There is a scene in National Lampoon’s classic movie Vacation where Clark Griswald, played by Chevy Chase, in preparation for the big family trip, visits his neighborhood auto dealership to pick up his new car. Clark complains, “This isn’t the car I ordered. I distinctly ordered the Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the C.B. and optional rally fun pack.” Ed, the salesman, replies, “You didn’t order the metallic pea?” Clark soon returns home piloting the green Wagon Queen Family Truckster, and the rest of the story is comic history, with the station wagon front and center.
The Great American Station Wagon became a symbol of family life in America in the second half of the 20th century. Descended from commercial vehicles of the '20s and '30s, specifically the De pot Hack, station wagons came of age after World War II. With the dawning of suburban life and the Baby Boomer generation, the station wagon found its place. Surf culture and the Beach Boys furthered the popularity of the station wagon in the early ‘60s. There’s nothing cooler than an old woody at the beach.
Station wagons continued in popularity until the oil embargo of 1973 and resulting gas crisis. Soon came the mini-van, and then the now ubiquitous SUV. These societal changes resulted in the death of the station wagon. But we can remember… If you survived the 70s, there is a good chance your family drove a station wagon. My parents did not own a Wagon Queen Family Truckster, but in the summer of 1972 they brought home a used baby blue 1963 Plymouth Belvedere Station Wagon with a Zig Zag decal on the back window. The decal always struck me as funny, because apparently my parents were unaware of the cultural significance of this small detail (I think the previous owners probably went through a lot of Zig Zag papers rolling doobies). So began our life with a station wagon.
