As I venture to the last wedding of summer, and have to pay the exorbitant hotel prices in a resort town, I sure wish I had a car that could double as a tent. This brings to mind the one brand of Station Wagon that came as a ready-made tent.
Nash had long been a proponent of not wasting your money on overnight accommodations. They first introduced the “Bed-in-a-Car” feature 75 years ago. Although I doubt Ralph Nader would approved of letting Suzy here relax on the road while dad drove their Bathtub Nash here.
The concept really came into its own when it was spread to Nash Station Wagons during the 1950s. It found a perfect home in the all new for 1956 Ramblers.
Now there was sufficient room for a family of four to snuggle up on the side of the highway. Well, Tommy can have the rear cargo area in the wagon.
By 1961, the rechristened Classic Cross Country wagons were among the most popular station wagons in the land. Rambler moved nearly 82,000 of the various trim and seating configurations of the Classic Wagon that year, shaking off new and recent competitors from all American Manufacturers save the luxury three.
All the more remarkable is Rambler sold these many wagons (and rose to #3 in Model Year sales in 1961) with a car that in many ways had not seen much change since 1956. Add in the fact that the American was a clever (if not particularly pretty to quite a few eyes) re-skin of the original 1950 Rambler, the truth of the matter becomes that AMC had cars that were equally moribund as anything Studebaker offered during the same period.
The (fleeting) success of Rambler in the early 1960s seems to be a combination of factors. For one they were decent cars: well assembled, competently engineered. And despite their really awkward styling cues, somehow connected to a more conservative buyer market. I think it is fair to say these were the buyers that Volkswagen Beetles may have appealed to, but were to small or still too associated with Germany for a host of Middle American buyers that still had “The War” on their minds.
The styling of the 1961 models are particularly curious in that respect. I don’t know if I really like the grafting of the 1960s “Headlights parallel with the grille” look on such a 1950s body. Also the more flowing curves that worked well on the slightly pontoon front fenders on the 1956 body don’t work as well as the blunt cliff applied to the 1961 models.
The projectile fenders fitted to the extended wheelbase (forward of the cowl) Ambassadors balance out the stubby look. But the Ambassadors were decidedly more pricey, in actual full sized price (if not size) categories. There were other things that made the Classic such a value, even in comparison to its glitzier big brother. For the size of the engine, the 195.6 Inline 6 was decently powerful, not as powerful as a 225 Slant Six, but with up to 138hp from the 2 barrel version it wasn’t exactly a slouch either. At least as compact inline sixes went, it was no wheezing Falcon Thriftmaster or head gasket exploding Lark Skybolt.
The other benefit of producing this body for so long is that any bugs or problems that are associated with planned obsolescence that most likely sent quite a few normal Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth buyers to Rambler stores. It also made AMC seem like the more stable independent in comparison to Studebaker, whose troublesome Skybolt Inline Six was probably the last straw with all but the Studebaker loyal and avid Mr. Ed fans. But the majority of those buyers found their way back to those Big 3 manufacturers as they introduced more sensible sized sedans and wagons of their own.
Ramber tried with their all new Motor Trend Car of The Year winning 1963 models, but despite modern looks and useful updates on the tried and true formula it was losing traction to the more sensible choices from the big 3, like the Fairlane Squire.
But for a short time before the magic door gate wowed every other suburban house, and Vista Cruisers, well, cruised vistas, the Motel on Wheels Cross Country was the absolute state of the art in wagon technology. A car with a bed. I’d be saving $250 this weekend. Maybe I can interest the owner in a weekend car swap….
What a great find! I love wagons anyway, but have not seen one of these in years. I remember these as a kid, and always wondered whose idea it was to make taillights that looked just like my mom’s clothes iron?
I personally prefer the front end of the Classic to that of the Ambassador. The ’61 Ambassador’s front made it look like an American Citroen.
On the popularity thing, I think you hit it. As everybody else’s cars got bigger and bigger, Rambler carved out a nice little niche. But as the 60s progressed, all of the majors jumped into the small/intermediate class with wagons of their own and Rambler had more trouble competing.
Hideous car, but my “cheapness” gene and my love (at least in theory) of very practical cars sure makes the idea of sleeping in the car instead of dropping a bill every night seem like a good one.
