Thread: Interesting, Odd or Funny Pics II.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

The station wagon story given is very much the American station wagon story.

In this country, station wagons were virtually non-existent until the 1950s, and by the 1960s they became commonplace as family cars. The attraction of them for the buyers was pretty much as laid out in the video. For manufacturers, that a large proportion of the parts were the same as the sedan, and they could be built on the same assembly line, and hence could be sold for only a small premium above the sedan, so buyers could afford them.

Almost none of the wagons shown in the video were ever sold in Australia, and station wagons remained very rare until the release of the first Holden wagon in 1957, and Ford produced a wagon only months after the first Falcon sedan in 1960. Into the 1960s wagons became so popular that it seemed like most of the makers were selling them along with sedans by the middle of the sixties.

I don't think I had ever seen a station wagon until the first Holden one, and by then I could be described as a car mad teenager, very well informed about cars (but to put it in perspective - no TV until about the same date as the first Holden wagon, and I rarely got to the movies).

Ford made the Australian Mk ll Zephyr in wagon form, whereas in the UK the wagon was converted and outsourced to coachbuilders, Abbotts and Carbodies, from memory.

Originally Posted by Saitch

I remember, in the '50a/'60's, our "Rawleigh's Man" having a station wagon. I'm thinking Vauxhall? It wasn't a large vehicle, from memory.

Vauxhall Victor, per chance?

1963-Vauxhall-Victor.jpg

Originally Posted by Tins

Possibly a Victor, or a Cresta maybe. Can't remember if we got the Velox as a wagon. Probably would have seemed big at the time. Funny how perceptions change. I used to think my old XA was a big car. Saw one the other day next to a current Corolla... I remember when a Corolla was a small car.

Ain't that the truth, John? Remember when Holden Special was a large (in this country) family car and Torana/Viva was a small car? Along came the Kingswood and Torana LH. The Kingswood had gotten bigger while the LH filled the EH's dimensional shoes. Stand next to an HR these days and they appear positively small.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Vauxhall Victor, per chance?

1963-Vauxhall-Victor.jpg

Hmmm, no. I'm changing thoughts here. It may have been a Vanguard? Not a 'wagon at all! A young fella might register it as one and in later years, recall it as one.
Vanguard.jpg

That's a Beetle Back, Steve. They also did a wagon.

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Austin A40 Countryman? Only two doors on the passenger bit though.

Screenshot 2025-02-23 at 12.54.52 pm.jpg

Austin A40 Farina, released in '62 IIRC.