Here’s one of those “telling a story through images” posts, thanks to these photos showcasing a 1960 Parkwood wagon traveling across the US. It’s a bit hard to tell in the shots, but I believe it’s a California vehicle. If so, it’s a family doing quite a journey.
At some point, the vehicle gets a cracked windshield, noticeable in some shots. The wagon’s model is also quite visible in one image; it’s a Parkwood. Along the Kingswood, these were Chevy’s Bel Air-trimmed wagons. In Parkwood version, that meant 6 passenger seating —more than enough for this family, who seemed to have enjoyed a memorable trip.
While we don’t have a 1960 Parkwood post, we have one of a similar vintage Nomad; Chevrolet’s fanciest wagon line.
Enough words. Let’s move on with the images.
Very nice pictures.They seem like they’d make a wonderful CC article, if we only had the actual story (not that making up our own from these pictures isn’t possible).
My main take-away is that wagons of this vintage were just so very stylish. The designers at the time were (mostly…there are exceptions) masterful at blending sedan styling cues with unique wagon features to make exceptionally interesting vehicles.
Oh, and the kid with the transistor radio? I so totally did the same thing (10 years or so later).
Looks like the Parkwood is equipped with the big 348 V-8, a nice ride for the family to tour the USA at the time, Curious that the exact car in nine passenger form had its own model name, the Kingsman (not to be confused with the Kingsmen, of “Louie Louie” fame).
For some odd reason, in an era when you could choose from about 40 optional features from the factory, third-row seating usually wasn’t just an option but rather an entirely separate model. It was like this well into the ’70s. Usually, though, the two-row and three-row wagons at least had the same name.
It occurred to me that Kingsman doesn’t sound correct. Wasn’t it Kingswood instead?
It’s indeed a typo in the text, the 9-passenger Bel-Air trim wagon is the Kingswood.
It was. My grandparents had a 1960 Kingswood in the color scheme of the Nomad in the upper right picture here:
Isn’t it odd that with the -wood names on their wagons, Chevy didn’t do one trimmed with, y’know, wood?
Not until the 1966 Caprice Estate, which became Kingswood Estate a couple years later and for a few years before reverting to Caprice Estate for ’73. Chevy dithered between using separate model names for wagons and not for about 15 years, but through the whole 1966-96 era it was offered, “Estate” meant “wagon with woodgrain side panels”.
What an era that must’ve been to travel. (I was born in September of `60) A big, new station wagon full of gear, seeing the country! That family stopped at some beautiful spots! Seeing the clouds over the top of the mountains reminds me of my own travels. Thanks for the trip back in time! It was definitely a different time in this country…….
How was the shot taken at the Continental Divide? Someone standing on the roof of another car? And Paul pointed out in a classic entry how small the tires were on these.
Reminds me of my Dad’s ’64 Impala wagon. Loaded with 6 kids: youngest (six months old) on Mom’s lap, another between Mom & Dad, three across the rear seat, and me in the back with a 150 lb Coke-a-Cola metal ice chest filled to the max. No A/C, no power steering nor power brakes, 3 on the tree and a super thrift straight six under the hood.
To keep things moving, I would prepare sandwiches and distribute Winn Dixie Chek Colas (made with real sugar) from the ice chest while buzzing down Hwy 1 towards Grand Isle, LA. Thank God we never got into an accident, for I would have been crushed by the ice chest.
The 3rd from the bottom photo (child hanging out the window); that’s me!! I was the only one who could fit in the back since there was no folding rear seat; therefore, I got KP duty each trip!!
It’s nice to see these as a group! I hope some CC-ers will be able to identify some of the locales, including the body of water in #1. Photo #5 reminds me of Zion National Park (rather than CA or CO), but that’s just a supposition.
The wagon looks pretty shiny-and-new, and with whitewalls slimming down in the early 1960s, I’ll guess these are the original tires—but I welcome advice from the whitewall experts here.
#1 could well be Lake Mead. I’m guessing they took a trip from CA to Colorado, and stopped at a few sights along the way.
Yes – definitely Lake Mead. That’s Fortification Hill in the background. Below is a modern view from approximately the same spot:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UkqkU8vuSTYrYPpU9
Yep probably original tires in the pics, they slimmed down in ’62, the ones on our ’63 Country Sedan were around 1 1/4 or 1 1/2″-ish, and the neighbor’s Squire had about the same.
’62 Country Squire that is (a stunning car in jet black with wood trim and red interior) . ’62 Ford brochure pics show the same. It really modernized the look imo.
I’m also getting a Zion vibe from photo #5. This is a photo from 2007 approaching the park from the west on Utah Route 9:
Man wish we had a story to go along with the exquisite pictures. Any idea of how many miles they drove based on the pics??
Also 1960 is one of my favorite years for Chevrolet, its also IMO the best looking GM car for that year. Wild styling yet its toned down from the even zainer 59’s(no ugly eyebrows for 1960) Yet it looks crisp, not overly ornamented. Love the kinda silly/kitschy jet on the side. But yeah compared to the other 1960 GM cars the amount of chrome/bling/silly doodads is quite restrained
Make mine a flat top 4 door Bel Air or Impala in that neat turqious with a white vinyl interior. Or if they had a full turqoius interior that would be sweet too.
I know exactly where shot #2 is, the road to Bear Lake in Rocky Mt. NP. That’s the Front Range, and I’ve climbed all four of those mountains many times. We stayed very close to this location every summer from 1961-1965, and then 1970, and we’ve been back several times since.
