Tell us your rear facing back seat station wagon stories!

-
cruiser

cruiser

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Messages
858
Reaction score
996
Location
Bloomington, MN
Mopar family: How many of you recall riding in the rear facing back seat of your dad's Mopar station wagon back in the day? I sure do. My dad had a number of Mopar wagons through the years: A 1959 Fury wagon, a 1967 Fury wagon, a 1972 Fury Sport Suburban wagon, and a 1978 Dodge Coronet wagon. I spent A LOT of time in that rear facing seat with the back window rolled down, driving up to our cabin in northern Minnesota. Between the carbon monoxide fumes and my older brother's stinking feet in my face, it was an unforgettable experience. Here's a fuzzy shot from an 8 mm home movie, taken in the summer of 1970. I'm the guy in the brown shirt putting my little sister in the back seat through the rolled down rear window. This was my dad's 67 Fury wagon, with his brown 1964 Fury four door sedan in the foreground. How about you? What are your memories of sitting in the back seat, watching that striped centerline stretching out endlessly behind the car. Please share your stories. Thanks!

IMG_2927.jpg
 
That's some nice stuff! My only experience was watching a nice African-American ( is that still politically correct) Ex Cop comedian recall his journeys, vacationing w/ his family, as a child. Great Dude, and funny, too!
 
The mother of a friend I grew up with had like a 78 Chevy Impala wagon. 305, turbo 350, just a general slug grocery getter. It was in good shape though. Really clean car. Sometimes, I'd go to my high school best friend's house after school. He was also friend's with the friend whose mother owned the wagon....in fact, they just liver around the block from each other. A lot of times we'd ride over to David's house (whose mother had the wagon). There was a place at a dead end road in the neighborhood we called the party palace. It was a city water checking station where they took samples and there was pressure regulators and such there. It was just a big open field at the end of a dirt road with a concrete culvert and some electrical equipment on the far end, where everybody partied on the weekends. ....and we took full advantage of the open field, especially after it had rained. Kirk and I would get in the rear facing seat and David would cut continuous doughnuts in the mud for what seemed like hours at the time. He always returned his mother's car just as nasty as could be. Usually it dropped huge chunks of mud in the driveway after dropping a trail of mud all the way home. His parents always asked how the car got so dirty and all David ever said was "I don't know". lol We also used to take David's father's car to the same place. It was a 70 Chevy Impala four door with the 300HP 350. David would brick the front tires and roast the rear tires until the steel belts were sparking on the pavement. Again when asked "David, what happened to my tires" his standard go to answer....."I don't know". Yeah. We were hoodlums alright.
 
Man, We Raised Hell, but I Ain't NEVER Seen Nobody pull that on Mom or Dad's rides! Most Kids I grew up w/ Would NOT Have an *** left Ta Whoop! Rob, I could just visually see the roostertails, and mud, muck, dirt and good ol Fun kicked off them tires! And Y'all had the Front Seat! Lol and for some reason, I see Cherry-Pie Eyed **** Eating Grins.....
 
Last edited:
Sorry, not a MOPAR...Dad was a GM guy.

Buick wagon... 3 boys, 4 years apart. The wars over who got to sit in rear seats was fierce. :eek:

On longer road trips the seat was flipped down and blankets piled into the rear cargo area and we 3 boys would jump back and forth between the back seat and the cargo area.

We'd lay with our heads against the tailgate and stare up at the sky to spot cloud figures. Any tunnel we.passed through required you to hold your breath until you got to the other side. Drove all up and down the East Coast like that.
 
Here's the 68 i had in 2014, great wagon with all you could want, sold it to someone overseas, i'm still in therapy about getting rid it it.
upload_2022-4-15_6-46-27.jpeg

upload_2022-4-15_6-48-54.jpeg

upload_2022-4-15_6-50-28.jpeg
 
Back in the early 80's, a good friends grandfather passed away. My friend called me to help him sell off some of the grandparents cars, they had 18 cars between their 3 houses & farm. We managed to sell off all but a 72 Ford Ranch Wagon, no one wanted it because first off, it was a long roof car & second it was a 429 car & wasn't running. I made a deal & bought the car, I drug it home & delved into it. Some how, something dropped down & sheared 3 teeth off the cm & 5 teeth off the distributor gear. I replaced them & got it running, but while doing so I found out the it was a 429 CJ engine. My wife at the time had 2 kids & their favorite thing was to ride in the rearward facing seat & wave at everyone we passed on the highway. I really enjoyed the wagon, it would pass everything but a gas station. One weekend, the wife was out getting groceries & got T boned, no one was hurt but the wagon. I had it drug home & it sat in the back yard until I found a 71 LTD convertible with no engine or transmission. I pulled the drive train from the wagon & transplanted it in to the vert. Shortly after the swap, we went through a pretty messy divorce. Luckily I was able to keep my truck, the vert & my 64 Sport Fury 426 wedge car. Sadly, I no longer have any of those cars but have been through many others until I ended up with my 71 Demon bracket car, a 2000 2500 Ram truck, a 2005 Dodge Caravan & my current wife's 2016 Chrysler 300S.
 
cruiser said:
Nice looking wagon - looks like a '67. Also liked your photo on your identity page. Are those VC-8 A-4Ms with a couple of Marine C-130s in the background?
Click to expand...

yep a-4, i think it was an e though. i was in vc-5 at cubi point, the 130's wern't there when i got there, probably vrc-50 planes, we did have some ta-4j's
 
Last edited:
What rate were you in? How did you like Cubi? I've attached a photo of a TA-4J that I got to ride in the back of when I was 18. Lotsa fun, almost got sick!

Scan0001.jpg
 
Threads like this motivate me to finish the ol coronet wagon I have.

I bought it in 2013 for 3 hundred bucks and then I had to disassemble the interior because it was a mouse house .... BIG TIME. (From before I owned it) probably the biggest infestation I have ever seen. I think there might have been food items in there at one point. (Before I owned it)

I spent a whole lot of money on a 68 charger rally dash conversion (bolt in, once I had all the parts) and then I got it running with a 440/ 4 speed. I drove it for a summer then i bought other cars so the Coronet kinda got pushed behind the barn where it still is now.

I never grew up with wagons, being born in 1986, but I'm hoping to make my own wagon memories and get it going again. I might swap the 440 out with a 383 because the 440 has issues and was never right. The 383 I have in a fury, runs much better.

Doesn't look like this anymore but it's still a 68 coronet to this day lol

CIMG0934.jpg


CIMG0931.jpg


2you5pf.jpg
 
My story is short..

But it happened TODAY

I'm always looking on Craigslist for a nice wood sided station wagon (not that I need or can afford one, but im sure you guys get it)

So last week I spotted one, brand X, mid 80s, 350 and rear facing 3rd row


And cheap


I went to show it to the wife this morning, just in case she'd like it as much as I did, but the listing was gone already



@Princess Valiant that's how you become plan B
 
My parents had a 68 Satellite and went on vacation to Michigan. I was about 13 and found a fairly nice camera the beach on Mackana Island. On the highways home I’d sit in the back and take pics of people that would pass us( of course there was no film left for pics) A lot of different reactions
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top