A wagonload of pictures was the yield of walking around in the lot for visitors of a classic car event who drove an ‘old’ set of wheels. No supplementary requirements, really, given the utterly eclectic collection. Like a pair of US wagons from the seventies, parked right next to a Citroën 2CV Charleston, sans SC.
The Delta 88-based Custom Cruiser is powered by Oldsmobile’s 350 V8. In a completely different setting and outfit, this might as well have been a hearse in the Netherlands.
The Ford -in an excellent condition all around- has the 400 V8 under its hood. Me thinks the woodgrain trim suits the Ford much better than the Olds.
Alas, the owner of the distinctly ordered, Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the CB and optional rally fun pack had other things to do on November 2.
Related articles:
Vintage Review: 1977 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser – Downsized Upscale Hauler by GN
Curbside Classic: 1975 Ford Country Squire – The Car That Made Di-Noc Millions by Tom Klockau
The Ford and Olds wagons are symbols of America’s Bigger is Better, even if slowly dieing. I suppose the comment about Hearses in the Netherlands might refer to smaller streets? 🤔 But PLEASE don’t mention Citroën in the same post! Dad spent a career at Inland Steel. ANYTHING built outside the USA 🇺🇸 is IMO just another SAAB story! Even traditional American brands still surviving are bloated SUVS and Crossovers at BLOATED prices! And that is truly a SOB story. That being said, a salute to our Veterans 🇺🇸 👏 🙌 🙏 on this VETERANS DAY. Land of the Free ,because of the BRAVE! 👍
Wow, beasts from the 70s!
I’ll bet these were imported in the past ten years or so from the US? Big American wagons were not often sold new in Europe back then. It’s fascinating how these big old Americans are so compelling to Europeans and kept in such fine nick.
Great pictures! Given my age, that Delta 88 is pretty much exactly what comes to mind when I think of wagons of my youth. And that color too – Dad had a mid-’70s Buick Century wagon in a similar shade of cream.
Looks like the Country Squire is owned by someone in film production – there’s a lot of very high-quality photos of that car on the web (my favorite is below). This article about the owner notes that he bought the car 5 years ago from a seller in Norway.
https://decarguys.nl/2024/07/10-vragen-aan-bart-verberne/
And the view of these cars next to the 2CV is legendary!
Excellent detective work, once again!
Owner Bart is a US car enthusiast as long as he can remember. Quote: ‘Zolang het maar full-size is met de vering van een waterbed’.
As long as it’s full-size with the suspension of a water bed…
I agree that Oldsmobile seemed to lack the imagination to make a decent looking fake paneling job on their wagons.
It looks more natural on the Ford, so to speak.
And ditched the clam shell tailgate.
They’re indeed imports Paul (2007 and 2022) but even full size wagons weren’t rare, atleast in the Amsterdam area. Especially 80’s GM B body cars, many survivors are former hearses.
Its getting more difficult to come across an American car sold new here though, but they’re still out there, I bought a ’79 Mercury Zephyr z7 302 in good condition from the first owner a few months ago.
So what is “Autotron”?
This: https://www.autotron.nl/
It started as a car museum, now it’s an event venue. Still many car and bike shows, inside the main building and in the lot behind it. Most of them are held yearly, around the same date (like the air-cooled Volkswagens event, early January).
No one did wood better than the “Squire”. Dad had 2: a blue 1959 and a tan 1968, both were great family cars.
Tell me, where does this bizarre preference for fake wire wheels come from?
A reminiscence to the wheels of the horse-drawn carts on the Long Trek to the West – or what?
I think we are being too hard on the Olds. The Ford is an absolute mint example, while the Olds is suffering skin damage and cancer from the elements. Presented as Oldsmobile intended, I thought the wood grain’s homage to the early ‘70s Vista Cruiser was a nice touch.
1971 Vista Cruiser