We’ve had quite a few faux wood wagons these past few days here at CC, and today we’ll stick to the topic with none other than a vast version of the theme in the form of a 1972 Chevrolet Kingswood Estate purportedly carrying a 454 CID V8, the largest powerplant the Bowtie offered for that year. Once again, it’s a Cohort find by Corey Behrens in the Netherlands; one more full-size American survivor away from home.
The 1971-1976 generation of Chevrolet full-sizers was about the largest ever offered by GM (something CC talked about before). For 1972, the Kingswood Estate was the division’s top trim series among its wagon offerings, and if one tracks this one’s license number, it arrived in the Netherlands in 2005. Something that makes sense; as I recall, back in those early aughts –and since the late 1970s, actually– these full-size creatures had very few supporters.
The badge on the fender suggests this one has a 454, Chevrolet’s largest engine for that year, boasting 235 HP. Full-size family hauling, with early 1970s brawn. However, the Dutch registration database says this Kingswood Estate has a 6.6L engine, which would make it either the small block Turbo-Fire 400 (with 175 HP) or the big block Turbo-Jet 400 (aka 402, with 210 HP).
Family hauling was already quite diverse by the early 1970s, as this 1972 brochure image shows. Five body platforms for that duty just in the Bowtie alone, with the full-size model taking center stage in the brochure’s cover; in faux wood Kingswood Estate regalia, no less.
Admittedly, full-size model sales had already begun to shrink when these came out, but they still loomed large in the media’s consciousness.
No photos of the Cohort find’s interior, but here it is as it was shown in the brochure. And from what I can see through the windows of today’s find, it’s properly color-coordinated with the green choice shown in the upper right.
This Kingswood Estate has another GM novelty from those days, its distinctive sci-fi-like, yet cumbersome, clamshell gate at the rear. Or in Chevy’s words, “Glide-Away tailgate.” Something fun and different to impress your friends with, if it still works properly… And the faux wood on this one is certainly showing its age.
I’ve mixed feelings about this generation of full-size GM products. Handsome, yet they felt rather massive, and a cheapening of materials could also be sensed (I’m surprised at the condition of the Endura panels on this one). And for all the effort in the refreshed 1971 line, I tend to agree with Car and Driver‘s assessment of an Impala model of that year: “Yet this car, which seems never to change significantly, is altogether different than the Impala of a year ago… at a fantastic expense in both engineering and tooling… to do the same job in the same way.” An evolutionary more-is-more approach, at a time when the automotive world was greatly changing and moving away from these.
Still, that was then and this is now. There’s nothing like these old full-sizers today, and as such, they’re a great way to stand out from the crowd for those who like their wheels to be different.
Related CC Reading
Curbside Classic: 1972 Chevrolet Caprice – Cadillac Carbon Copy
Quite likely someone bought this in September of 1973 just before the OPEC oil embargo started. That must have been painful. Or this wagon was already built at the time and the dealer had to offer a hefty discount to sell it off the lot once the embargo had started. The 454 suddenly became engine non grata, and folks realized that a 350 was actually adequate, especially once the heavily enforced 55 speed limit arrived.
Love the way it takes up nearly two full (European) parking spaces!
I looked up the specs, and it’s very nearly 19 feet long with the bumper overriders, about 575 cm. A lot of European cars are under 156 inches (400 cm), and I think a current VW Golf is like 169 inches (429 cm).
Nice example of a nearly extinct breed. I had the use of a ’73 full size Chevy wagon for awhile, it had a 400 small block. Did the job it was hired for, but it was a thirsty beast. My ’74 Impala hardtop winter beater with a 454 got 16 mpg imperial, (so maybe 13 mpg US) no matter how or where it was driven. I paid virtually nothing for the car and when I was finished with it sold it at a profit to a guy who wanted the 454. He pulled the engine/trans and scrapped the car.
That seemed to be the fate of most big ’70s Chevys with 400s or 454s in them, so it’s nice to see at least one survived.
Interesting thing about the five Chevy wagons shown in the brochure – each one had a tailgate that opened in a different way. (if the Suburban has the full-width drop-down tailgate/lift-up window arrangement; it was also available with van-style barn doors).
