Any Thoughts as to Why Two Door Station Wagons Were Manufactored?

. Cool as heck. Monogram had a model of a mid engined VW bus.
I remember a cartoon in Hot Rod cartoons that had a old Ford Econoline that this old couple drove around, racing the punks in there hot cars and kicking their ***es. It had some kind of Aero V-12,RR Merlin or Allison, in the back. . Just a cartoon but great idea.

 

Because they knew we would customize them, use them and make babies in them. (no rear doors, so your girl can't get out) but the biggest reason... we love 'em. And if we can't find one, we'll make it. A few of mine bee-low.

Mikey
www.MikeysPinstriping.com
"Doing Bad Things to Good Cars"

 

When I was a kid my Dad had a '53 Ford Ranchwagon and there were no "accidental" door openings from the back! There were 7 of us kids and we had less hands smashed in doors, less stuff thrown out the windows and you were stuck if Dad had to get to you for a good smacking!
Would love to have that car now.

 

Same reason they make Mini vans with spoilers, blacked out windows and 60 series tires.

 

I love the 2 door wagons. Here's a friends, he bought it in Texas, now resided in the United Kingdom. Its a 59 Mercury 2 door Commuter Wagon.

 

best two door ever 55-57 nomad

 

After having hauled the baby around in the Chevelle convertible and the '55 4 door wagon, it is definitely alot EASIER with the 4 door than with the 2 door, and if you are saying to yourself, "hey, it's really not that big a deal..." yeah it is! 50 years ago, there were no child seat laws, and you could just chuck the kids in the back. It didn't matter. Times are different now.

I wanted a 4 door, and it's hard to believe but these days, it is easier to find a decent 2 door wagon than a 4 door wagon. Case in point, at Back to the Fifties, with 12,000 cars, and speaking of Tri-Five chevies, there must have been about 100 Nomads, countless 2 door wagons and THREE 4 door wagons (two '57s and one '56). I spoke to the guy with the '56 and he said that is usually the way it is up there.

My Dad had a '57 Safari. I tried to get him to keep it, knowing I would have kids within 5-6 years, but he decided to let it go. He agrees now he wish that he had kept it.

I'll probably have a 2 door wagon someday... either a '57 ford or a '59 Chevy, but at this point in my life, give me the 4 doors. And all you 2 door people, stop cutting up the 4 doors!

 

I always enjoyed the ones I had. Wish I could get them back.

 

I think the manufactures were thinking of these as future Hot Rodding Material for us.. .. Why do they make 10 different versions of one Sunfire Car today?? theres a waste..

 

Talked to a guy a long time ago, that had a '64 Chevelle 2dr wagon - he was claiming most or all of that particular model were built for Midwestern Bell Telephone co., and that there were quite a few of them rusting away in the midwest.

At the time I bought the story, but back then I thought only Chevrolet ever built any 2dr wagons (Nomads and Chevelles).

I'd never seen or heard of a Ford ranch wagon in them days, and was unaware of tri-five 150 and 210 2dr wagons.

Guess a lot of them were used for like telephone companies, florists and maybe even pharmacies.

 

The HHR Panels are 2 door.

 

No, they're 2 doors. The rear doors just don't have windows.

EDIT: Typo, I know they are 4 doors and that is the point I was trying to make.

 

Sorry... I own an HHR Panel and it has four doors plus the rear hatch. Great little car, by the way.

 

Or out side handels...But they are 4drs, I'm not sure if it's the door gap that gives it away or what...

Did Olds ever have a 2dr wagon like the late 70's-80's Malibus? That would totally be bad ***...but I'm not sure they had one..

 

The HHR Panels are four doors. I think the first batch of them only had outside handles and windows in the front doors and I don't think they had any rear seating. Rear doors only opened using the inside handles.

There's a newer model HHR Panel now that only has the quarter windows paneled over, has windows in the rear doors as well as outside door handles and I suspect that they also have a rear seat available, if not standard.

 

****, that was a typo. When I was quoting kustombypook, I saw the 2 and typed it. I know they're 4 doors. I know 2 people that have them! Doh.