I’d trade my current ride in for a clean box Caprice wagon (hold the fake woodgrain paneling) in a heartbeat. The whale models don’t do it for me, though. What would I even do with all that room??? I don’t know, but I’m sure I’d think of something…
I had an ’87 “box” wagon, in blue, no paneling needed. If we had moved somewhere other than Wisconsin when we were in grad school, I might still have it. Alas, rust began to claim it and I wound up trading it for peanuts on a Saturn. I keep thinking maybe I should get a Caprice again. I remember taking the box to our mechanic, and noticing that his personal car was a “bubble” last-gen Caprice, which said something about the trustworthiness of those vehicles. Now that I’m in SoCal, it would almost be practical, since rust is a non-factor.
People didn’t get harrassed by the cops and/or arrested for sleeping in cars in those days. Nowadays, depending on the locale, it could be dangerous. If the criminal underclass doesn’t get you, the cops will.
Sleeping in cars on a road trip was common in the 40’s/50s when my mom was young. Grandparents were used to doing so, and it was a habit formed in the Great Depression. But, better and affordable chain hotels, Interstates, and Highway Robbery did in ‘camping on the side of the road’.
My dad worked for the forest service. There was the fire lookout tower and a small one room cabin with one double bed. We kids slept in our 64 Rambler American wagon with those folding seats.
My Uncle had one, sleeping in it was apparently hit or miss. Even in 1970 folks would call the cops, who would tell you to move along. For some reason I like the styling on these, looks like an inquisitive face on that rambler.
There is a ’59 Rambler Cross Country for sale out on long island that I have been dreaming about. I thus far have resisted the urge to go look at it as I still have a pair of ’62 Comets I need to sell to free up driveway space.
But damn if rambler didn’t manage to get al lthe useful things right(lots of interior space, solid drivetrain) while still managing to make the styling completely mad.
A friend’s dad had a 1961 Rambler sedan, but no wagon. That car was really cool – a two-tone green-and-white that was very attractive. We had fun cruising around in that thing for a few years. It was a good car, no matter how out-dated it was.
A teacher (not Educator Dan!) who lived up the street did have a Rambler wagon. I liked those old station wagons and always wished we owned one.
Love those reclining seats, too!
These were so common in the early sixties; the thing for a youngish family to buy, like a mini-van today. Totally uncool, at the time. For some reason, the six had had a nasal whine, when teamed with the automatic, that was particularly pathetic.
The local BBQ Smokehouse Man in Menlo Park has (or his widow does) a 1959 Ambassador Cross Country in Gold. I can’t help but associate these cars with ribs, because for all my life there was $5 hot link plates sold out of the tailgate of the only one I knew of.
The “Rib”ler Ambassador?
Laurence: business takes me to Palo Alto frequently. Is BBQ Smokehouse in Menlo Park a restaurant? (it is not coming up on google.)
With regard to the Ramble wagon, I always considered it an oddball when I was a kid, (anthropmorphic?) thinking the face looked like that of a jowly old woman, and the size, shape, and lines were confusing.
And they always seemed to be over loaded with too many kids and a sagging rear, and how about that strange speeometer lacking the zero’s. Too much to dislike.
It was just a random neighbor of my great grandparents. The Rambler Ambassador Wagon is still at the house with the smokehouse, but I doubt the man who used to do it still does (or is alive for that matter). He was at least 60 when I was 5… and that was 24 years ago.
But if you aren’t adverse to trying out some great Jamaican food give Back-A-Yard Grille a try. Although they do have BBQ, their specialties include a great Jerk Chicken and Corn Festivals that I drive down from Berkeley once a month to have like a ritual:
http://www.backayard.net/
Noted. Thanks for the tip, sounds great!
I remember this car from my days working in used car lot in 60s. I’m now nearly 60, have an RV and love to travel. I think something along these lines would still be useful in the modern era. Not with the intent of overnight parking on city streets. But for National Forest campgrounds, boondocking on public lands, or overnight in relatively inexpensive municipal RV campgrounds w/ electricity. It would be useful when you need something more nimble than a full blown RV. Something more enjoyable to drive, for whirlwind touring. Half the nights in motels/hotels, and half the nights in pretty spots.
I’d update the concept two ways. One is HVAC system runs on 120 volts and can be plugged in at RV park, or any convenient outlet. This is not a stretch for current technology. I suspect the system in Prius could be adapted to do this quite easily.
Second in addition to a convertible bed, there would be one seating area suitable for working on a laptop.
