1963-1967 Daihatsu Compagno 800 Van/Wagon

1950s-60s Conversion Car Bodies Estate

"This was one of the many options to put a modern body an ancient Austin or Ford (8 hp or 10 hp) bases, sometimes with a newly developed chassis as well, sometimes with sporty aspirations in mind, sometimes less so like this production by Conversion Car Bodies Ltd., Naco Works, Lindsey Street, Epping, Essex, UK, who called themselves 'The 'Four Seater' Specialist' offering spacious estate and confortable saloon bodies easily fitted to Ford running gear (a lower radiator is the only modification needed)."

Sad News: Hemmings S&EC Dead

Call it the K2 Curse. Anytime I get involved with endeavors like this, I seem to be a part of the demise.

1998-Present Lada 111

Also known as the VAZ-2111, production ended in 2009. After that, it was picked up by the Ukrainian company Bogdan. It was primarily powered by a 1.6 gasoline engine and 5-speed manual transmission.

Click on settings to translate to English and then turn the closed captioning on.

1948-1950 AWS Elsbett

Here's a German car that I'd love to own. Purely a pipe dream, though.

Autowerke Salzgitter primarily manufactured Jeeps, but decided to jump into the passenger car market in the late 40s. The Elsbett was named after the (last) name of the guy who designed it and featured a 50 hp 2.0 2-stroke diesel 4-cylinder, 8 passenger seating and no radiator grille. Another car that I have very little data on, production was very low and the company tanked before it could really make a lot of them. So it's doubtful that more than a handful were sold. Some sources even suggest that the Elsbett (sometimes written Elsbeth) never even got past the prototype stage, but most evidence suggests otherwise. You could also buy one of these in a van or truck configuration.

1998-2006 Geely Haoqing SRV Estate

Being a Volvo fan, I've always had an interest in Geely. This is one of the company's models that I've had trouble tracking down data on; the Geely Haoqing SRV, their station wagon. Most sources only list a 1.3 Toyota 4-cylinder, but some also include an optional 1.0 Daihatsu 3-cylinder and there was nothing but a manual transmission available (no slushbox!). I'm not entirely sure that the entire production run included the long roof or not, too.

1970s? Autocars Carmel Station Wagon

Yesterday's focus on the Israeli-produced Sussita station wagon generated some interesting off-blog conversations, so why not take a look at another one of the company's other long roof offerings? Again, I don't have much info gathered on the Carmel, but I believe it was far more successful and there are ties to British influences, which you can clearly see. Enjoy!

1960s+? Autocars Sussita Station Wagon

Autocars was Israel's first car company, not that that's saying a whole bunch. I don't have much data gathered on their station wagon, the Sussita, but I believe it enjoyed at least two generations and it was possibly sold with a Sabra nameplate on it. According to Jalopnik, these were actually briefly sold in the US, but I've never found actual proof of that. Maybe you can!

It's a little hard to get to the actual information in this video, but there's some interesting stuff in it.

Never Was: 1962 Lincoln Continental Station Wagon

This popped up a couple of years ago on BangShift.

2003 Pontiac Bonneville SSEi

Here's a tiny break from our station wagon roundup. I don't post hilarious CL ads because they don't generate much interest, but this one's a doozy. Is it real? I don't know. If it is, I don't ever need to meet the owner. There are no pictures (surprise!) of this "300mph" vehicle and I haven't changed a single word...

alright here is the deal. if you are not 100% down with the red white and blue I want you to get off this patriotic post.
now for those of you who are American, I have a panty dropping, heart stopping, neck breaking piece of machinery for you. This fine piece of american art is top of the line. under the hood we have a full on beast. Im talking supercharged baby. and no Im not lying. it even says it in cursive, its like a tattoo for the engine, because tattoos are badass, and this car is nothing short of badass. I'll show pics to prove it.
its got 164k of the best miles you can get in this world, thats right, this puppy has been through at least 7 states. all of which are part of America. im going to run through the Pros and cons now.
Pros-
-premium wheels that dont add horse power, but add manpower. and ladies love man power.
-we have a sun roof that will open and close with a push of just one button, so when you pick up 4 ladies in this five seater you can stare into the American view of the stars.
-only two windows work. the driver side and sun roof. thats all the windows you need to show the middle finger to every sorry ass who gets in your way when your leaving everyone in the dust.
the other windows dont work but thats because the aerodynamics of this speed demon.
-front right quarter panel theres what some call a dent. i call it a place where a womans rear can have a nice place to rest.
-traction control and anti lock brakes are off. permanently. but whos needs those? when you're pushing 300mph down the great i95?
-it only gets AM frequencies and plays CDs. so the good news is you can put in good old nickleback and blast Rockstar while passing through foot traffic wearing your sick Oakleys that only baseball players wear.
-theres an oil leak but i put it in for weight reduction when i want to go real fast.
-the dashboard looks like a club dance floor with all the lights blinking and warning signs. so you know this beast is the life of the party.
-theres a message that says service stability system, but who needs stability in life when you can just hop in your car and drive away from it?
-if your making a left turn, dont worry about using the blinker. it doesnt work but you'll be ahead of everyone anyway, you wont even have to check your blind spots.

Cons- none. this is a monster and needs to go to someone who is just as badass as the vehicle itself

Take away jet planes and spacecrafts and the only thing this car isn't passing is inspection
call or text.
if you turn this down. you might as well leave this country because you just committed an act of treason.

AAT 1953 CE Wagon Kit Car

And speaking of station wagon (well, shooting brake) kit cars...you'll never guess what car this kit is based on. Go ahead, guess; you get three guesses and the first four don't count. Good old Advance Automotive Technologies out of Michigan is producing these wonderful kits. Here's a nice write up in Corvette Enthusiast magazine. Personally, I love it. What do you think?