“Wagons interiors that are just as nice as car interiors”? Were station wagons not considered cars in 1972, the way crossovers and SUVs often aren’t today? I’ve always considered wagons to be passenger cars, no different than hatchbacks.
I’ve always liked the GM clamshell wagons, especially those with the forward-facing third row seats. Very comfortable, roomy, and practical (as long has you had space to park and money to feed it gasoline).
Some web searching reveals that this car is featured in a music video by a Dutch group called Skotwal. I’m guessing the car belongs to one of the group’s members.
If I understand Skotwal’s webpage correctly:
https://www.skotwal.nl/
…they sing largely Country music in the West Frisian language. An interesting combination, but also fitting for driving around a giant 1970s American wagon. As an enthusiast of worldwide Country music, I love this!
Alrighty, leave it to Eric to track such things down!
Now we know what the interior looks like!
Song incidentally is a West Frisian translation of “End of the Line” by the Traveling Wilburys
Thanks! I couldn’t place the song.
I bought a Kingswood 1972 station wagon from a neighbor back in 1982.No rust no dents, for 200 dollars. It had a 400 small block in it. I remember the timing gear got stripped out because it was made of nylon. The guy who sold me the car put a metal gear in its place, and it ran fine after that. I used to try to hot rod it around at the time. Lol. I ended up selling the car because I was moving back to NC from Washington State, back in the day.
Thank you for the musical link, apparently the clamshell still works .
I love the plastic Jesus and the endless map pondering .
I guess whomever bought and imported this pig must be rich .
I hope the hubcaps are stored and not stolen .
-Nate
Gasoline is currently selling for €1.90 – €2.20 a litre in the Netherlands, so a 100 litre fill would be an expensive undertaking.
Lots of guys talk about getting 20 MPG off a big block like a 454. I have driven a few and the best I ever managed was 10 MPG imperial, or about 12 MPG in US gallons.
It runs on LPG (more precisely, it’s a bi-fuel car), which is roughly half the price of gasoline per liter. MPG will be a bit worse though, compared with gasoline only. Furthermore, it’s older than 40 years, so no road tax.
Almost of these classic US behemoths and the modern US pickups, are bi-fuel.
These things are insane. A 454 to pair with the wild clamshell rear hatch seems a perfect match. One never knows when they’ll need to pull their trailer or boat or trailer and boat around. It’ll pass anything but a gas station.
The fast N loud guys built one of these. Theirs was in excellent condition and the same color. They built up the 454 including a blower in case one desires to stop at the strip on the way home from the grocery store.
I can’t imagine a less practical size car for city traffic just about anywhere in the Netherlands. Now if you need to transport a band in the Dutch platteland – OK maybe borderline workable.
About the engine displacement, the wagon’s official registration (website rdw.nl) says it has a 6,555 cc V8. Which is mighty close to 400 cu.in.
Ahh, I was wondering whether it would be possible to find the displacement from the registration. That sounds like the Turbo-Fire 400, which was a small-block Chevrolet V-8 (although its displacement was nearly identical to the big-block Turbo-Jet 400; it was actually 400.9 cu. in., 6,570 cc).
I guess they calculated the displacement as follows, when the car was imported into NL and got its registration:
400*2.54*2.54*2.54 = 6,554.8 cc.
Oh, I’m sure, that’s pretty customary. However, the bore and stroke are actually 4-1/8 inches (104.775 mm) by 3-3/4 inches (95.25 mm), which works out to 6,570 cc.
I don’t think they go that far at one of our 16 RDW keuringsstations…
rdw.nl also gives 154 KW which is about 210 HP which indicates the Turbo-Jet
These old data are not always reliable, especially with imported cars. This car got first dutch registration in 2005.
I once came across a Plymouth Fury III that was registered as a Plymouth Fury 111.
My sister-in-law was driving one of these when I first met her. She was living in Montreal in Westmount and had to park in a garage off a lane behind the house. I was impressed by her skill. These are huge.
In around 2010 I had a contract in Netherlands, and for the first part of it we had an office space in the village of Odijk. To my amazement there was a Dodge Ram pickup in town. It looked as if it was as large as the house.
A smidge over 30hp/litre. Oh dear…