Today’s post is part of a series celebrating the station wagon as we used to know them. And unlike my Life In The Station Wagon series, these showcase snapshots where the wagons are the main feature. In case you missed them, the installments for the 1950s and 1960s are linked further down.
In those early installments, I made an effort to add some specs on each model (engine choices, etc.). We’ll skip that for this gallery since by the ’70s choices were so varied that if added, the post would look encyclopedic. Also, this is by no means a comprehensive collection. Instead, as with many of these galleries, it’s mostly meant as an intro to the topic. That is besides being a trip down memory lane for these vehicles that make a large part of our collective memory.
Pleasantries done, we start with a 1978 Mercury Marquis Wagon in the lede pic. It is the Standard version, with none of the Di-noc featured in the Colony Park. This was the last year of the ’73-’78 generation.
1971 Pontiac Safari Wagon, doing some nice hauling work.
1973 Ford Pinto Wagon with Squire Option. The fanciest of Ford’s least fancy wagon for ’73.
1974 Mercury Montego MX Villager Wagon.
1974 Chevelle Malibu Classic Estate Wagon, carrying the almost inevitable Chevy Rally wheels.
1975-77 Ford LTD Country Squire Station Wagon, also doing some heavy work and heading to some fun.
1976-77 Dodge Aspen Special Edition Wagon.
1976 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser, with Ohio plates. No idea about what those imports are doing in the background. A repair shop nearby?
1977 Buick Estate Wagon.
1978 Dodge Diplomat Station Wagon.
Related CC reading:
Vintage Snapshots: Station Wagons In The 1950s
Vintage Snapshots: Station Wagons In The 1960s
The Mercury in the lead photo is definitely “cocktail party in the front, business in the back”.
The pre-big-bumpered Pinto aesthetics have been growing on me for a while, especially the wagons.
The Dodge is a ’77, and that is some sort of press photo. The “DGE 477” California license plate gives it away. For the sequentially issued license plates, that plate was issued in 1970.
Same thing for me for the s.-w. Maverick.
Unlike today where the “SUV” is the jacked up modern wagon, I miss the old days where these fantastic wagons roamed the road, streets and highways.
Agree! It seems like everybody and his brother and his dog has some faceless white or gray SUV in suburban New Jersey. And they seem to multiply like roaches. Pretty soon, you will not be able to buy an American made sedan anymore. That`s ‘progress??
Phil b: No kidding. This morning my son and I were sitting in a McDonalds lot and the dual drive-through was packed. Nine out of ten were SUV’s and nearly every one mid-sized or larger with one or at most, two people inside. Such a waste.
I read an article on another site this morning about the all new 2024 Chevy Traverse that was totally redesigned. Went from a 6 cly to a turbo 4 cyl. Average MPG for the front drive is 23 combined and 21 combined for the AWD. Talk about a lack of progress! And that’s NOT just Chevrolet. Back when I was selling Honda’s still (around 2010), the V6 Honda Pilot AWD was rated in the low 20’s. A buddy of mine purchased one and complained a lot about the poor MPG. Even when driven nicely, they could only get about 16 to 18 MPG.
Long live the sedan!!
While I agree today’s trends are the SUV. But why the hate?
They are multi purpose, most available with AWD, space, fuel economy.
Although I miss my Buick LeSabre Estate wagon, I can’t imagine paying for the fuel at todays prices.
Vista ‘cuda ? No : ’71 Challenger r/t wagon
Do you have anymore info/pictures on this creation? Inquiring minds want to know more! 🙂
Difficult to find information on this wagon creation , here is some link:
https://www.forebodiesonly.com/forum/threads/71-challenger-wagon.26040/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/splattergraphics/2973602288/in/photostream/
https://www.story-cars.com/1971-dodge-challenger-wagon
Another Furious thing .
