MetaChat - I want to buy this car and drive it to California.

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23 August 2009

I want to buy this car and drive it to California. I know that this is exactly the kind of car that caused the Japanese to take over the market but wow, it's just 400 cubic inches of fake wood paneled, vinyl upholstered bench seat awesomeness. Check out the ebay listing to see shots of the interior; I'm 6'2" and I could stretch out in the front seat.

post by: octothorpe at: 10:55 | 15 comments

my dad was a big fan of station wagons and yes they have tons of room inside . the downside is they are pigs on gas and that could really add to the cost of your trip . also the current price seems a tad high for a 36 year old car

posted by rollick 23 August | 11:06

My ex bought this same car about ten years ago and man, did it burn gas. I think he figured it at 8 mpg. A girl from Germany bought it from him and drove it from Chicago to California with many stops on the way and send him a postcard saying it worked out well and she sold it to someone in SF before heading back to Germany.

One memory I have of this car is when he parked it in front of our house in the Fall, the underside was so hot it set leaves on fire.

Very comfy, tho.

posted by readery 23 August | 11:20

Damn, that takes me back -- we used to drive a car like that from North Carolina to Florida every summer. I can't tell from the pictures, though, if this one has that third seat in the very back that faces the wrong way. That's where I always had to sit.

posted by JanetLand 23 August | 11:22

That is just awesome.

posted by BoringPostcards 23 August | 12:11

I can't tell you how many similar station-wagons my family burned through while I was growing up. They were always some shade of blue and not nearly in that good repair.

JanetLand, my younger brother and I were always stuck in the jump seat in the back as well or just loose in the back. No seat-belts, yay!

posted by deborah 23 August | 12:24

Okay, that is the same model car my family, all EIGHT of us, drove from Long Island to Florida one summer. Six kids the oldest was 11 the youngest 4. I have no memory of that car ride. Although at 44, I do still have anxiety attacks when I have to take car trips.

posted by MonkeyButter 23 August | 12:55

'73 was a terrible year for Pontiac motors. They were so hamstrung by the emissions regulations that after they bolted on all the emissions equipment, they had to open up the cam and increase displacement to get any horsepower, and that meant they had to bolt on even more restrictive emissions equipment - it sucked. I think this car was developing something like 160 hp and weighed 5000 lbs, and 8 mpg sounds pretty optimistic to me.

Pretty old boat, though.

posted by ikkyu2 23 August | 13:04

It's in good shape, but it wasn't worth that much new. Five grand can get you a whole hell of a lot more car than that. But but but, nostalgia!

Also, random blimp photo!

posted by Eideteker 23 August | 16:59

Looks a lot like the '88 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon that my family had. It's the car I learned to drive on, and my sister had to use it, but just before I got my license it bit the dust (I was so thrilled). My sister and I switched to a Lincoln Town Car instead.

posted by ocherdraco 23 August | 17:49

We had that car, too - not in beige but in green, got it secondhand from my grandfather and took it a few times to Texas.

It's funny how hot these cars look now. When I was in high school, these cars were shameful, better than having no wheels at all, but man they looked pathetically outdated and unfashionable. One of the greatest transformations I think I've witnessed in my life is watching 70s style and design of all kinds going from anathema, painful to behold, to retro cool.

posted by Miko 23 August | 22:30

That's a pretty car and stuff, in a way, but google tells me you're talking about a 6.5 litre engine, to drive a passenger car, and I can barely get my head around that (though I suppose petrol is much cheaper over there...).

posted by pompomtom 24 August | 01:57

I learned to drive and had my first dates in a mid-70s Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. Sweet ride, baby.

posted by mrmoonpie 24 August | 10:00

I suppose petrol is much cheaper over there...

In the early 70s it was really cheap.

posted by Miko 24 August | 11:24

One of the greatest transformations I think I've witnessed in my life is watching 70s style and design of all kinds going from anathema, painful to behold, to retro cool.

This. Totally.

I so wish I could get the curtains I remember from my infancy.

posted by pompomtom 25 August | 00:58

The '70s were a bad time for big cars, because all the manufacturers got caught off-guard by the new emissions requirements that they thought would never happen, so they had to bolt all sorts of crap on to meet the requirements.

Plus, what's with the woodgrain on US station wagons? Here, wagons have always been sedan-based instead of some overblown monster. I bet they are awesome on freeways, though.

posted by dg 25 August | 08:19

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