Summer's almost over, but there's still time to take that family road trip. has the perfect car, but wants to know — are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
Yesterday, a majority of you judged a book by its cover, handing the scrappy little Honda N600 a 73% Crack Pipe drubbing. Today we're going to close the book on little cars, and take a look at one that's as big as the heartland.
Referred to as Touring, Estate, or Avant elsewhere around the globe, we call them station wagons here in the U.S.. And no other car is quite so emblematic of this great nation of ours as these long-roof sedans. Originally a service vehicle intended to carry passengers and their steamer trunks full of holiday wear from depot to resort, the station wagon evolved into the quintessential post-war family car, driven by soccer moms before anybody here gave a flip about soccer.
One of the best, and most American, of station wagons was the . Based on the largest of the Ford Standard platforms, the Squire could seat up to ten, providing transport for the entire little league team, and coach mom. The marque reached a zenith of style and function in the mid-‘60s with the Galaxie-based model.
This lacks the ubiquitous faux wood trim, but you'll forget about that once you get a load of its gleaming chrome roof rack, stacked headlamps, and Magic Door 3-way tailgate. Three-across seating front and back, plus side-facing seats in the back-back mean Jon and Kate Plus Eight can all mediawhore in it together, although they'd likely leave cheating husbawhore Jon behind, who probably has other things to do anyway.
The (Ford Edsel) V8 is as sturdy and reliable an engine as you could ask for, and with a minimum of 208 bhp (2bbl) on tap this is a wagon that will rarely be stationary. Actuating the C-6 is by means of a column shift, right where god and Henry Ford intended it. All that, and an apparent lack of road rot make this a compelling choice for the SUV and Minivan averse who take their role models from TV's Big Love. The seller notes that it would make a good project, indicating that not everything is farm-fresh, but that $1,500 price tag means that you'd likely have enough dough left over for a trip to Pep Boys, if you don't first go broke from ten orders at the drive-thru at Arby's.
One fun thing about this series is the vast quantity of big-displacement V8s built by Detroit…
So, what do you think about $1,500 for this wagon from the wonder years? Is that a Nice Price for so fancy a Ford? Or is it ten passengers worth of Crack Pipe?
You decide!
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