Probably too much of a niche product, at least presently. But at some point a crossover RV may be viable.
I love the motel capabilities. But where would your luggage go? maybe that’s what the roof rack is for…
Styling-wise, there’s no a gram of modern aggressive “attitude” to this car, which makes me love it deeply. Especially that sided profile, with the arched passenger compartment. It looks designed around its passengers, not in spite of them, and it seems friendly as a puppy.
Scanning priuschat.com the other day, looking for more reasons to convince my wife that she doesn’t really want one, I came upon a surprising number of threads about sleeping in the Prius. The AC works off battery power, IIRC, and that’s rekindled interest in in-car camping.
Or perhaps it’s another sign of the lousy economy? That preceding question mark will be removed if you can find threads about “sleeping in the Miata.”
That’s the thing that made me wonder…sure, we could camp in our 1965 Barracuda, but the only problem was that we’d sleep where all the luggage was supposed to be.
Rambler seats! I’m amazed at the propriety of this group, no one’s referred to the #1 attraction of the Rambler seats. I knew a guy in jr. high whose dad was service manager at the local Rambler dealer. He had an old ’50 Chevy in the driveway he was always trying to keep running, but the main feature was the Rambler seats he installed. Saving money on trips was not what he had in mind.
Because you can make any bench seat work for that purpose can’t you? But I think a lot of Nerds, or many a growing family can thank those ingenious Nash-Rambler seats.
Good summary. One key factor in Rambler’s success was that AMC under George Romney paid much greater attention to fit and finish than the Big Three. Many car buyers were burned by the quality control lapses of the Big Three during the late-50s so the Rambler, much like the VW, represented a refreshing change of pace.
I don’t think that the Rambler lost appeal so much as AMC switched gears. Look at how successful Chrysler’s dowdy compacts were in the late-60s and early-70s. That had been Rambler’s core market . . . but AMC largely abandoned it.
I had as one of my many beaters a 1978 Volare wagon which is in many ways the spiritual successor of the Rambler, rust and all. I know it is popular to beat on Volares, but I loved mine. Yes, the front fenders were a little rusty but not any worse than anything else at the time and the passenger compartment was completely rust free.
I never really understood the hate for the Volare. Mine was a 2 bbl slant six with Torqueflight and had bias ply tires. Not a road racer by any stretch of imatination but reliable and tough. With the rear seat folded, there was over seven feet of room in that car. With a 3″ foam in place it made for a very comfortable sleeping accommodation. My girlfriend even made curtains for the windows and across the front seat back so we could “sleep” in complete privacy.
I strapped a canoe on top and it went all over logging roads seeking the ideal Trout Lake and we found many. Some of the roads were completely overgrown but since I had paid $750 for it, I didn’t care that it got scratched. The bias ply tires were tough as nails and never complained about the ruts and potholes in subjected them, and the car, to on an extended basis. We really took that thing into the wilderness, with two 20 L gerry cans strapped to the roof, a supply of tools, parts and of course an ignition ballast resistor.
However, when it comes to cars, I cannot stand success or at least I could not then. I had the Volare two summers and, like always, decided it was boring. Never mind it was as reliable as a hammer, cheap to run in and excellent shape. I came across a mint 1980 Rabbit Diesel five speed with sunroof with a blown engine. I got a turbo diesel and installed it in a day and of course, I only kept that cool car like a year.
Live and possibly learn!
As a small add, the Volare got 18mpg in the city and 20 highway, US gallons. Not bad at all.
I am another one of the 18 people in the world who would love a Volare wagon. When I was in college, I caught a ride home once with a kid whose Dad had bought him a silver Volare wagon. It was probably only a year or two old, practically a new car. It was actually pretty nice. I always liked the size. The one I really want is the 1980 model, it was the best put together and the most rustproofed.
Mine was baby poop brown and a local Victoria BC car which accounts for the lack of rust. Later, a friend of mine had a mint 1979 sedan with the nice interior and we drove all over in it. A really honest car that drove very well and the interior was exceptionally good.
We used to sing, “Volare, wow, wow,” every time we got into it.
I thought there were only like ten of us.
I was counting the ones who would take an Aspen too.
Valiants of the 70s variety were the biggest wagons we could get tons of room in the back had a 74 with 215cube hemi good on gas too owned during George Bush mark1s Iraqui tour when gas went up and drove Melbourne to Cairns and back.
