don't ask me why; i have always loved wagons. thats right - wagons. biiiig wagons.





my mother's father always had wagons. mercury, i think, but i dont recall. yknow - WAGONS. fake wood panelling and power steering. whales of the interstate. in 76 my dad bought a plymouth volare wagon. LAJAL was its name [Linda, Adam, Jason, Adrienne, Lou.. or is that Lou, Adam, Jason, Adrienne, Linda? or maybe Linda, Adrienne, Jason- well you get the idea...] we drove that car into the ground. actually we drove that car in circles in the parking lot, sitting on dads lap, when we were too young to reach the pedals. we drove that car to the catskills. we dragged that car to california with us. we grew leaks in the windows. we grew plants on the backseat floor. no matter what we did we always had room for five of us and all our crap.
when i was offered the family car in 90, i finally saw a reason to get my drivers license. i was 21. how could i resist the power and size of a 72 dodge dart? even if it was a *sedan*.. a Two Door, even. but when i was graduated from the university my parents bought me a car. my first car of my own.
a 1982 buick le sabre
wood panelling. power steering. power everything, lets face it. i named him Mo'B. Mo'Buick. Mo'Bigger. Mo'Better. Mo'B.




Mo'B was a grand old man. "granpa" [who i didnt know] who had owned Mo'B before had clearly been a hunter. Mo'B had a hunting dog with a duck in its mouth bolted through the hood as an ornament. [see above, closer toward the window than the grill..] cigar melts on the seat. NRA and Ducks Unlimited stickers in the back windows. i moved everything i owned to los angeles in that car. in one trip, of course. and moved back.

the above picture was taken on the racetrack at Sears Point Raceway in Marin, CA. * on * the racetrack. no joke. thats me in the helmet, waving. three housemates in the back, and a pro trainer driving. we made it through all six laps.. and only two other cars lapped us before it was over.

in 95 Mo'B died. well, his tranny died. now, an over-drive tranny costs so much to replace that my mechanic even recommended that i scrap him. so i bought a 90 mazda.. a *sedan*. swearing that the car would only be temporary. at that time i was already test-driving wagons; desperate to know what i could afford and what i could have.

june of 98, for my birthday, i bought my WAGON
a 1998 volkswagen passat wagon
no wood panelling.. but its got nice chromy bits; and a tiptronic transmition that i dig.
and power everything, lets face it.

here are more gratuitous pictures of my new car.

below are links to [relatively] relevant sites. because those of us who loves wagons need to preserve this love. our grandchildren should love wagons too, dammit! we can not let the Suburban Insult Vehicles and MiniVans take over the world! they must be stopped!!

background from Ace of Space


wagons / last updated: 8/23/2k all text and images copyright by DogBrain Enterprises and may not be used without express written permission.