aswoa.com

The ASWOA was founded in 1996.

We now have over 500 members from throughout the US and several foreign countries. The members own an amazing array of station wagons. Wagons are represented from the early 1900s to the present with over 30 different makes and countless models. We publish a quarterly newsletter and hold a national convention.

The first ASWOA convention was held in 1997 in Indianapolis, IN as a single day event. We have since held shows in Libertyville, IL, Charlotte, NC, Pittsburgh, PA, Dearborn, MI, Nashville, TN, Princeton, NJ, and Iola, WI. The 2006 convention will be held August in Troy, Michigan.

They sell little girls T- shirts in dance class that say “dance is life…the rest is just details.” Sometimes I think that this is how ASWOA members view life, except insert “station wagons”. For me it started early. My beloved uncle Wally would take me on fishing trips in his 1959 Ford Ranch Wagon.

I hated fishing, but I loved the way we could put all of the stuff on the tailgate and turn the wagon into a table in the middle of nowhere. On his record album sales delivery job we would fold down the seats and fill the back with boxes of heavy vinyl records in cardboard boxes and the car would turn into a mobile warehouse. In the only photo I have of the car, you can see me in the corner of the photo smiling a smile of total contentment.

In 1966 we drove an Ivy Gold 1965 Fairlane wagon from Detroit to California. I loved all of the storage in the back and the hum of the drivetrain as I dozed on the endless freeway. My dad must have felt the same way because our next car was a loaded 1967 Mercury Comet Villager wagon. This had in dash air, woodgrain and two way tailgate. When I got my drivers license I dropped my mom off at the house and took off in the bronze 289 cubic inch race car and oh, the adventures we had in that car. I was always the designated driver because I could hold the whole gang. The third rear facing seat was full every morning as we picked up 5 kids to take to school and at night the whole gang could fit into the car and go to a basketball game or Burger King. All of the sudden, the Comet took a step down when my sister Kit bought a 1968 loaded Country Squire wagon.

I could not believe that car. The 390 was so quiet and fast, it had seating for ten, power windows and AM-FM radio with an amber light that came on when a stereo station was being received. The grill with hidden headlights was just flat out great looking. I still to this day have a 1968 Country Squire as my screen saver on my computer!

My brother Denny had a job with an office products company and he would bring home a 1967 stripped down brown and white Chevy Biscayne wagon with a six cylinder. That car had a unique sound with the frugal six cylinder engine. I think someone in the club has one with the same paint scheme. This would be a nice car to have today.

After I got married we were up to three kids and I would take my wife Nancy to Star Lincoln Mercury in Southfield Michigan to drool over the new Colony Park station wagons. She would say “we’ll see” when I would beg her to get one of those cars. When number 4 kid Timmy came along she started to waiver and on February 14, 1989, I had the salesman at Krug Lincoln Mercury in Dearborn put a red ribbon on a Spinnaker blue 1988 Colony Park wagon with dark blue leather seats. I still remember the paint name because I bought so many cans of touch up paint at Pep boys over the years that I owned it. This car was fantastic! I put 205,000 miles on it. I once carried 4 X 12 Sheets of drywall with the tailgate down! The ultimate had to be when I had the nursery load a yard of gravel in the back. This was the bumper scraping heavy! When I was thinking of getting that car I went to the Detroit auto show. I sat in a Colony Park and no one else was sitting in it or looking at it, even though the show was jammed with people. A group of teenagers raced by and laughed at the car. I knew the future did not look good for my beloved wagons.

I have now owned eight of the late eighties Ford and Mercury wagons. The most unique was a Mercury with no woodgrain. I found the build sheet under the seat and on the bottom it said “delete dinoc” which is what the factory calls woodgrain. It must have been special-ordered. These cars are great values and owned by geezers who take great care of them. They are easy to work on and parts are cheap. They ride smoothly and were used by taxi and police fleets because they are sturdy. I tell the kids that comfort never goes out of style.

My son Brendon has one up at college and we recently put a queen size bed in and on the car. These cars can be had for under $1500.00 and unlike an SUV, they are impossible to flip over.

My first old wagon was a 1965 Falcon Futura wagon, Wimbledon white with Palimino interior. This is a very good size wagon. I sold that car and I miss it. My current fleet includes a 1969 Country squire with bucket seats out of a 1969 XL , a 1978 Pinto Squire, a 1984 Colony Park, a 1987 County Squire and Nancy drives a 1994 Mercury Sable wagon. Only in America could a guy have all this!

I hope you will join us in supporting the greatest vehicles in America, the American Station Wagon!

Tim Cleary, President

American Station Wagon Owners Association