Hello, A 50s Plymouth Station Wagon always reminds me of surfing early Dana Point in the cliff side semi-secret surf spots. At the time, the inland surfers were all parked at the Doheny Beach parking lots and stuffed the surf breaks there. But, if one was a little curious, a walk along the rocky shoreline at the base of the cliffs was the answer to great surf, glassy waters with plenty of kelp to keep the location fairly smooth during any swell. As the sea weed grew and spread, it made for some exciting unforeseen rides until the skeg got stopped by the seaweed. Then it was nose first into the water. But, to be able to surf these spots with only a few others, was pretty much “heaven on the water.” One of the Long Beach surfers from our high school bought an early 49-53 station wagon from some lady that had it parked in a side yard. It was not the best shape, but after a couple of teenagers got finished with some motor tune ups and a power wash and wax, it turned out to be a wonderful looking surf wagon. It was a regular at the Doheny Beach surf spot parking lots. But, they kept wondering why we always surfed a couple of waves, then disappeared back to shore. (for the long walk along the rocky shoreline and disappear around a tall cliff.) Perhaps a custom modification or two would have made it one of the top cruisers showing up weekly at the surf spots or at the local drive-in restaurant parking lots for teenage bantering… But always acknowledging the ownership of that cool Plymouth Station Wagon, we thought that was the epitome of surf wagons. That was, until we saw some custom ones at the local Long Beach car shows at the old, Municipal Auditorium display floor. Then it was instantly wanting a station wagon that looked like the custom ones we saw on the floor displays. Jnaki We had no idea that George Cerny was a custom car guy until we continued to see the station wagons and other custom cars at other shows. But, we always wandered back to the station wagon for a dream world vision of being able to park it at the Dana Point pier parking lot for the Killer Dana surf sessions. The tall cliffs hid the other spots as the coastline cliffs have bends in the direction, from the South and from the North. The best spot was where the current Dana Point Harbor bridge is located. The lot also provided us a longer walk back along the rocky shoreline below the cliffs from the Northern parking lots to the surf spots that we called “the best on this particular coast” area. Chest to overhead waves, glassy water surface, only a few brave souls that fought off the rocky shoreline to get to the spot. What more would anyone want in a semi- secret surf spot, besides being able to get to the parking lot with a cool custom Plymouth Station Wagon. NOTE: Those semi secret surf spots were always glassy and pristine. The heavy kelp beds kept the water smooth. They lasted until the Orange County government decided they needed a place to park some power boats and sailboats. One place was Monarch Beach Cove to the North, but it was located in a private community that was against any incursion of the public. So, they finally agreed to build the new harbor in the Killer Dana Cove and all the way back to the Doheny Beach surf spots.
The Jalopy Journal
