{"id":2798,"date":"2008-06-25T02:11:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-25T06:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2008\/06\/circle-wagons\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T12:00:58","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T17:00:58","slug":"circle-wagons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2008\/06\/circle-wagons\/","title":{"rendered":"Circle the Wagons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1969<\/a><\/p>\n

Shortly after I posted last week’s CarPort<\/a> about two-door station wagons, I became aware that the International Station Wagon Club<\/a> was holding its national meet<\/a> at the historic Publick House<\/a> in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, not far from where I live. Coincidence or not, it seemed like an opportunity not to be missed, so I didn’t miss it.<\/p>\n

The age of wagons stretched from brass Model T<\/a> to some time last week<\/a>, and class judging was arranged for Original Unrestored<\/a> wagons, Original Restored<\/a> (how can it be original if it’s been restored?), Modified<\/a> and Returning Champions<\/a>. There were woodie favorites like a 1940 Pontiac<\/a>, a ’50 Buick Super<\/a> and an exquisite 1933 Ford<\/a> with a complete set of original tools<\/a>. The faux wood brigade included a ’53 Country Squire<\/a>, ’65 ditto<\/a>, a pair of 1969 Chrysler Town and Country wagons<\/a> and a seldom-seen 1966 Mercury Comet<\/a> Villager<\/a>. Next to the Comet was an equally noteworthy 1959 Plymouth Suburban<\/a> and not far away a 1962 Corvair Lakewood<\/a>. The ’64 Ford Fairlane<\/a> was billed as a Custom Ranch Wagon<\/a>, and was nostalgic to me for its 260 cid<\/a> V8<\/a>, just like the one in our old ’63 Falcon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The only hardtop wagon<\/a> was a ’57 Mercury four-door Commuter<\/a> in drive-in theater trim. From Stratford, Connecticut came a ’64 Ford patrol car<\/a>, and the ’59 Rambler<\/a> reminded me of one my next-door neighbor used to have. A ’65 Rambler 660<\/a> basked in the champions’ circle, a bare-bones model with few accessories. American Motors, ever pragmatic, put its unused shift quadrant to good purpose<\/a> The ISWC welcomes wagons to come as they are, good for this 1963 Dodge<\/a>, and embraces such youngsters as a ’99 Mercury Sable<\/a>, late model Buick Roadmaster<\/a> and a Pontiac 6000<\/a>. Apart from a 2000 Mercedes-Benz E320<\/a>, the only import was a ’58 Hillman Estate Wagon<\/a> (but, sadly, not a single Husky<\/a>). Thankfully, people are starting to collect Plymouth Volares<\/a>, particularly the Premier Edition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Big wagons demand big engines, and there were many on hand. The ’57 Chrysler New Yorker<\/a> had a hemi<\/a>, of course, and there were both 427<\/a> and 454<\/a> Chevrolets, the latter having spells of incontinence<\/a>. The largest Ford engine seemed to be a 352<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A theme meet calls for theme-appropriate accessories, and station wagons provide ideal places<\/a> to display them<\/a>. If there was a disappointment it was finding only three two-door wagons. A ’57 Pontiac Safari<\/a> contrasted with Chevy’s ’57 Bel Air Handyman<\/a> with the “conventional” tail<\/a>, though the latter was a bit overdone<\/a> for my taste<\/a>. Steve Mierz took me to task last week for forgetting his wife Diane’s 1973 Pinto Squire<\/a>,which made its CarPort debut<\/a> last year. The ISWC show rubbed it in with a 1977 version<\/a> of the same car. The Pontiac Safari<\/a> is so well known that we forget that the name<\/a> survived much longer on big four-door Ponchos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Among the station wagon owners and spectators were rapaciously writing<\/a> reporters<\/a>, and furiously focusing<\/a> photographers<\/a>. You’ll probably see their coverage in the mainstream media<\/a>. My favorite outfit was the 1969 Buick Sportwagon,<\/a> which was hitched to a matching ’69 Shasta<\/a> Loflyte<\/a> camper. The weather was perfect and I was glad to see people preserving cars that are a bit out of the ordinary. As a parting exercise, consider this plaintive face<\/a>. Tell us<\/a> what you think it is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shortly after I posted last week’s CarPort about two-door station wagons, I became aware that the International Station Wagon Club was holding its national meet at the historic Publick House in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, not far from where I live. Coincidence or not, it seemed like an opportunity not to be missed, so I didn’t miss….<\/span>
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