On Thursday evening, someone—hopefully a family—will own a beautiful 1970 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon to take them on summer vacation. That’s when the eBay auction for this spectacular piece of suburban history ends. I can guarantee that wherever they go, they’ll create memories. I say that because my family had a more pedestrian version of this car, my dad not exactly being the kind of guy who buys a wagon with a 429-CID engine, as this one has. Ours was a 1971 LTD, green, with cheapo dog dish hubcaps. Those signs of frugality made no difference to me when our family of four spent spring break driving to Florida from Montreal in that car. This one is for sale in Granite Falls, Washington. It is available here on eBay with bidding past $5,400 and the reserve not met. Thanks to frequent tipster TJ for the heads up on this one.
Station wagons have recently come back in style. No longer is it Griswald-family-weird to drive one with pride. Their size, once perhaps seen as a sign of excess, is more than matched by the contemporary range of SUVs that populate many American driveways. This particular car is a rust-free example with an odometer that reads shy of 75,000 miles. Sounds good, but there are some cautions to be suggested based on the extensive picture gallery. The driver’s seat is an indication that despite the exterior appearance, this is a car with both use and age. In general, things look a little crusty under the hood, with little details such as a missing air cleaner snorkel. Factor in a hefty bit of budget to replace the missing AC components. At the least, before you hit the road, you’d want to renew all the belts, hoses, and ignition wires, and probably replace the battery cables, distributor cap and rotor, and heater hoses. No sense getting stuck on the side of the road with your modern-day kids running down their phone batteries looking at TikTok.
But despite these needs, you know how much you want it anyway. Fake wood on the side? That’s an ethos that carried on at least through the early 1990s, primarily on Chrysler Town and Country minivans. In the 2000s, the plastic sheeting made its way onto the PT Cruiser. Now, in 2022, it’s retro-cool, as are the luxe full wheel covers on this model. Look at that canted dash, with the radio on the driver’s left-hand side and angled toward the pilot’s position. And just think what it would be like to be the kid relegated to what we called the “way in the back.” Oh wait—no seatbelts, so not legal to ride back there. Darned modern life.
Still, why not get it? Who cares if the gas is expensive? This thing has a muscle car engine carried around in a family-hauling chassis. Just think who you’ll be able to surprise at any given stoplight as you make your way cross-country to grandma’s place this July.
With an average fuel consumption of 9.4 MPG, I doubt you’d be going too far in this on today’s gas prices!
If you’re concerned about fuel costs with a ride like that, golf, or collecting butterflies might be a better hobby….
I grew up in the waaayyy back of a 73 version of this (black paint) . . . dad was always complaining about 8 mpg with the 429 4V.
I had a fully loaded 1970 Ford Country Squire with a 429. It was red on red. I dont recall the gas millage being that bad. I had drivin it from Oregon to Longbeach California to Seattle and Idaho. I loved that car and I should have kept it. The factory 8 track tape deck mounted on the center hump on the floor.
10.6 w/ 2b. Carb. 😢
I’ve always just viewed modern SUVs as the spiritual successors to these in a way. Just think about it, a large, boxy, typically RWD, and V8 powered display of the gargantuan nature of American family haulers. Nowadays people just demand to sit higher to avoid being blinded by their own automotive kin.
Bick, that’s probably 9.4 MPG cruising. If you put your foot to it and open the four barrel, you will see the gas gage move. I once raced a mid 1980’s Corvette with my 1998 454 Suburban. I won, but I could see that after 1/4 mile the gas gage on the 44 gallon gas tank had moved a bit. I don’t remember how many dollars worth of gas I wasted beating the Corvette, but I do remember thinking that it was worth it, just don’t want to do it again.
Sadly, the engine is a 429-2v. A intake and carb change will help this achieve better mileage and performance without much else. A decent dual exhaust system will help too
The 2V was still rated at 320 HP and was no slouch. The 2V and 4V engines were virtually identical with the exception of the intake and carb. An easy upgrade, which I think you pointed out. The 4V was rated at 360 HP. What a nice wagon.
Good for cruise nights. While I grew up in a 1968 version of this car, Dad was always dumping gallons of Texaco in it when gas was 37 cents.
Grew up riding around in these behemoths. I am number four kid in a family of eight children. Dad bought a new 1967 followed by an additional 1968. Both had 390’s and I remember the ’67 ran strong but the ’68 was weak. Had to split up the family of ten to go somewhere together and there was more than one time we got home and one of us kids had been left behind. Thankfully it was always someplace fairly local. No cellphones in those days.