1964 Ford Aurora Concept

"Yes, but but"...I can hear you REVolutionaries mutter. And you're right (as usual); there was an Aurora I and there was a station wagon variant. Skip to the 1:32 minute mark in the video. Then I'm done with the concept vehicles for a while, I swear.

1969 Ford Country Squire Aurora II Concept

Ugh. We're still on concept vehicles. Whining about them being nothing more than pipe dreams aside, here's a beauty from Ford that woulda, shoulda, coulda happened. Interested in learning more about this wonder wagon? There's plenty o' info online and I'll leave it to you to discover on your own, should the fancy strike you.

1984 Chrysler Family Wagon Concept

It's well known that I'm anti-concept car; they're just flotsam in the world of cars until they go to production in my book. Pipe dreams and putty tat tails. But it's interesting to note that if Chrysler had chosen this direction instead of the mighty minivan, our roads would have looked a lot different. Or, maybe not. Surely another maker would have picked up the baton and run with it. There were, after all, other companies already doing it; it's just that Chrysler perfected the formula.

Love the Pentastar hood badge.

1983-1995 Alfa Romeo 33 Giardinetta/Sport Wagon

The successor to the Alfasud, the 33 was essentially an update of the same platform with some brake and suspension upgrades. But if you liked the previous car, you'd like this one. This was a very successful car for AR and rightly so. Gasoline engine displacement ranged from 1.2 to 1.7 and there was a 1.8 turbodiesel. The default was front-wheel drive, but you could also get four-wheel drive. One option was a Scottish plaid interior. In 1990, the Giardinetta was redubbed Sport Wagon (aka Sportwagon).

1971 Jeepster Commando Station Wagon Hurst Edition

Here's one from Bolo - many thanks!

When is a station wagon not really a station wagon? When it's an SUV, of course.

Nowadays, that's not really much of a distinction and don't get K2 started on the subject, if you value your time and sanity (Hey, now!). So it's odd that the corporate marketing department and the powers that be chose to create the Station Wagon Hurst Edition trim level of the Jeepster Commando. The later part I get; what car enthusiast over the age of 20 hasn't heard of Hurst. But why label it a station wagon?

Despite the marketing, this wasn't a vehicle aimed at families even if they did live in rugged terrain, which is now the tres chic outdoor mall parking lot these days.

500 were planned, but supposedly only about 100 were produced. Actual production numbers are shrouded in mystery and lost in the mists of time, much to K2's chagrin (Hey, again!). The promised performance never lived up to the stripe job; the handling and braking were atrocious and dangerous in emergency situations. And the engine was woefully under-powered, despite six cylinders and a eight thousand redline. So much so that engineers addressed these issues for the 1972+ model year. But by then the Station Wagon Hurst Edition was gone and quickly forgotten.

1985 Autonique Stiletto

This just in from Nessa; thanks!

This is a vehicle that I've pursued for many years, trying to determine if they'd actually produced any and if so how many. To my best recollection, there's been no proof that I've found that any were actually made and sold to the public. Offered as a kit for Pinto owners, I knew this would interest you K2 because there have never been many station wagon kit cars offered. Here's one, even if it probably never got past the prototype stage. I know how much you love one-offs!

Apology

Hello REVolutionaries.

As most of you know (and if you didn't, now you do), I've adopted yet another dog. This time he's a Galgo (Spanish Greyhound) from Madrid. I've had my hands full and I've slacked off on my duties here. My apologies and a promise to return to our regularly scheduled programing soon.

In the meantime, if you have an idea for a station wagon post that I haven't covered yet or any other suggestions, please send them in! Thank you and woof woof!

He's cute, but he's a handful.

"Road" by Niky Nine

This great 80s retro synthwave song has so many remixes, it boggles my mind. But here are couple, starting with the original version.

Reliant Kitten Register

We've been focusing on the long roofs offered by Reliant over the past several days, so it's high time I linked to the wonderful Reliant Kitten Register. If you're looking to fill some of your time with some great car-oriented reading, check out the site and the oodles of "Mewsletters" (ha ha!).

1983-1990 Reliant Fox Estate

Remember when Nissan offered the Sportback option for the Pulsar? That neat little change turned your coupe into a shooting brake with a few simple tools and a little help from a friend. Many enthusiasts raved about the idea, but the option sold about as well as black bean yogurt.

Interestingly, only a few years earlier, Reliant was doing exactly the same thing overseas. The aptly named (after the Kitten) Reliant Fox was a fiberglass-bodied pickup with several optional hard and soft tops that could be installed, turning it from a micro-truck into a convertible, cargo van or long roof. Only about 600 of these were built in the UK and it has a fascinating history, including a collaboration between Reliant and Greece, where another 3000 were produced. Also, I came across a neat video about the history of Reliant and linked to that for you. Check it out, if you're interested!

1988-1992 Ford Telstar Estate

We've previously focused on the Ford Cortina and this was the replacement; the Ford Telstar, which was indeed named after the satellite. Basically just a rebadged Mazda 626, the Telstar was as long-lived as the Cortina. Even more so, actually.

The Telstar was introduced in 1982 and the long roof variant appeared concurrent with the release of the second generation in 1988. All of the other generations (five in total) were available as sedans and 5-door liftbacks. Production officially ended in 2001.

This is another car that I don't have production numbers specific to the station wagon. If you have or find them, please let me know! Here's a video of one in a junkyard, a 2.0 diesel no less. I love the "Pressure Wave Super Charger" badge.