The way of the dinosaur
Estate cars have almost vanished from the scene, but toy and model makers have taken up the slack. Douglas R. Kelly dives in head-first.
Douglas R. Kelly takes an affectionate look at the estate.
It may be hard to visualise now, but there was a time when estate cars roamed the earth. Before the minivan came on the scene in the 1980s, you couldn’t get away from them - they were on every street corner and in lots of driveways, especially in kid-friendly neighbourhoods. They say we spend one-third of our lives sleeping. I think I spent another third in the back seat of estate cars over the years, headed for the grocery store or baseball practice, or a thousand other destinations over which I had no control. One of my most deeply imprinted memories is from my high school years, when my mother and sister pulled into our driveway with the front and rear ends of our 1973 Buick Century estate caved in, the victims of an ‘accordion’ type accident on a highway entry ramp in Westchester County, NewYork. My mum had a mild case of whiplash and my sister was unhurt - we were thankful it wasn’t worse. Surprisingly, the Century was still driveable despite all the damage.
I recall being really upset seeing that Buick all smashed up. Up to that point, I think I’d seen it as just a tool, a way to get where we were going, same as the other station wagons our family had owned. But now, with the steam coming from the radiator and the bodywork twisted and broken, I guess I realized that I was pretty attached to that car. It was what they called a nine-passenger model, with the third seat (in the far back) facing the rear of the vehicle, which made for a cool ‘fort’ on long trips.
All of this may be why I’ve always kept an eye out for toy and model estate cars, or station wagons as we call them here in the U.S.Although they weren’t commonly included in the product ranges of most manufacturers - most of them preferred coupes, sedans, and convertibles to staid, boring station wagons - they were out there if you cared to look.
PRE-WAR AND POST-WAR
Some of the earliest wagons were produced by the Dowst Brothers Company in Chicago, as part of its Tootsietoy line.Around 1940, two wagons were released - the larger was around 4.5 inches in length, whilst the smaller was 3 inches. Both featured cast-in ‘woody’ type panels on the doors and, like many Tootsietoys of the period, the wheel arches were not cut out. Instead, the ends of the axles were run through the covered arches and secured by peening the axle ends.They were basic toys, but parents and children bought them in droves, making them relatively easy to find today.The smaller example shown here, in maroon red and yellow, belonged to my dad, who owned one just like it when he was a kid. He told me that one of the few happy memories
of his childhood was of running that Tootsietoy wagon up and down the blankets on his bed as he recovered from the flu.
He gave this example to me not long before he passed away, having bought it at an antiques show a few years before. It’s far from perfect original condition, but I’ll own it for the rest of my life. I see my dad whenever I look at it.
Dowst put out plenty of other station wagons through the years, and Buick was well represented. It did a six-inch (more or less) Buick starting in the late 1940s, a single-piece casting based on the 1947 model Buick, and a Buick Century wagon, based on the 1954 model and also about 6 inches long, made its entrance in 1955.The line went on to include a 1954 Ford wagon, a 1959 Ford wagon, and even a 1960 Rambler. Most of these Tootsietoys came in ‘trade boxes’, to be set out on a store counter, from which the customer would choose the toy they wanted.The good news is that even excellentcondition originals generally sell for US$20-40, due in large part to Dowst having sold millions of these toys over the years.
Collectors generally consider Tootsietoy’s seveninch Pontiac Safari wagon, produced only for a few years during the 1950s, as the most desirable Tootsietoy wagon.A very hard to find model, a mint/boxed example can fetch US$400 or more, particularly if the opening tailgate is present and in working order.
The Swiss diecast manufacturer, Rextoys, made an outstanding contribution to the woody wagon category with its 1/43 scale 1935 Ford station wagon, produced during the 1990s. Rextoys tended to make the trim and other pieces on its models out of metal rather than plastic - the models therefore have a hefty feel to them. Its Ford woody really captured the look and stance of the actual car. Rextoys models, for the most part, haven’t increased in value much since being produced - generally priced in the US $40 area when they turn up.
Other European manufacturers produced station wagon models as part of their product lines during the 1950s and 1960s, often in both passenger and commercial versions. Compagnie Industrielle du Jouet, based in France and better known as CIJ, did its part with the diecast series that it put out beginning in 1949.There were several Renault wagons in the series over the years, including a Savane, a Manoir, a Prairie (which also came in a taxicab version), and a Dauphinoise. Peugeot was also well represented, with a 403 coming in several different liveries.And what French model range would be complete without a station wagon version of the iconic Citroën DS19? Mint boxed original CIJs don’t come cheap, with most changing hands for anywhere from US$100 to many hundreds of dollars for the rarer models.
In addition, like the better-known Solido range of diecasts, CIJs are just so French. It’s hard to define, but these models have loads of charm and the boxes they came in often depict wonderful period artwork of European scenes. I got hooked on them years ago and, as far as I know, they haven’t come up with a cure.
Meccano Ltd., makers of the legendary Dinky Toys range, competed with CIJ and Solido in the European market with its French Dinky line.These were produced by the British manufacturer’s operation in France, and included such station wagon models as a Peugeot 403, a Fiat 1800, and a Simca 1500.
Germany’s Schuco brand and Denmark’s Tekno series featured the occasional wagon, and even the now hard-to-find Sabra line, made in Israel in the late 1960s and early 1970s, included a Chevrolet Chevelle wagon that also came in police, fire, and ambulance versions, as well as in a United Nations livery.
