Insurance tip… Max out your Personal Injury Protection on your car insurance policy (presuming that you have a car)… God Forbid that you get clobbered while riding, you’ll have the insurance to fall back on while you heal (especially if the driver takes off, or is under insured).
It must have been a classic! When was the last “station wagon” built? I had a Dodge Dart station wagon back in the ’60s and drooled over a Mercedes station wagon in 1975, but I haven’t seen one in a long time.
Station Wagons are still being built today. Toyota has a prius station wagon http://www.toyota.com/priusv/index.html. Grant it this is not like those from the 60′s and 70′s for sure but the wagon lives on.
Lots of station wagons are still available, but very few make it to the US. SAAB just went beely up, so no more SportCombi. Volvo, who practically invented the modern station wagon doesn’t make them as of 2010, very few Japanese manufacturers sell them here, instead bringing hatchbacks like the above Prius or Subaru’s Impreza. VW just introduced their new Jetta wagon. BMW stopped brining the 5 wagon and Mercedes Benz only imports the E-class wagon instead of the more affordable C-class available in the reat of the world. Audi still has several available. I have two Subaru station wagons, but even Subaru, who makes the Legacy wagon in Indiana doesn’t sell it in the US, but sends them to Canada. Apparenty, everyone still wants an SUV, even if they are the smaller ones. I’d love to have one of the European small diesel wagons.
Yea, I have a softspot for wagons. But my station wagon of choice is my Xtracycle.
Station wagons (as most people visualize them) were on their way out in the 1980s once Chrysler introduced the minivan — a station wagon on steroids. The coup d’grace came once people starting buying SUVs and oversized pickup trucks,
When I hear the word Station Wagon, I invision an aircraft carrier sized vehicle lumbering down the street engulfing everything in its path.
Don’t hate me, but those were the days!
My family had a Dodge Coronet 220 wagon. Every bit the “aircraft carrier”, six-cylinder engine, but boy, could that thing move! Much to the evil joy of my mother, who passed Mustangs, Firebirds and even a Corvette or two in its time.
Agreed; I once had a 1985 Plymouth full-sized van that had a 225-cid slant six in it. Great engine, you could beat on it with a club and it would keep humming along, and got good mileage to boot, but just too small for that particular application. It was OK on a flat road, but if I tried to climb any sort of hill here in western Wisconsin I had to be doing 70 mph at that bottom and have my foot to the firewall all the way up if I hoped to be going anywhere close to 50 mph at the top.
Like my Scorpio Ultima. 3 litre Cosworth V6 and 200bhp through the rear wheels blew the ‘pocket rockets’ away at the lights. Especially on wet days. Handy load space and up to 50mpg with careful driving, 40 on a gentle run. Hard to beat but expensive spares when Ford removed support as it was over 13 years old
The bike is cheaper to run and better for my health so I only have sad reminiscences of the ‘good old days’
I got it to support my wife when she was working a contract 80 miles away. Regular runs to take her to/from work and maintain the apartment she rented were too tiring in a small car. The Scorpio could even take a complete 3-piece suite AND bedding in one run…
My wagons have mostly been of the smaller variety. ’62 Ford Falcon waon, ’69 FIAT 124 wagon, ’75 VolksWAGON Scirocco (OK, a hatchback), ’81 Dodge Colt wagon (also really a hatch), ’02 Subaru Impreza WRX wagon, and ’08 Subaru Outback wagon. Most of those had bike racks on top.
Buddy drives an ’80s Buick Roadmaster Estate wagon as a daily driver. That’s as big as any of the ’70s aircraft carrier sized wagons.
If you think about, most smaller SUVs are simply station wagons with lifted suspensions. And even the ‘smaller’ SUVs can seem aircraft carrier-sized when the pass within inches of you.
Yup… grew up in one of those. Drive from MO to ME every summer with 4 kids in the back laid out like cordwood on the twin mattress Dad would throw in there. He drove thru the night, tuning in the staticky Yankee game on the AM band. *sighs*
Grew up in a Buick Estate wagon, learned to drive in a Mecrury Grand Marque wagon…had a Taurus wagon…now a Forester…I doubt we will be buying another petrol run vehicle when it dies…but my Big Dummy and LHT haul lots of cargo in their own right.
