On more than one occasion, Chevrolet branded its full-size station wagons separately from its comparable automobile products. The Kingswood was the equivalent of the Impala in 1950-60 and again from 1969-72. The latter period included the Kingswood Estate with its faux woodgrain paneling that was akin to the upscale Caprice. This 1970 Kingswood Estate is said to be a barn find in excellent condition – and may have what could be a rare manual transmission. Located in Edwardsburg, Michigan, this stately people mover is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $26,900.
The 1970 full-size Chevies rode on the same platform that served the Impala/Caprice so well in 1965, when one than one million units were built and sold. Of that six-year product run, I have always found the ‘70s to be the most attractive, while most everyone else would probably go with the ‘65s. The Kingswood Estate came with a 350 cubic inch V8 as standard equipment, which is also in the seller’s wagon. 400 and 454 CI engines were available as upgrades.
This Chevy is said to have had just one owner since it was new, and it has 80,000 miles but doesn’t look it. Whether it was found in a barn is another matter. The gold paint has evidence of a nice redo, and the paneling on the sides looks great with no rust apparent. The interior has the feel of having original materials and would easily accommodate a family of six. The engine is clean, and parts of it appear to have been resprayed in red/orange.
We’re told the transmission is a three-speed manual, which would be out of place for a Caprice-like vehicle. I tried looking in the video provided to see if I saw two pedals or three under the dash, and the jury is still out. The redline tires are new, and the wagon runs and drives as well as it presents. If you’re into vintage wagons, you might be hard-pressed to find a nicer one. Another cool tip from “Zappenduster”!
If you zoom in on the front seat picture you can see three pedals, plus the parking brake. Also, gear indicator on the column. Some sort of unicorn.
I believe that what you are seeing on the steering column is the top edge of the heater controls that were mounted on the left lower end of the dash panel.
Maybe the guy on the assembly line that day was so used to building automatics that he installed the gear indicator for an automatic and then realized…..’This is a stick?’…. and just left it in…. Those things did happen in an analog world not like today!
Wonderful find, but here’s the 411 on this car. Dad was po’d he had to give up the Chevelle, and said , “fine, we’ll get the wagon( and a top of the line too) but I’m getting the stick”, in spite, to no doubt keep mom out of the car. There’s no other reason in a grocery getter like this, when 98% were automatics. Tell you what, the kids had a blast with it and mom was happy with the Vega she drove.
And as usual, the stick will hamper any sales today. Looks like a stiff HD clutch. I read, this car cost $3589 new, the automatic about $250 more, making it the 2nd most expensive Chevy behind the convertible. Great find regardless. We all remember riding in the “way back”.
It is not the “way back”. It is the “Back-B-Back” (pronounced like “Bar-B-Que”).
There are some things worth fighting for, and this is one of them! ;)
Jonathan, your comment intrigued me as I had never heard of it referred to as the “Back-B-Back”. Both would probably be considered a colloquialism but I was only able to find reference to “way back” or occasionally, “back back”. I spoke to my neighbor who was a sales mgr at several GM and Ford dealerships back in the 60’s-80’s. He indicated there was a different technical name for it in GM and Ford but couldn’t remember it because everyone referred to it as the way back. He also said that it may have been referenced differently in other part of the country. He worked in the Chicago land area in the 60’s through late 70’s, moving to Houston after that and working there for several years. He added, it was not uncommon for a new resident moving into the area from another part of the country to refer to something with another name.
Just to throw in my two cents, I have a 75 Pontiac LeMans 8 passenger wagon with the third row seating. My grandchildren refer to it as the way back, but my great-grandchildren refer to it as riding in the trunk. We live in Oregon, no idea where any of these children heard any of these phrases.
Never in my life heard it called that. What country was that term used? Definitely not in North America.
That’s funny…my kids always asked me to let them ride in the ‘very best back’ in a wagon I used to own..unfortunately there were no seats or belts in the very best back, but occasionally I’d let them ride back there on our really long gravel driveway..as far as this land yacht with 3 on the tree, I absolutely love it! One of the strongest cars I ever owned was a ’76 Impala with a 350, dang I miss that old ship…
That’s funny…my kids always asked me to let them ride in the ‘very best back’ in a wagon I used to own..unfortunately there were no seats or belts in the very best back, but occasionally I’d let them ride back there on our really long gravel driveway..as far as this land yacht with 3 on the tree, I absolutely love it! One of the strongest cars I ever owned was a ’76 Impala with a 350, dang I miss that old ship…
That’s funny..my kids used to beg me to let them ride in the ‘very best back’, but of course there were no seats or belts back there (’95 Escort wagon), but I’d let them climb back there when we hit our long gravel driveway..as far as the wagon in this post, I love it! The best running car I ever owned was a ’76 Impala with a 350, this wagon is a peach, sprinkled with the ‘3 on the tree’, for added sweetness!
The three on the tree makes it much more desirable. The automatic since birth crowd wouldn’t even notice this car if it was free.
