These are photos of the variations of my all-time FAVE station wagon, the legendary “clamshell” wagons built by General motors between 1971 and 1976. The cool thing was that instead of the tail-gate swinging out or down, it totally disappeared!! [the 76 Olds image illustrates this]. The glass retracted into the roof, and the tail gate disappeared underneath! Super cool! I owned one of these a ’71 Olds--between 1997 and 2002, the most beloved car I’ve ever owned, wish I would have kept it.
Oldsmobile’s version was called the “Custom Cruiser,” Buick’s was called the “Estate Wagon, Chevy’s was the “Caprice,” and Pontiac’s was the “Grand Safari.” The Cadillac version is EXTREMELY rare, they typically built fewer than 50 of them each year, usually for celebrities. Check out the Cadillac wagons that were built for Elvis Presley and the Jackson 5! Gene Autry had a Cadillac clamshell wagon built, too. I’m still looking for a picture of it...
I used to be a member of the American Station Wagon Owner’s Club when I owned the ’71 Olds…LOTS of great wagon pix!!