BRITISH CONNECTION
And then there were the British makers. Mettoy (Corgi) and Meccano (Dinky), were among the most prolific makers of station wagon models. One of Corgi’s most American models was its No 219 Plymouth Suburban wagon, released in 1959 in a cream and tan paint scheme that just screams salted caramel.The Corgi line also included a Ford Zephyr
Estate Car (No 424), and a Ford Cortina Estate Car (No 440), that came with two golfer figures and miniature golf equipment. Both Fords were introduced by Corgi during the 1960s.
Two of the best-known Dinky station wagons were No 27F (later re-numbered 344) Plymouth Estate Car, a woody wagon that made its debut in the early 1950s and came in a two-tone brown and cream, and No 173 Nash Rambler, which was made from 1958 until around 1962.These two must have been among Meccano’s bestsellers in the Dinky series, because they turn up regularly today, although usually in highmileage condition.
Dinky also produced a wonderful model of a Fiat 2300 station wagon as part of its Mini Dinky series, produced in Hong Kong starting in 1968.At 2.75 inches in length, the Fiat is likely to be about 1/64 scale, and it came in yellow with a white roof, as well as in blue, and was numbered 21 in the series. It featured an opening bonnet and tailgate. Meccano marketed the Mini Dinky models in a red plastic ‘garage’ box, which had an opening door at one end. Unfortunately, as accurate and detailed as the Mini Dinkys were, many of them suffer badly from metal fatigue. I have a No 22 Oldsmobile Toronado with whole sections of the body that have broken away. Still, if you can find them intact, they’re well worth the US$30-50 that most of them seem to sell for, and I think their see-through garages make for a cool effect on a display shelf.
Other British makers produced station wagons for miniature fleets as well. DCMT made a diecast model series called Lone Star, which included a 1/50 scale Rambler wagon as part of its Roadmasters series. It’s a pretty fair representation of a late 1950s Rambler wagon, including the reverse rake window pillar over the rear doors. DCMT apparently made a boo-boo during the production of this one, though, as all of the examples I’ve seen (to the best of my recollection) have had rear suspension sag, resulting in the wagon looking as though it’s carrying a heavy load in the rear. In addition to the turquoise and cream version, Lone Star also produced the Rambler as a white ambulance and as a green military ambulance.
The late 1950s and first half of the 1960s saw another British manufacturer, Budgie Toys, producing diecast models.The Budgie Miniature series included Volkswagens, Plymouths, and Wolseleys, and were sold on blister cards. No 15 in the series was an Austin Westminster Countryman wagon. Like the Matchbox models they were designed to compete with, the Budgie Miniatures were simple but accurate little models, and the charm-to-dollar ratio is very high with these. If you can find a Westminster wagon still sealed on its blister card, like the one shown here, you can expect to see a price of US$40-60 on it.
Even as the station wagon faded from the scene in favour of minivans and SUVs, a number of diecast manufacturers paid tribute to the form.Around 1993, Corgi came out with what I believe was a new casting for its Morris Minor Traveller, as iconic a British estate car as you’ll ever find. Corgi did an excellent job on this one, even supplying separate side mirrors and stickers for the license plates for the buyer to apply if he or she chose to do so.The Traveller was part of Corgi’s ClassicVehicles series, number 96870.
On the U.S. side, Racing Champions included a 1956 Chevrolet Nomad station wagon in its Motor Trend Mint line in the late 1990s. Racing Champions included too many muscle cars in this series to suit me, but when they did a standard production model, they usually got it right.The Nomad is 1/63 scale (why not the standard 1/64 is anyone’s guess) and,
despite an oversized side mirror, it’s a sharp model. For the most part, you can still find the Mint models in their blister packs for US$5-10.
WAGONS IN THE 2000S
Over the last 10 years or so, there have been fewer station wagon models produced, but they’re out there if you dig.The Johnny Lightning brand advanced the cause a few times, putting out models like a 1960 Ford Country Squire and a 1964 OldsmobileVista Cruiser. Ownership of the Johnny Lightning brand has changed a few times over the years, but they generally produce very good little models for just a few dollars.The OldsVista Cruiser struck a chord with me because our family had the 1968 Buick version, which seemed to my seven-year-old eyes to be approximately a quarter-mile in length. I think we carried the entire neighbourhood in that car at one time or another, with room to spare.
If you open your wallet a little wider, Italian maker Kess has produced a sharp-looking 1/43 scale resin model of the 1969 Buick Sport, which was little changed from the 1968 model. It runs at $100-125, but hey, it has the skylight window over the middle seat, which made for great star gazing on night-time drives.
Friend and fellow Diecast Collector scribe Andrew Ralston, also an avid collector, keeps an eye out for the offbeat stuff, and we like to surprise each other with the occasional package. He got me good with a 1/43 scale Fiat Marea Weekend, a station wagon made by Maisto 10 years or so back - 1/43 is less common here in the US than in Europe and the UK, so I hadn’t seen this one, and Andrew told me it was some kind of promo model that was available at Fiat dealerships. No opening parts, which is just fine with me, and it’s one of only two wagons shown here with a roof rack - a little odd as this was a common feature on real wagons for many years.
There also have been a few small-scale station wagons in recent years, one of the best being a late 1950s Ford 100E Squire Estate made by Pocketbond as part of its Classix range. It’s 1/76 scale and, even at the small size, Pocketbond managed to nail the trim and highlights.The front end, in particular, is razor sharp, with the SQUIRE logo perfectly silk-screened above the grille.As I recall, it cost me only US$5 or so.
We’ve just scratched the surface with this look at diecast station wagons - many more were made over the past 80 years, and most survive in far greater numbers than the real thing. Maybe that’s due to people using up every bit of their station wagons before they traded them in or drove them to the breaker’s yard.Whatever the reason, when one turns up today on the street or at a car show, it often somehow looks cool. Never thought I’d use the words “cool” and “station wagons” in the same sentence. DC