I don't have a "rear fetish".) In most cars, that's a crumple zone. In these cars, it's a kill zone.
In the Sable wagon, the kids' knees were right at the tailgate. A rear-end collision would easily amputate all their legs below the knees. If they aren't wearing their seat belts, well just fuhgetaboutit.
Of course in a front end collision (the more common kind) they are better supported in the seat then being pulled against the seat belt.
(Think rear facing baby seat) |
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| whizmo |
Most of these cars I see on this thread are just barely broken in. Our family had a white '67 with the wood-grained vinyl, 390 engine, and a dash that Liberace would have loved. Hideous but it ran well, including several coast-to-coast trips with me bickering with my sister about territorial claims to the back seat. The thing succumbed to a couple well-salted Indiana winters in short order (rocker panels GONE). I left for school and they got a decent car - a Toyota.
- Mark |
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| OB3 |
quote:
Originally posted by Sportymonk
BTW way it had a 427 or close to it engine, a 4 barrel (you folks won't understand four barrels) carburator ( something that held the 4 barrels) and it would go.
Haaa
I was talking to a few teenagers that were very into cars a few weeks ago and I was telling them about my 1975 Pontian Formula 400 with a 400cu in engine and 4 barrell carb ...
they looked at each other and said "whats that?"
I just said "im leaving now" |
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| N_Jay |
quote:
Originally posted by OB3
Haaa
I was talking to a few teenagers that were very into cars a few weeks ago and I was telling them about my 1975 Pontian Formula 400 with a 400cu in engine and 4 barrell carb ...
they looked at each other and said "whats that?"
I just said "im leaving now"
You mean a "4 throat, venturi vacuum driven, throttle body fuel injection system", right? |
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| sski |
I had 74 Chev Monte Carlo. 350 cu. small block
One foot on the brake, one foot on the gas...BIG clouds of smoke...he he |
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| Sportymonk |
quote:
Originally posted by N_Jay
You mean a "4 throat, venturi vacuum driven, throttle body fuel injection system", right?
Can't speak for the 75 Pontiac but on the Ford there was no "throttle body fuel injection" back then. Just a four barrel carb.
Know you are kidding.
Guess we shouldn't brring up the idea of points and a condensor. |
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| N_Jay |
quote:
Originally posted by Sportymonk
Can't speak for the 75 Pontiac but on the Ford there was no "throttle body fuel injection" back then. Just a four barrel carb.
Just where is the fuel "injected" on a car with a carburetor? ;) ;)
quote:
Originally posted by Sportymonk
Know you are kidding.
No, not kidding, just inspiring thought.:4:
quote:
Originally posted by Sportymonk
Guess we shouldn't bring up the idea of points and a condenser.
You mean on "wheelwork synchronized, inductive discharge ignition system with bi-mode mechanical analog compensation"? |
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| robrecht |
quote:
Originally posted by Sportymonk
My step-father worked for a Ford dealer and he had a 71 (??) fire engine red Country Squire LTD Wagon with the wood grain trim. Why do I remember it so well? Well there was the yellow light (I say) and as I went through the intersection I noticed a police car three cars back to the right side street. Then I noticed a pair of headlights pull out and pass on this two lane city street (hhmmm) then they pass agian, either an idot or that cop. I pull over in the shopping center and hope he won't see me. RIGHT - remember that fire engine red with wood paneling? The judge told me to always stop for a yellow light. Three months later I stopped for a yellow light in my 1960 Ford Falcon and the Volkwagen Beetle behind me decided to make the light and he left a demple in the fuel tank when he went under my rear end (no comments :bootyshak ). After than I decided to quit trying so hard to stop at yellow lights.
BTW way it had a 427 or close to it engine, a 4 barrel (you folks won't understand four barrels) carburator ( something that held the 4 barrels) and it would go.
Sporty Monk!
Saw this in the parking lot on Friday and thought of you. Not sure if that hideous orangish red was stock or an aftermarket paint job. Ugh! Today, I happened to drive by this car again, parked at a nearby home along with another red station wagon, a red Mustang, and a red pick-up truck. :13: |
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