Definitely an unusual wagon, 3 on the tree and a top of the line wagon complete with wood grain sides. There can’t be many around like this after 56 years in the wild ! What’s the true value ??
This could be one of the coolest finds here. The three speed is pure fun, and dang, clean clean clean, and mean mean mean. I am always surprised we survived the Way back, with the Station Wagon Effect.
A high-end wagon, in very good condition, with a three-speed manual transmission. Very rare, and very cool.
There must have been a market niche for a stripped down top-tier model. If you’re buying the best, who need options? I, too, have fond memories of cruising around in the way-back of one of these with a bunch of other kids, windows open and the wind blasting through. Always thought Chevy’s triple taillights were a cool touch.
An in-dash Tachometer…. interesting. Kingswood trim level,no A/C, Manual Transmission. This car had to be special ordered this way.
DUH!
Cool wagon here!! This was probably special ordered back then. Some info here is that my 1971 Chevelle had a three on the tree which I converted to a 4 on the floor in the early 1990’s. To remove the key on the column you had to put in reverse.
I recall the Detroit auto dealer ads of the day; Full Factory Equipment. This indicated a base package, no extras. Still shake my head to think anyone would order a Kingswood Estate this way.
The shift to reverse/park feature came after the introduction of interlocking steering columns. I know of one incident where the front passenger reached over a turned off the car while it was being driven. Struck a tree with severe casualties to the occupants.
No question a special order. Had a friend’s dad who ordered a ’71 Country Sedan (lower trim level than this one for sure) equivalently equipped except I think he sprung for A/C. Had a chance to own that one in the early ’90’s but I was in the Midwest and it had migrated to CA, more than a little worse for wear. Can’t keep ’em all . . . but this Kingswood would be way better than a second chance at redemption!
I like it a lot, I could see a big block and 4 speed going in there….
Sticking with a small block and adding a 4spd would still be an improvement.
Steve R
Interesting car. In 70 we got a Country Squire. I was 11 and the first car I picked out and dealt with the salesperson (who was great respecting me as a kid). I remember talking about a manual and it was available but he was very clear not to do it. He said you would lose more money on trade in than the cost of an automatic. One big plus for the chevy if I remember is if you had a third seat there was an interior switch to lower the back window. Ford did not offer that.
I guess resale value wasn’t a concern since this car’s owner kept it for well over 50 years.
One of the coolest cars I have seen here in a while. 3 on-the-tree V-8 with the redlines, rally wheels and the “woodie” paneling is just off the charts. Don’t touch it, just drive and enjoy!!!!
this is a wicked wagon. no wonder it sold already. what a great survivor. not a big fan of the red stripe tires but easy enough to change. i never seen a tach in a full size 69 chevy. i had a 67 Belair wagon with 1 back in the late 70s. it is so cool it would be a shame to mess with it but buckets with a 4spd would be all that.
350 with the 3 speed on the column was standard, my mothers 70 Impala had it.
I’d drive it as is
This car is so cool because it represents how things were done back then. It was completely acceptable for this to be built even though hardly any of us have ever seen one like it. Sure, a Brookwood or Townsman but not an Estate. An underhood pic would be appreciated, from the left side. The Estate came standard with power front disk brakes (you can see the disk brake emblem on the pedal) but I’m curious whether this has power steering. I have seen this year Impalas with manual steering gear. This appears to be a three seater by the step in the rear bumper, but again no picture. It has the windshield antenna but no tinted glass and the five slot rallyes were not offered. The only real option that I can detect is the roof rack, most likely a dealer add on. I would love to roll this down the road.
3 on the tree is so cool! At first glance, I thought the tach was a clock. These 2 features make this wagon unique.
I think the finish is Champagne Gold, same color as my Dad’s ’70 Impala.
I’d have to source an a/c dash trim piece and add vintage air.
Didn’t last long and it’s obvious why.
My Buick wagon also has the third bench seat facing backwards. I heard one comment during a car show calling it the “history seat”. Why? “Because everything you see has already happened”.
SOLD!
Kingswood Estate is the correct name for the size of these cars! It’s an actual estate inside needing a phone to talk from front to rear!! ( If you didn’t grow up in this era, you don’t understand the joke!)
The Kingswood name was introduced in the 1959 model year as Chevrolet’s only 3-row, 9-passenger wagon. Trim level was the same as the otherwise identical 2-row, 6-passenger Parkwood wagon, and both cars were based on the Bel Air trim, not Impala. In fact, the top scale Nomad wagon used Impala trim. The bottom rung Brookwood was based on Biscayne trim and was available with either two or four doors. This lineup continued for the 1960 model but changed for 1961. That year saw the availability of the third row as an option on all wagon models, so Kingswood was discontinued; its reason for existing as distinct from Parkwood had ended. Chevy’s 1961 wagon lineup was Nomad, Parkwood, and Brookwood (top to bottom).