Was personally partial to the Fords of the early ’70’s, was imprinted by the 1970 Country Squire, I recall going with Mom & Dad & going for a ride, with us tikes in the 3rd seats, barely seeing them in the front bench seat, almost in the next county. Was my first daily driver, did well til an unfortunate accident. So 2 yrs later, found a ’69 LTD Squire from Florida, fabulous body (no Midwest rust yet), but ran funny. The 429 had a miss or two, but found a 400 to take its place. Became the everything hauler & daily commuter to college, a 40 mile hike 1 way. Built a car trailer for it to haul, did anhydrous ammonia tanks & grain wagons for the farm, a westward trip for a job search, and many others. Got 3 Fords for parts along the way, one for a pristine dash pad that wasn’t cracked or falling apart. The 69 soldiered on til the late ’90’s, with only memories and the front clip remaining…….great fun !!
Like Dutch 1960, I’m really liking the Pinto wagon, though in fact I liked them when they were new; make mine sans wood grain. In the second picture, my eyes went right past the Pontiac to the Scout. Could it be planning to tow that Airstream with the standard four cylinder?
Hmm
Here`s an odd one that I only saw once. An `87 Buick Electra Estate wagon. The front seat had a velour cloth type of upholstery and the back seat was in a vinyl material. It had Di Noc ‘wood’ on the sides. The whole interior was in a dark red color. The car as only a year old at the time. A tough one to `splain. Any ideas from the peanut gallery out there?
They were still making the Estate Wagon in 1987. My dad had an ’89.
Phil b, I misread you post before making my previous comment. I have no idea why the rear seat would be vinyl and the front cloth. Maybe a seat cover?
As someone said in the not to distant past, the Buick “Rally Road” wheels would make an ox cart look good. They make that ’77 Estate wagon look great!
I remember seeing in some 70s Buick brochures that you could get cloth in the front and vinyl in the back for the kids and dogs, but I never saw one in real life.
The Montego Villager would have to be a 74-76 with that battering ram rear bumper. The Montego badge was on the opposite side of the tailgate in 73 too
Yes, that’s a typo. The photo is dated to 1974 actually.
I was a child of the 80’s, my parents were very much station wagon people. Always an Oldsmobile.
I love the utility of a wagon, but I remember in that era very much wishing they were SUV people instead. Something like a Suburban or Wagoneer like my friends parents had seemed way cooler.
Oh my, some memories here! A kid a couple of years older than me had regular access to a 76-ish Colony Park (with the wood). He did some crazy stuff from behind the wheel. At that time, Fort Wayne ran a safety campaign and hung skull and crossbones flags at what they identified as the 25 most dangerous intersections in the city. We nicknamed the Mercury with Dick at the wheel as “The Roving 26th”.
Another friend’s dad had a 75 Olds Custom Cruiser – just like the one in the photo (no wood) but painted copper. That thing got HORRIBLE gas mileage, but he had a big boat that he pulled a couple of times a year.
Looking at that shot of the 71 Pontiac wagon pulling the trailer, that little International Scout must have given its four cylinders a real workout pulling that trailer!
Back in the late 60s I had a friend with a `65 Bonneville convertible,all black with those beautiful finned steel wheels and air . As a joke he put small white decals of pedestrian and bike riders on the top of the front fenders about 8 inches behind the headlights and put a slash across them like WW ll fighter pilots did for every enemy plane they shot down.When the cops saw it, they just laughed, of checked his driving record. We used to call him Crazy Pete. He was killed in action in Vietnam in 1972 . Great guy.
Love seeing these big wagons.
This was the ’76 XC Falcon, the most American-looking of our Big Three beasties. Too big for many, though a friend had two.
Oh I’ma fan of driving a station wagon. Just not my well worn 1973 Montego!
I thought the clam shell wagons were pretty cool. But I think if I were to buy one today, as a classic, it would be a Chrysler T&C or Mercury Colony Park.
My father in law briefly had an 80 Fairmont wagon, chocolate brown over tan. He bought it because it had front bucket seats without a console. He liked that so he could carry long shelves or lumber. At 13,000 someone stole it in 1984 and totaled it.