 

No Olds 2 dr (ever), no Chevelle/Malibu 2 dr after 1965.

 

I have a 72 Chevelle wagon in the shop for quite a bit of rust out repair. We mentioned to the customer it would look cool as a 2 dr Nomad style wagon. He & his wife are strongly considering having it done we will be talking more on Monday 8/31/09. So my question is would people on the H.A.M.B. want a build thread. I realize its not a traditional rod but it would have a lot of metal forming content so let me know what you think if its not wanted thats fine I wont post it Danny

 

That is a seriously goofy statement..."we are running out of doors, so we need to mold up a new body style!" Or, "They threw these together at the end of the year from leftover parts!" Huh???

They were a PLANNED model, just like EVERY other body style that was built in any given year. They planned and designed each model and body style as far as FIVE years ahead of the scheduled build year. They had to figure out what each unit built was going to cost, way ahead of time, as they do now.

When back in the day, when a manufacturer made up to twenty separate models and trim levels in a given car line, these are NOT things that they just say "Oh, let's build this to "get rid" of parts". That's pure nonsense.

 

bottom line was offering another model to make money! the manufacture would have mounted a rocking chair on the roof as long as it made a profit$$!

 

Because in the day, the automakers built what people wanted.

Now they build what makes them the most $$$, and we can take it or leave it.

Have a 2 door 83 Malibu wagon conversion in the works, should start cutting soon.

Unless of course, a decent HAMB-friendly wagon comes along for reasonable money.

 

I think Mr48Chevy & Seesko got it nailed, right off. Myself, I don't think they were making a style statement. i think it was about PRACTICALITY (how are you looking to USE your new car? Got squirmy KIDS in the back seat?, etc.).

AND, I think Seesko mentioned economy for the manufacturers. Honestly I feel the two-door wagons just filled a niche the sedan-delivery always filled, BEFORE. Have you ever driven an enclose van, THEN driven the same-sized WINDOW van? That's my pint: Lots of advantages -- ACCORDING to what you're going to actually do with your vehicle.

In a WORD: UTILITY. (To EACH his own! BUT THEY SURE AS HELL LOOK COOL WITH A SURF BOARD ON TOP!!! lol)

 

Patrick66, LOL, YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!! Given the production costs, the advance design & ordering from subcontractors, etc., etc., there's no way in HELL any company would EVER find itself in a position with any significant amount of "left-over parts . . . THEN, just say: "HEY, why don't we make a sort of customized Johnny-Cash car for the surfer crowd!" (You KNOW the song I'm referring to! LOL)

 

Heck, to underscore the point: Graham, Packard, Chrysler (all 4 makes) and OTHER companies in the late-'30s severely trimmed body styles that they had carried all through the Depression. Why? One reason, those extras were NO LONGER SELLING -- take the rumble-seat roadster & coupes, for example.

WHY wuld you continue to make osmething that didn't pull its own weight when the people in the Board Room looked at the sale-performance charts?

The other side of the coin, then, is: Two-door station wagons existed because they (at least for a few years) HAD a market. Not every trend lasts forever. Can anybody THINK of one?

 

This is my '58 Yeoman. It was the cheapest wagon available, with rubber floor mats, including the floor in back. It had a 283, powerglide with a/c when I got it. It now has a 350, stick and no a/c. There were just a little less than 17,000 built in the only year they were made. It also had vinyl door panels and seats.

 

Nice car, both the way it was built and the way you have yours detailed. I'm actually surprised that there were that many built; they are certainly hen's teeth nowadays.

 

Because nobody made truck caps back then.

 

Check "Your Friendly Cl***ifieds"..........right here on this site!!!!!

 

JamesMaxwell, thanks for the laugh first thing this morning, bro! YUP! I have to give you that! A lot of people nowadays would NEVER think of pickups as a type of CAR, but that's how they started out, it's what they actually were/are.

So, ring one up for James!

 

283John, damned good point, guy! It's fun to look at the constant experimentation by car companies, trying to come up with what people would want, what would suit real-world NEEDS. E.g., remember Stude's wagons with sliding roofs? K-F's Vagabonds/Travelers? etc., etc?