…and here I thought that all the ex-Rambler drivers bought Volvos….
Wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of them did. The Rambler Classic does, in retrospect, seem like an American Volvo 240. It probably helps in reinforcing the association that the wagons share the Volvo feature of using the sedan rear doors without modification.
The most recent Rambler Classic wagon I saw was rather sad; it is moldering away serving as a stationary ad for a pawnshop in Anniston, Alabama. The car and the sign are chained to each other; it seemed to be a tossup which one was holding the other in place.
Oh, gawd, this hits home on so many levels. My mother’s Uncle Lew was the Rambler man in the family; he had a 1961. After my old man’s disastrous experience with a 1957 Ford (he had been a Ford guy since his college Model A) he was open to experimentation…he opted for a 1962 Classic Cross Country.
At first blush, when new, it did appear that your money went farther at the Rambler store. We had the recline-back and pump-up-the-bottom PASSENGER front seat (not on the driver’s side) and the full carpeting in the luggage area…which we kids reduced to shards in a couple of years. I’m sure, on some level, my dad pictured leisurely family travels sleeping in the back; but as with most families, that never really happened.
But the package, with a lower dash than other models, padded…lots of brightwork…modern steering column and other indicators of a “luxury” model (for the times…and somewhat contemporary styling, compared to the dowdy Fords of the era…it seemed like a winner.
That it was a lemon…was maybe nobody’s fault. Some cars are just built that way. But we all roundly cursed that thing for six years, until my dad found a car even more fun to curse…a Jeep Wagoneer, every bit the Rambler’s match in trouble.
As for traveling and sleeping in the back…I have done it. Which is why on another thread I was so down on campers and motorhomes. I traveled extensively in my then-ten-year-old 1973 Pinto (how’s that for living dangerously?) with blacked-out rear-quarter windows…it was legal then. It was, at best, a low-buck way to get from here to there…nothing you’d look forward to once you’ve done it. The back hurts, the feet get cold, and everything stinks…and mornings, you frantically try to find a public restroom that’s convenient and clean enough to use.
Apparently those days aren’t over, either. Another business road trip on the horizon…and my budget is limited enough that I’m going to be bedded down in my Dodge Ram 1500 on the overnight. Like I said, you can do it; but you don’t look forward to it.
Been there done that Aussie truck stops with hot showers are a godsend for the traveller fold down camping seats were a popular option in Oz cars back in the day as it real easy to be somewhere that motels arent also that hotel bill might be the difference in fuel to get where your going you get out of the habit of giving money away unneccessarily on rent. I am actually looking forward to returning to that lifestyle once my daugter gets old enough to fend for herself.
Been there, done that, too.
My first new vehicle purchase was a 1976 Chevy C-20 Custom Deluxe long bed pickup! My roomate and I took a “blue highway” trip for a week around the state of Missouri in Oct. 1976 and slept in the back in state parks. I had one of those basic shells on the back where the middle section windows could be cranked open for air. We didn’t need it that time, though – it got cold at night!
Aching backs and bladders in the mornings – yeah. It was a lot of fun, through, back roads and all!
As Laurence will know from frequenting the area (the recent photo of the LeSabre wagon by the closed Shell station on Lytton was a pleasant giveaway), Palo Alto is one of the few communities on the S.F. Peninsula that still allows overnight sleeping in cars, though that looks to be almost as endangered as the town’s last bowling alley (slated for doom next month).
The nicest home I’ve noticed, for some years now, is a well-preserved-looking 1967 LeSabre two door (black vinyl over white), though I wonder if the rear suspension will ever recover from what the resident has been keeping in the trunk.
Meanwhile, at the back of my mind as an excuse at least, when I purchased my Crown Vic wagon (surely the longest and sleekest of them all, or at least the widest-assed), was the possibility of sleeping in it. The way the economy’s going, I guess it won’t be that long …
Speaking of that 1967, Is this 1968 Wildcat the one and the same?
Our first family car was a deep blue 1954 Nash Canadian Statesman 4 door sedan, bought used from wealthier neighbours in 1957. It also had the ability to convert to a comfortable double bed. The split front seat backs folded flat, and the rear seat cushion was removed and reinstalled in reverse, creating a virtually level, full sized sleeping surface. I remember family trips in the late 1950’s with my parents sleeping in the car, and my brother and I in a canvas tent outside. The one custom item was a piece of cheesecloth shut tightly around the front door frame, window rolled down, to allow mosquito-free ventilation.