Also a memory or two from a ’70s wagon.
The rear end of a ’71 or so Ford wagon got the brunt of my momentarily divided attention, as my vehicle collided with it. Completely my fault.
It always seemed like if someone had a boat to tow back then, they also had a station wagon.
A work colleague had a cream coloured Chevy wagon from the late ’70s, and after not but a couple or three years old, it began to develop the obligatory rust underneath those long back side windows. He kept it a couple more years, and swore off GM afterwards.
Am I the only one who wonders if the Chrysler peeking in at the bottom of the 2nd picture is a 1970 – 1972 Town & Country…one of the few other vehicles that could be commonly properly-equipped to pull an Airstream?
Great post. I’d gladly drive or own nearly any of these wagons.
My MiL had a Diplomat wagon much like the one in the last photo. It had a 5 speed manual. Heck, even that would be a cool car to have now. For the rarity if nothing else.
Our family ’79 truckster left the factory a 6 seater. I was fortunate enough to find dual facing rear seats on a junk yard queen so the wife could haul more kids in the school car pool. Good car once I replaced the EEC II system with the old style Dura-Spark and 2BBL carb. It unfortunately met an early demise.
Except for the EEC II it was a well built and reliable unlike the ’79 Ford wagon company car I had. A failure in all categories
Neat to see these old wagons, back from when the SUV category was Suburban, Wagoneer, Travelall and the occasional import….
They do bring back some memories! We had a 1982 Buick LeSabre Estate Wagon, no woodgrain or ventiports (the latter denoted an Electra). Had the sport wheels on it though, and was a good looking car in its pewter paint. The wagon versions of those wheels are a different size than the sedan ones: 15″x7″ rather than 6″.
One of my eighth grade teachers had a ’79 Mercury Colony Park wagon, we rode in it often for field trips. And one of my high school friends had a Pinto wagon, the plain one with no woodgrain. Every time I see a Pinto wagon I think of him….
Also interesting to see how many wagons are towing travel trailers in these pictures. In my family we used Dad’s pickup for that duty, and the people we bought our trailer from had a Suburban they hauled it with. We wanted to buy both but couldn’t swing the note for both(Burb was just a few years old, newer than the trailer). Nowadays trailers are so much bigger, you have to have a one ton dually pickup to haul one…..
The mid 80’s Buick wagon may be 85 or older, I don’t see a third brake light which came out in 1986 which would be in the top center of the tail gate by the glass.
Man I miss all the wagons my father owned as a kid
Out of something like 57 cars, I’ve owned a couple of ’70s wagons: A ’71 Ford Country Squire and a 1975 Chevrolet Malibu Classic (victim of the Teflon power steering spool valve malady). I miss both. As far as the truck versus car mix today, I was kicking online tires yesterday and visited Chevrolet only to learn exactly ONE car is in the portfolio: Malibu.
Personally, I think that GM’s full-size wagons from ’71–’76 were *the* best-looking wagons ever, bar none. I always loved the shape of the greenhouses on those cars, very curvaceous and streamlined. Heck, they were so good-looking, AMC copied the look for its Pacer (which, BTW, I also liked). If I were to make a list of “wants” for my choice collection of cars, one of those wagons would be on the list–probably Buick’s rendition, as that division is my favorite GM division.
The nose clip on this 1976 Olds Cruiser:
https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Captura-de-pantalla-2024-04-20-00.45.20.jpg?ssl=1
was clearly intended to gauge the car buying public’s reaction to what was already finalized and in production, the 1977 downsized GM full sized cars.
Look at the front end of a 1977 model year Olds fullsize station wagon and you’ll know what I mean.
Wonderful images, all .
I LOVE station wagons, be they tiny (VW Typ III ‘Squareback’) or Land Yachts (1969 Chrysler) but I always wind up filling them with crap so no more .