Learned to drive on a ’67 Ford LTD Country Squire wagon. Fire-engine red with the “wood” trim and panels. 3 bench seat seated 9 comfortably or about 15 with the back seat down and people sitting on the deck. Seat belts? Not an issue. V-8 engine. Gas was 35 cents and it got about 15 mpg with a 20 gallon tank. It was the biggest thing on the road. Imagine the parallel parking test.
If it was a bike that was stolen, we’d all be discussing locking strategies. I cross-lock with both a cable and a u-lock and my stem and skewers are keyed.
I see station wagons everywhere. They’re just taller so they block the line of sight of everything in the vicinity, and they’re called SUVs and “mini”vans so that today’s mommies don’t have to feel like they’re driving their own mothers’ kid carriers.
I see station wagons everywhere. They’re just taller so they block the line of sight of everything in the vicinity, and they’re called SUVs and “mini”vans so that today’s mommies don’t have to feel like they’re driving their own mothers’ kid carriers.
In automotive circles, the difference between a “station wagon” and an “SUV” is the last (3rd) row of seats. If you can get into those seats from inside the vehicle* and those seats face forward, you have an SUV. In a station wagon, you get into those seats via the tailgate, and those seats face rearward (e.g. an Oldsmobile Cutlas Cruiser*) or side-to-side (e.g. the split seat in a Ford Crown Victoria Country Squire*).
(*Without going all Spiderman and climbing over top of the seats.)
(**Both owned at one time by my folks.)
Not to mention that station wagons are usually derived from a sedan and are as high as a standard car, while SUVs have higher suspension, taller bodies and do not come from a sedan, but are designed to be an SUV from the beginning.
@Adam DZ: Early SUVs were built on pickup truck chassis because the U.S. Congress, with its typical lack of foresight, exempted pickup trucks from corporate average fuel economy (C.A.F.E.) standards. Supposedly, sales numbers for pickup trucks were low and the (lack of) thought was that the contribution of pickup trucks to C.A.F.E. would be insignificant. Of course, that loophole was big enough to drive an SUV through.
Also, with the lower roof, a station wagon is a lot better bicycle hauler using a roof rack than an SUV. There’s a reason Pro Tour teams use station wagons, not SUV’s.
The Coronet and Caprice were REAL station wagons! While the roof line was still the same height as a standard sedan, the rear was long enough for the kids to stretch out and sleep 3 or 4 across! Some of them, I dont remembrer which, had rear-facing seats for the little kids. Even if it were premitted for anybody to ride seatbelt-less, there isn’t enough room back there for a toddler!
We’ve had the Dodge Colt S/W, the Outback and the Forester. Not real station wagons. The only recent vehicle that really fit the bill was our ’84 Suburban, we called the Bubba and the Outback the Bubbette. Of course the Bubba got 11 mpg…
Long ago (long, long ago) as a rather new Christian, I found myself in amongst a gaggle of very reformed presbyterian ministers who were discussing the best ways to maximise investment values in house buying. In my most innocent demeanour I enquired whether the Bible said something about not laying up teasures on earth, which rather put a spoke in the wheel of the conversation.
I’m kind of getting a deja vue feeling, reading the comments in this cycling forum….
@ Bicycle Bill: I actually meant “reformed” as in “Protestant Reformation” (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli &.al.). Not having heard of Gordon Gekko (sheltered life…) I googled him, and appreciate your point.
Insurance tip… Max out your Personal Injury Protection on your car insurance policy (presuming that you have a car)… God Forbid that you get clobbered while riding, you’ll have the insurance to fall back on while you heal (especially if the driver takes off, or is under insured).
Be safe out there!
And get Umbreall policy to cover damages over what your car insurance will cover. It also covers you when you’re riding a bike.
I note he didn’t say ‘My Fiat 500 was stolen’…
It must have been a classic! When was the last “station wagon” built? I had a Dodge Dart station wagon back in the ’60s and drooled over a Mercedes station wagon in 1975, but I haven’t seen one in a long time.
Station Wagons are still being built today. Toyota has a prius station wagon http://www.toyota.com/priusv/index.html. Grant it this is not like those from the 60′s and 70′s for sure but the wagon lives on.
Hyundai, Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Audi still make them.
