AACA Museum to honor the station wagon in special display

(January 6, 2015) Remember the Wagon Queen Family Truckster from National Lampoon’s Vacation? How about Carol Brady’s Plymouth Satellite wagon from The Brady Bunch? Do you have fond memories as a kid of riding in the back of the Vista Cruiser with a picnic cooler on the way to a family outing? If you do, you’re not alone.

The AACA (Antique Automobile Club of America) Museum in Hershey, Pa., will celebrate those days before minivans, SUVs and soccer moms, before GPS units replaced paper road maps and in-car entertainment systems replaced ‘spot the license plate’ games and such.

A special display, "A Family Affair: Station Wagons," will honor the station wagon's role in American automotive culture in a display from May 23 through Oct. 12, 2015.

Call them station wagons, suburbans, depot hacks, or shooting brakes, the origin of these utility vehicles became prevalent in the teens and twenties, but became very popular in the post war periods of the 1950s and 60s. As America developed into a two-car family, the station wagon became the workhorse, taking the kids to school and summer camp, hauling the dog to the vets and transporting groceries.

“A Family Affair” will showcase both familiar and lesser known examples of station wagons and the impact they had on family life.

The AACA Museum has compiled a "wish list" of the following cars, and is eager to hear from individuals with such examples willing to loan their vehicles for display:
• Volvo P1800ES/ PV544 or other
• Citroen DS/Ami
• Chevrolet Vega
• Ford Pinto
• AMC Pacer/Hornet/etc.
• Ford County Squire
• Chrysler Town & Country
• 1984 Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager
• Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser
• Chevrolet Corvair
• Mercedes 300TD
• Rolls-Royce/Bentley/Aston Martin Shooting Break
• Fiat 128/131 etc.
• Edsel
• National Lampoon Family Vacation’s “Family Truckster”
• Checker
• Variety of Woodies
• Volkswagen Squareback etc.
• Dodge Aries/Plymouth Reliant
• Custom Mustang/Corvette/Firebird/? conversion
• Nash Rambler
• Studebaker Wagonaire
• SAAB 95

The museum can be contacted by calling 717-566-7100 or writing to AACA Museum, 161 Museum Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17003.