-Nate
By the 1970’s, our family had already moved on from station wagons to vans. The one exception was dad’s commuter car, a VW Squareback.
My ’71 Country Squire. I miss that aircraft carrier so much!
Seeing all those big wagons towing serious sized trailers is a reminder of what we lost by making everything a truck. I will admit that the GM “clamshell” wagons and the contemporary Fords were a little too big and the late 70s full sized GM and Ford cars was a “right sizing”. I’ve never driven any of these but I’ve ridden in a few. My younger self thought Volvos were it, especially the turbos, although the 60s Vista Cruiser and Buick Sport Wagon get an honorable mention for the raised roof and back seat sun visors.
I really miss my first car. A very plain stripped down 1969 Ford Falcon station wagon. I got it used in 1982 for $200. It had 39k miles on it, It was a white 4 door with a blue vinyl interior. 302 engine, automatic, PS. Nothing else. My big modification was to install a radio. Drove that thing for years. It was my mustang in disguise, my bedroom on occasion and my off road race car. I can’t imagine how it was able to haul so many teenagers and empty cans at the same time.
Actually, “auto/ V8”. on a Falcon wagon is “optioned up”!
Great article! I am a total wagon man. Growing up in the 60s, my mom had a 64 Valient. It was white with red tuck and roll vinyl interior. A very nice interior. My dad took his 63 Chrysler Newport in for service in January of 1964. He saw the Valient wagon on the showroom floor and bought it for mom to drive. It was a V200 with the large 225 Slant Six. It was a great grocery getter, but it was too small and under powered to be a serious wagon. All our neighbors had full-size Ford wagons. Country Sedans and Squires. It was easy to see how Ford earned the nickname of the “Wagonmaster”. They were the best-looking wagons of the Detroit Big Three. They had great interiors, made with great quality materials, big engines and here in Southern California, they were the best sellers. In 1979, I bought a 1975 Mercury Marquis Colony Park wagon. The previous owner used it to haul big Great Danes, so it needed a lot of work to bring it back from the brink. It was white, with tan upscale interior. The dash and thick shagg carpet was dark brown. It had Ford’s mighty 460 V8 and a 4300 4 barrel Motorcraft carburetor, duel exhaust with flared chrome tips and it sounded great. It had every available option including ATC, Speed Control, and the twin facing 9 passenger seating. If Lincoln built a station wagon, the Mercury Marquis Colony Park would have been it. It was the most luxurious wagon offered in 1975 of any of American station wagons. It had great fit and finish, and it was gorgeous. With the help of my buddy who worked the parts counter at Lynch Lincoln Mercury in Santa Monica, I completely restored that Colony Park to showroom condition. It was the go to car for my family and friends for over 15 years. It had a fantastic ride and was very capable and comfortable. It got 10 to 12 MPG, and that 460 could handle the steep grades of the Sierras, fully loaded with ease and still get 10 MPG. I always kept it in showroom condition. The people in Southern California must have thought Mercury sold very well between 75 and 77, which they did, but they were seeing my Colony Park because I drove it everywhere. In the mid-70s the federal government challenged the Big Three to get at least 15 MPG for all sedans and wagons. Detroit couldn’t, or wouldn’t meet that challenge, so since trucks were exempt from meeting the 15 MPG, enter the SUVs. They were technically trucks that Detroit finished in car like features. The interiors became very luxurious and the SUVs took off. They were marketed as our new station wagons and the traditional wagons went extinct in the early 90s. But they never fooled me, I never saw the SUVs as our beloved, traditional American station wagons, but they were close enough. I always thought we would see the traditional sedans and wagons be reinvented as EVs with better handling and more fuel efficient, and it looked like that was beginning to happen, but after Detroit spent billions switching to EVs, the sales started to tank. Seems like the US car buying public were not ready to ditch the traditional ICE platform, GM and Ford has seen the ICE surge in sales. Admittedly, I’m definitely in that crowd. I love the sound, power, range that the ICE provides us. So, all we need is an ICE that’s combusing something other than petroleum based fuels. It’s out there, but we need big oil to make the transition. Everyone knows big oil has to be the industry that markets it to us. Make no mistake, big oil isn’t about to let an alternative industry take the lead as our fuel supplier. I predict the future of our cars will be ICE, burning another eco friendly fuel. When big oil is ready, then Detroit will build the cars with ICE capability. I bet the ranch that’s where we are headed. You can say you heard it here first.