The mountains, from right to left, which is commonly the order of how they are climbed, are Flattop, Hallet Peak, Otis peak and Taylor peak, which is over 13,000′. In 1961, age 8, I managed only Flattop, to my father’s disappointment, since he really wanted to make it up to Hallet Peak. In 1962 I made it to Hallet. And in 1963 we did all four, which is quite a long hike. Instead of backtracking all the way back via Flattop, on descends Taylor peak to the glacier on the right (as looking at the picture) and glissade (slide down on ones butt) down the glacier, assuming there’s enough snow, which back then there always was.
These four mountains represent my first mountain climbing achievements at a fairly young age, and I think of them often, as the details are still fresh in my mind. And I would love to go back and redo that 4-peak hike again. Well, that and Longs Peak, which is also in the same area and one of the most beautiful peaks as well as a very challenging one to climb. I should head there this coming September and go for it.
Good sighting! Have had the good fortune of being in Rocky Mountain NP (and Trail Ridge Road) 15-20 myself! I think Trail Ridge and Going to the Sun Highway (in Glacier NP) are two of the best drives in North America!
And the last picture is almost certainly on Trail Ridge Road, one of the highest pass roads in the US, also in the Rocky Mt. NP. Have driven over it many a time. Have also been over Tennessee Pass many times. In later years, my parents used to stay near Leadville and Buena Vista. The pass was originally scaled by the railroad, and my father and I used to like to watch and listen to the trains work their way up the pass, at full chat.
One more thing: this Chevy wagon had the optional 348 V8 engine based on the front grille badge (Vee, with crossed flags). So it had no problem scaling these mountains.
Update: I see someone beat me to that.
I can just about smell the raw gasoline boiling out of the carburetor
This is nice set of photos. My parents were not into sight seeing trips, but we took many long road trips to visit relatives in Mexico. I remember going in our new ’59 Impala coupe, used Corvair Greenbrier van, and new ’64 Pontiac Tempest wagon. Unfortunately they never took pictures on the road, though there was a lot of memorable scenery between the Bay Area and Guadalajara, Mexico City and Acapulco! Although as kids, my brothers and I were bored much of the time.
Station wagons made for great family road trip vehicles, there were only five of us, so we weren’t that crowded. After the trip to Mexico City in the Corvair, my Dad swore off driving anything except a V8.
I would have been around the age of the second oldest boy if these photos were taken in the early 1960s. At the time, the ’60 Chevy was my favorite of all the recent model Chevys.
I had a promo model of an olive green Impala convertible.
Our family car was a ’61 Bel Air 2-door sedan, and I thought its windshield was a retrograde step from that panoramic wraparound glass of the 1959-60 models.
Now, I prefer the ’61 among all the X-frame Chevys, but I’d take a ’59 over the ’60 for its wildness!
Great photos, showcasing a nice wagon. The husband and wife must’ve loved to travel, and vacation by car. And probably (hopefully), had made many shorter vacation trips before. Quite an endeavour.
Long-distance family wagon vacations, never especially appealed to me as a kid. Crowded in the back with siblings and travel supplies/baggage, kids I already spent too much time around. lol Public washrooms located far apart, supermarket-sourced picnics, or questionable road food. My dad always had his cars thoroughly inspected before trips, but inevitably there would be soft tires, leaking hoses, or other potential mechanical mishaps. Ontario still had many overcrowded two lane highways serving many parts of the province. And some of the secondary highways leading to major parks like Algonquin, were paved, but narrow, winding, hilly, and generally treacherous. Plus, one of my parents smoked.
I did love being close to nature. And the sense of adventure. But much preferred such exploits, with the freedom that comes with being an adult.
I concur – Ontario roads are much better than they used to be. I was never too fond of road trips as a kid either, although the destination was usually okay. Too crowded with siblings, my dad smoking a constant stream of pipes and cigarettes, and a dearth of decent music. As an adult, road trips with my wife are much more enjoyable…once we’re out of Toronto. 😀
I have fond memories of these wagons. As a kid (late 60’s) my dad would take my cousin’s and I one summer Saturday night to the stock car races and the next Saturday night would be the drive in with my aunt and uncle in their green 60 Chevrolet wagon. They’d back in, drop the gate and sit on lawn chairs to watch the movie while we three idiots did everything else but. Many mornings I remember waking up in the driveway still in the back of the wagon as we were usually dead asleep by the time we got home. Lol,, try leaving 3 young boys sound asleep in a car usually with windows rolled down nowadays and see how far that gets you. The other thing I remember with the wagon was the tailfins. Tho not as impressive as the 59’s, they were considered “the safe zone” for food, toys, whateve and was off limits to the other two. This usually went on until blood was spilled or we got loud enough to disturb the people in the other cars, whichever came first.
Anytime I see a 60 wagon it brings back a flood of happy childhood memories.
Nice pictures that bring back floods of memories from the 50’s & 60’s .
In 1959 (?) Pops bought an IHC Travelall, (? SP ?) it had an automatic and radio but I never heard it play ~ radios were verboten to pops and moms, I tried to carry a little portable with earphone, that too was prohibited .
Bach then most highways were two lanes, one in each direction and full of curves and dips because it was cheaper to build them that way .
Lots of puking and fighting with siblings yet I still love to travel .
-Nate
Reminds me of the “Not Niedermeyers”. My family made a similar trip in 1961 Rambler wagon with an Apache tent trailer behind. Six cylinder, stick shift, no options to speak of. I rode the whole way in the “wayback”, where my brother and I also slept at night. My awareness of cars was at a fever pitch and V8s were a thing of wonder–to say nothing of a 348, which was unheard of where I came from. And we certainly weren’t blonds. At least my Father came around and got a Buick SportWagon in 1965!
We cruised the Country in a 59 Ford Wagon & had a big Tent. Later it was All Chevy’s & Airstreams. I have a Wagon now like the Pic’s, same colors. Good Times!