Another memory was when the ten of us piled into the two Country Squires to go to an annual picnic. Somebody put a cake against the roof rack on the ’67 and damn if wasn’t still there when we arrived. Laughed for hours.
Linda, now THAT’S a great story!
At least the cake wasn’t left out in the rain.
Oh, man. I don’t think that I can take it . . .
(forgive me)
…. ’cause it took so long to make it…
Yeah, if that were me and someone left MY cake out in the rain, I don’t think that I could take it, ’cause it took SO long to bake it and, besides, I’ll never have that recipe again. All that sweet, green icing flowing down, oh, the pain!
Make it 4 wheel drive and you would have a 1970 SUV
It’s a 2 barrel. May 2 mpg better at most. Reg. fuel also. Save 3 cents!
This 429 2V requires premium fuel, I worked at a Shell station on I-75 back in the day. This is not the only 2V engine that required premium back then. Also note the air cleaner sticker.
Wow this looks exceptionally clean on the outside. Inside looks almost identical (but much more worn) than our 1970 Ford Galaxy 500 Wagon.
Just remembered loved the 3rd seat arrangements in these wagons.
The little seats faced each other and were great for trips to McDonalds
and eating in the car as kids. Ford was the King of Station Wagons.
If they ever relaunch the Chevy Chase Vacation movies (you know Hollywood, sooner or later everything gets remade, rebooted, relaunched)……the family Griswold will have to be traveling to see the largest Ball of Twine….in this Ford classic wagon.
These Fords were notorious for slipping out of park and/or the car not starting because the shifter wasn’t properly in park, You’d have to lift the shifter with your left hand while turning the key. I knew one guy whose Ford wagon killed him when it slipped out of park while parked on a hill. He was behind the car at the time. Ford’s solution to the problem was to send a sticker to owners warning them about the problem.
That is absolutely true! Wish I didn’t remember taking out my uncles 1972 Ford van to pick up a load of landscape timber. I parked, dropped it into “Park”, opened the door, jumped down, slammed it shut and walked into the shop. Right before I opened the shop door I heard the crunch of metal on metal. I looked back and it had rolled into the parking space behind me, into a spot occupied by a parked car. No damage to his van bumper but it pushed in the grill and headlights on a Pontiac. It wasn’t a real well known problem, until it was. Everyone thought I “forgot” to put the trans into Park. For several years it caused me much pain and embarrassment around the dinner table.
Don’t quote me on this but I thought you had to put it in park before you could even remove the ignition key so if you had the keys in your hand, you must have put it in park. I think the warning sticker must have been lost in the mail or your uncle just threw it out.
I grew up in a 69 country squire looked almost identical ours was a very light green and dark green interior 390 and the way back seats did have seatbelts, in 77 my parents gave it to me because the Ford dealership wouldn’t take it in trade because it was too rusty. But for me it was freedom and could pack a bunch of friends in it, eventually I found a 69 galaxie convertible and pulled the motor from the wagon for the vert. I wish I could have both of them today.
Roseland Pete, you are correct, you DID have to put it into Park before you could remove the key. But, sometimes you get out of a vehicle and leave the engine running, which is what happened to me that day. I was only going to be in the shop for a moment to drop off the papers, then drive around to the back to pick up the lumber. As many, many thousands of people found out, putting the shift lever into Park did not mean it would stay there.
SOLD for $13,500.
When I was a kid, our family car was a 1969 Chevy Kingswood Estate wagon with a 4-barrel 427 under the hood. Pretty much this car’s crosstown cousin. I saw a lot of miles go by from “the penalty box”, as we called the rearward-facing far back seat. And I saw plenty of “Muscle Cars” and “Pony Cars” fade in the distance behind us! Dad always said that he wasn’t a “hot rodder”, but for some reason he always got the hottest available engine! Examples through the years, after his time in the Army: 1957 283/283 “Fuelie” Bel Air coupe (totalled after a little more than a year; He got T-boned by a ’55 T-Bird that ran a light. Dad drove the car to the dealer but, as I understand, the Ford was D.O.A.), 1958 348 “Power Pack” Impala coupe, 1966 Bel Air 427 wagon, and the ’69 427 wagon mentioned above. He replaced that car with a special-ordered 9C1(Police-spec) 350/4-barrel 1977 Impala wagon, the car I got my license on, and the first car I had up over 120 mph. (I hope dad never found out about that little indiscretion of mine… )