The ’61 Ambassador’s front made it look like an American Citroen.
I’m kind of freaked out. As a child of the ’60s who could blurt out the year, make, model and often trim level of any ’60s car, I do not believe I’ve ever seen a ’61 Ambassador. Wow!
That’s the advertising rendering – it makes it look very low and sleek. The real car managed to take that design and make it shorter and stubbier. And nowhere near as attractive.
The comparison to a modern minivan is apt, because it’s exactly the sixties’ version of the same thing (and why a modern station wagon version wouldn’t sell today). While it’s nice to reminisce, there’s no way this would sell against today’s minivans.
But it does bring up a salient point: why doesn’t anyone have an ‘overnight’ minivan anymore? Chrysler actually had a $553 ‘Convert-A-Bed’ option in the nineties. I suspect it was only there to do battle with the VW Eurovan MV with a fold-flat third row (itself discontinued in 2003).
Although it didn’t have the ‘fold-flat’ third row, I would imagine everyone has been scared off by the relatively recent failure of Chrysler’s somewhat poorly designed ‘Swivel and Go’ minivan option where the second row chairs were able to swivel 180º to face the third row with a small table in-between. It wasn’t very comfortable, even for small children and the last, major minivan ‘innovation’.
I worked with a guy who bought a new ’64 Rambler wagon. Seemed like a nice car and I was very impressed to find a porcelain exahust system.
Thank God it doesn`t have that hideously ugly front clip like the `61 Ambassador! Actually, its a fairly attractive looking car.
In 1994 my ’87 Thunderbird Turbo’s fuel pump died on the Indiana Tollway, and the car stopped dead. Had it towed to a small northwest Indiana town, where they told me it would take 2-3 days to get a replacement part.
Sitting in front of the garage was a red-and-white 1960 Rambler station wagon, rust-free and running, for $800. I took a cash advance on my credit credit from a nearby bank and drove the Rambler home. After the Thunderbird was fixed, I sold it.
That Rambler was an amazing car. It also had the 198.6 engine with the overhead valve head (Americans had the same engine with a flathead!) and two-barrel carb, and three on the tree. It wasn’t fast, but it was adequate up to 55mph. If you tried to cruise at 65mph it would overheat. (More on that later…)
Comfortable ride, great bench seats, and a heater that would melt your boots. With the drop-down tailgate I could and did carry about everything. Anything that didn’t fit inside went on the chrome roof rack.
I drove that car for four years and it was absolutely dead reliable summer and winter. I drove it to California, mostly on two-lane roads, for the best road trip of my life. In Arizona I got on the interstate and toodled along at 55mph getting the doors blown off by semi-trucks going 80mph. The highway patrol actually pulled me over and asked me to go faster.
(In California, I interned for a wonderful but short-lived magazine, Classic Auto Restorer. I think the Rambler helped land me that job.)
On the way back from Cali I experimented with Water Wetter (which improved heat transfer in the radiator) instead of antifreeze, and Slick 50 oil treatment (which reduced frictional heat). I was able to cruise 65-70mph all the way back to Indiana, no problem. Some of those miracle snake oils really do work.
The Rambler took my wife and I on our honeymoon to Door County, Wisconsin, with an 18′ canoe on the roof. After a week, we’d show up and folks would say, “Oh, you’re the Rambler people.” If they were of a certain age, they’d follow up with a question: “Does that have the fold-flat seats?” (wink wink). Bought an antique dresser in Door County, put it in the back, and drove to our new home in New Jersey.
That dipped roof was an innovation to reduce tooling costs. They just used the sedan roof and welded on a panel over the wagon rear. It became a Rambler styling cue for years. Ed Anderson’s assistant Bill Reddig designed that, before he was transferred over to the Kelvinator side of the business.
I had the good fortune to met Bill Reddig at a Rambler meet. I was given the job of picking him up at the airport in my ’60 wagon, so we had a chance to visit. I asked him if he enjoyed designing the cars. He answered, “I sure am! Because sure as hell nobody collects refrigerators.”
I have had a LOT of different cars over the years, but that ’60 Rambler wagon remains one of the best. Just a solid, well-built, no-nonsense, practical car. Best $800 I ever spent.