Photo went to me by Robert Swartz
A kid can dream, eh? Well, this would have been the perfect car to replace my father’s 1961 Starliner.
Vintage Snapshot: The Not-Niedermeyer Dodge Wagon
– Posted on November 27, 2018
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Curbside Classics Archives
I love not-Niedermeyer stories 🙂
This would have been the not-D family wagon too. If we’d had a wagon (which we didn’t) it would have been a 68 Rambler with a 232 / automatic…
It would be pretty easy to let my imagination go with this one….a sequel to the Starliner. It’s already forming in my head. Must not… I have a rental house that’s turning over and needs a bit of TLC.
Maybe another day. 🙂
If you’d like to ship your TSX wagon down to Cali and include a blank check, I’d be happy to install a Hemi, complete with a rear wheel drive conversion.
Be sure the check amount box has room for a six figure value…
Well, it already has a hemi. But if it was to be a 426 hemi, It’d have to be with FWD. Front wheel burnouts are so much more spectacular.
I will say that the TSX wagon is the least FWD-feeling car I’ve ever driven. Between the light four and the extra weight in the rear from the wagon’s body (probably no a lot) as well as the complete lack of torque steer, it’s essentially impossible to tell that it’s FWD. Seriously.
My first thought is wondering if they make an adaptor to mate a 426 to the early Toronado transmission.
Second thought is forget the wagon, let’s build GMC motor home with a hemi.
Third thought is that I shouldn’t have any more thoughts, and probably should go lie down. 🙂
Save the Hemi for the motorhome, keep the TSX all-Honda and convert it to a V6/manual from the just-dropped Accord coupe.
(I usually post as nlpnt here, somehow got autocorrected to my real name)
No challenge there, the 2nd Gen TSX sedan was equipped with an option V-6, so that conversion is “bolt in.”
However, Acura never built a TSX V-6 with a 6 speed manual, so we would have to adapt a stick using Accord or TLX parts. Gathering the pieces might be a challenge, but no fabrication required.
Well, if we built you a FWD 426 Hemi, you’d definitely feel the torque steer ( at least until a half-shaft snapped).
I read somewhere that Chrysler built a
Hemi Plymouth satellite wagon for Don gar!it’s in the late 60s
The hemi was not available in the station wagons
Chrysler never built a Hemi station wagon on the assembly line. Garlits does have a 1966 Hemi Belvedere 4 door sedan that was originally built for the FBI. In 1966 only you could get a Hemi engine in any Dodge or Plymouth intermediate body style or trim level except station wagons.
That’s a pretty hot station wagon and would have been the envy of everyone on the block. Would probably scare everyone at the supermarket too.
When it came time to replace the old 1953 Chevrolet sedan, my friend had similar dreams and tried to talk his father into buying a hot sporty car….like an Impala SS 409….but his father didn’t agree to it. So instead, my friend put his high school auto mechanic knowledge to good use and fixed up the old family sedan, repainted it and kept it pretty much looking the same…..at least on the outside. Under the hood was something else.
The only thing that tipped off something hot was lurking under the hood was the twin tailpipes and rear slick tires. After one drive in it, his parents refused to go near it.
Very interesting story on this particular car, which I was not familiar with:
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/factory-built-64-hemi-wagon-really-happened/
Nice to know we all had similar dreams. I wish my Dad had opted for the the dual quad 283 on his new 58 Brookwood wagon, but he loved his Stovebolts, was too conservative and didn’t have the cash. Finished in Cameo white over Tropical Turquoise with wide whitewalls, it was stiill stunning though.
The problem was that because of the rear facing 3rd seat, Mrs Not-Niedermeyer was constantly cleaning childrens’ face prints from the back window, after they re-appeared every time the light turned green.
This picture reminds me of our family vacation when I was 16 in 1964. Mom, Dad and the four of us kids headed out to Colorado in the ’62 Olds wagon that we all loved. We drove up Pikes Peak one day which terrified my usually brave mother. Anyway, when we reached the top we looked around for awhile and then my 15 year old brother and I headed to the rest room. On the way we passed a line up of Forest Ranger Chevy station wagons. There was a ’64, a ’63 and a couple of ’62s. All were base models painted beige with blackwall tires and dog dish hubcaps. As we passed the first one, being the car guy I am I looked at the engine call out on the fender. To my surprise it said ‘409″! I took a look at the others and they were all equipped with the 409. They also all were four speeds with a factory tach. I walked over to where the Rangers were checking people’s brakes for overheating and asked one of them why they had the high performance wagons. He told me that they were set up that way because they had to be able to tow a stranded car up to the top of the mountain. I wonder if any of them survived.
I heard a possibly apocryphal story, when the California Highway Patrol was evaluating Camaro and Mustangs in the early ‘80’s, when their smog-strangled Dodge Diplomats topped out well below 100 mph. The rationale for the Camaro was to be able to get in front of a brakeless semi-truck careening down the Grapevine north of LA to warn traffic ahead. I don’t know if that was a real scenario, but the CHP used manual transmission notchback Fox Mustangs for several years, then 9C1 Chevies.
I never took Helen past 80 mph, and never for more than a few seconds. She had the nerve, and she had the blood, but boy ever did she not have the gearing. There’s a right turn next to a torn down factory next to my warehouse. If you hit the gas just right and cranked the wheel as you made the turn, that Fury would scream like a banshee and lay rubber for half a block. Of course, I was only going maybe 30! 🙂