Great article! I am a total wagon man. Growing up in the 60s, my mom had a 64 Valient. It was white with red tuck and roll vinyl interior. A very nice interior. My dad took his 63 Chrysler Newport in for service in January of 1964. He saw the Valient wagon on the showroom floor and bought it for mom to drive. It was a V200 with the large 225 Slant Six. It was a great grocery getter, but it was too small and under powered to be a serious wagon. All our neighbors had full-size Ford wagons. Country Sedans and Squires. It was easy to see how Ford earned the nickname of the “Wagonmaster”. They were the best-looking wagons of the Detroit Big Three. They had great interiors, made with great quality materials, big engines and here in Southern California, they were the best sellers. In 1979, I bought a 1975 Mercury Marquis Colony Park wagon. The previous owner used it to haul big Great Danes, so it needed a lot of work to bring it back from the brink. It was white, with tan upscale interior. The dash and thick shagg carpet was dark brown. It had Ford’s mighty 460 V8 and a 4300 4 barrel Motorcraft carburetor, duel exhaust with flared chrome tips and it sounded great. It had every available option including ATC, Speed Control, and the twin facing 9 passenger seating. If Lincoln built a station wagon, the Mercury Marquis Colony Park would have been it. It was the most luxurious wagon offered in 1975 of any of American station wagons. It had great fit and finish, and it was gorgeous. With the help of my buddy who worked the parts counter at Lynch Lincoln Mercury in Santa Monica, I completely restored that Colony Park to showroom condition. It was the go to car for my family and friends for over 15 years. It had a fantastic ride and was very capable and comfortable. It got 10 to 12 MPG, and that 460 could handle the steep grades of the Sierras, fully loaded with ease and still get 10 MPG. I always kept it in showroom condition. The people in Southern California must have thought Mercury sold very well between 75 and 77, which they did, but they were seeing my Colony Park because I drove it everywhere. In the mid-70s the federal government challenged the Big Three to get at least 15 MPG for all sedans and wagons. Detroit couldn’t, or wouldn’t meet that challenge, so since trucks were exempt from meeting the 15 MPG, enter the SUVs. They were technically trucks that Detroit finished in car like features. The interiors became very luxurious and the SUVs took off. They were marketed as our new station wagons and the traditional wagons went extinct in the early 90s. But they never fooled me, I never saw the SUVs as our beloved, traditional American station wagons, but they were close enough. I always thought we would see the traditional sedans and wagons be reinvented as EVs with better handling and more fuel efficient, and it looked like that was beginning to happen, but after Detroit spent billions switching to EVs, the sales started to tank. Seems like the US car buying public were not ready to ditch the traditional ICE platform, GM and Ford has seen the ICE surge in sales. Admittedly, I’m definitely in that crowd. I love the sound, power, range that the ICE provides us. So, all we need is an ICE that’s combusing something other than petroleum based fuels. It’s out there, but we need big oil to make the transition. Everyone knows big oil has to be the industry that markets it to us. Make no mistake, big oil isn’t about to let an alternative industry take the lead as our fuel supplier. I predict the future of our cars will be ICE, burning another eco friendly fuel. When big oil is ready, then Detroit w will build them. ⁰
I love the old fuselage wagons made by Mopar from 1969 to 1973. Cool designs with plenty of engine choices & options. Why do I own two of these behemoths from this era ?? Well, that’s because Im Mopar crazy !! And I really dig big block Mopars !!