Lots of station wagons are still available, but very few make it to the US. SAAB just went beely up, so no more SportCombi. Volvo, who practically invented the modern station wagon doesn’t make them as of 2010, very few Japanese manufacturers sell them here, instead bringing hatchbacks like the above Prius or Subaru’s Impreza. VW just introduced their new Jetta wagon. BMW stopped brining the 5 wagon and Mercedes Benz only imports the E-class wagon instead of the more affordable C-class available in the reat of the world. Audi still has several available. I have two Subaru station wagons, but even Subaru, who makes the Legacy wagon in Indiana doesn’t sell it in the US, but sends them to Canada. Apparenty, everyone still wants an SUV, even if they are the smaller ones. I’d love to have one of the European small diesel wagons.
Yea, I have a softspot for wagons. But my station wagon of choice is my Xtracycle.
2012 Volvo wagons. http://www.chattanoogavolvo.com/newinv/2012/volvo-78/xc70-620/trim-all/0/index.html
I have buddy with a 65 Dart station wagon for sale. While station wagons are cool I wish we had more Hatchbacks here in the USA…
Most popular station wagon in the northeast: Subaru Outback.
Station wagons (as most people visualize them) were on their way out in the 1980s once Chrysler introduced the minivan — a station wagon on steroids. The coup d’grace came once people starting buying SUVs and oversized pickup trucks,
Crossovers may as well be station wagons. Derived from similar unibodies and all to save money…
I see a station wagon every time a stretched out hatchback tries to call itself something pretension like `crossover.
When I hear the word Station Wagon, I invision an aircraft carrier sized vehicle lumbering down the street engulfing everything in its path.
Don’t hate me, but those were the days!
My family had a Dodge Coronet 220 wagon. Every bit the “aircraft carrier”, six-cylinder engine, but boy, could that thing move! Much to the evil joy of my mother, who passed Mustangs, Firebirds and even a Corvette or two in its time.
225ci Slant Six. Best thing they ever made. Lots of them still around.
I had a 198 slant 6 in a 73 Gold Duster and that thing ran & ran & ran… never a lick of problem
Agreed; I once had a 1985 Plymouth full-sized van that had a 225-cid slant six in it. Great engine, you could beat on it with a club and it would keep humming along, and got good mileage to boot, but just too small for that particular application. It was OK on a flat road, but if I tried to climb any sort of hill here in western Wisconsin I had to be doing 70 mph at that bottom and have my foot to the firewall all the way up if I hoped to be going anywhere close to 50 mph at the top.
Like my Scorpio Ultima. 3 litre Cosworth V6 and 200bhp through the rear wheels blew the ‘pocket rockets’ away at the lights. Especially on wet days. Handy load space and up to 50mpg with careful driving, 40 on a gentle run. Hard to beat but expensive spares when Ford removed support as it was over 13 years old
The bike is cheaper to run and better for my health so I only have sad reminiscences of the ‘good old days’
I got it to support my wife when she was working a contract 80 miles away. Regular runs to take her to/from work and maintain the apartment she rented were too tiring in a small car. The Scorpio could even take a complete 3-piece suite AND bedding in one run…
My wagons have mostly been of the smaller variety. ’62 Ford Falcon waon, ’69 FIAT 124 wagon, ’75 VolksWAGON Scirocco (OK, a hatchback), ’81 Dodge Colt wagon (also really a hatch), ’02 Subaru Impreza WRX wagon, and ’08 Subaru Outback wagon. Most of those had bike racks on top.
Buddy drives an ’80s Buick Roadmaster Estate wagon as a daily driver. That’s as big as any of the ’70s aircraft carrier sized wagons.
If you think about, most smaller SUVs are simply station wagons with lifted suspensions. And even the ‘smaller’ SUVs can seem aircraft carrier-sized when the pass within inches of you.
I used to have a 1977 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Station wagon. You could land a plane on that thing. V8, room for 35. It was beast and comfy. Probably took a few years of Earth’s life by itself. http://www.stationwagon.com/gallery/pictures/1976_Chevy_Caprice.jpg
Yup… grew up in one of those. Drive from MO to ME every summer with 4 kids in the back laid out like cordwood on the twin mattress Dad would throw in there. He drove thru the night, tuning in the staticky Yankee game on the AM band. *sighs*
Grew up in a Buick Estate wagon, learned to drive in a Mecrury Grand Marque wagon…had a Taurus wagon…now a Forester…I doubt we will be buying another petrol run vehicle when it dies…but my Big Dummy and LHT haul lots of cargo in their own right.
Learned to drive on a ’67 Ford LTD Country Squire wagon. Fire-engine red with the “wood” trim and panels. 3 bench seat seated 9 comfortably or about 15 with the back seat down and people sitting on the deck. Seat belts? Not an issue. V-8 engine. Gas was 35 cents and it got about 15 mpg with a 20 gallon tank. It was the biggest thing on the road. Imagine the parallel parking test.
If it was a bike that was stolen, we’d all be discussing locking strategies. I cross-lock with both a cable and a u-lock and my stem and skewers are keyed.
I see station wagons everywhere. They’re just taller so they block the line of sight of everything in the vicinity, and they’re called SUVs and “mini”vans so that today’s mommies don’t have to feel like they’re driving their own mothers’ kid carriers.
I see station wagons everywhere. They’re just taller so they block the line of sight of everything in the vicinity, and they’re called SUVs and “mini”vans so that today’s mommies don’t have to feel like they’re driving their own mothers’ kid carriers.
Hey, I drive a minivan. It takes 3 people and 3 bikes inside plus all the luggage and gear!
In automotive circles, the difference between a “station wagon” and an “SUV” is the last (3rd) row of seats. If you can get into those seats from inside the vehicle* and those seats face forward, you have an SUV. In a station wagon, you get into those seats via the tailgate, and those seats face rearward (e.g. an Oldsmobile Cutlas Cruiser*) or side-to-side (e.g. the split seat in a Ford Crown Victoria Country Squire*).
(*Without going all Spiderman and climbing over top of the seats.)
(**Both owned at one time by my folks.)
Not to mention that station wagons are usually derived from a sedan and are as high as a standard car, while SUVs have higher suspension, taller bodies and do not come from a sedan, but are designed to be an SUV from the beginning.
@Adam DZ: Early SUVs were built on pickup truck chassis because the U.S. Congress, with its typical lack of foresight, exempted pickup trucks from corporate average fuel economy (C.A.F.E.) standards. Supposedly, sales numbers for pickup trucks were low and the (lack of) thought was that the contribution of pickup trucks to C.A.F.E. would be insignificant. Of course, that loophole was big enough to drive an SUV through.
Also, with the lower roof, a station wagon is a lot better bicycle hauler using a roof rack than an SUV. There’s a reason Pro Tour teams use station wagons, not SUV’s.
For my SUV, I use the trailer hitch port for a bike rack.
The Coronet and Caprice were REAL station wagons! While the roof line was still the same height as a standard sedan, the rear was long enough for the kids to stretch out and sleep 3 or 4 across! Some of them, I dont remembrer which, had rear-facing seats for the little kids. Even if it were premitted for anybody to ride seatbelt-less, there isn’t enough room back there for a toddler!
We’ve had the Dodge Colt S/W, the Outback and the Forester. Not real station wagons. The only recent vehicle that really fit the bill was our ’84 Suburban, we called the Bubba and the Outback the Bubbette. Of course the Bubba got 11 mpg…
Long ago (long, long ago) as a rather new Christian, I found myself in amongst a gaggle of very reformed presbyterian ministers who were discussing the best ways to maximise investment values in house buying. In my most innocent demeanour I enquired whether the Bible said something about not laying up teasures on earth, which rather put a spoke in the wheel of the conversation.
I’m kind of getting a deja vue feeling, reading the comments in this cycling forum….
“…I found myself in amongst a gaggle of very reformed presbyterian ministers…”
Now you know what they were reformed into — the Church of Gordon Gekko!
@ Bicycle Bill: I actually meant “reformed” as in “Protestant Reformation” (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli &.al.). Not having heard of Gordon Gekko (sheltered life…) I googled him, and appreciate your point.
Yeah, it does sound a bit like an episode of Car Talk today.
So now Yehuda’s stealing station wagons at night?
Haha.. I bet a good 50% are station wagons here in Sweden. We call them “kombi”.
The most sold car in sweden 2011 is one.
1. Volvo V70, 8 659 (10 806)
2. Volkswagen Golf, 5 821 (5 103)
3. Volkswagen Passat, 5 754 (5 228)
4. Volvo V60, 4 451 (0)
5. Volvo V50, 4 409 (4 367)
6. Volvo XC60, 2 835 (2 115)
7. Audi A4, 2 766 (2 967)
8. Kia Cee’d, 2 764 (3 346)
9. BMW 5-serie, 2 555 (1 391)
10. Renault Megane, 2 374 (2 484)