All those B5 Wagons FS...why?

They are getting old; people do replace cars. I hadn't noticed any preponderance of wagons (here in Pennsylvania) but I do see a lot of cars for sale with major work needed. Commonly, when they just can't wait on the timing belt anymore.

scotts13 said:

They are getting old; people do replace cars.

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It's not much simplier than that. If you truely see a higher proportion of wagons now being offered, perhaps they stayed in circulation longer than the sedans, being more versitile. Wagons are great, but eventually all good things come to an end, unless you maintain it with the help of PassatWorld.

More for me, I say. Three isn't nearly enough!

In 1976 Nadia got the first perfect 10 in the history of Gymnastics (Montreal Olympics). What else happened then?

chefro said:

In 1976 Nadia got the first perfect 10 in the history of Gymnastics (Montreal Olympics). What else happened then?

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Every big motor mastodon station wagon was for sale due to the gas crisis . My moms 74 LTD wagon sat 12 !!

Twozs said:

My moms 74 LTD wagon sat 12 !!

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So you think that was cool...my mom had an Olds Vista Cruiser!

ylwagon said:

So you think that was cool...my mom had an Olds Vista Cruiser!

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I had the Vista Cruiser's sportier cousin, the Pontiac Grand Safari. 454 cu in, 9 MPG... those were the days.

The vista cruiser and the buick sport wagon 400 were the best . Both had the panoramic roof . We had a 63 Pontiac star chief a 68 Catalina and the LTD . Me and my sisters were all teens by then And we switched to passenger cars . I still have a spot in my heart for wagons .. (05 1.8 4motion )

Now that we are way off topic, I've got to say something about that Vista Cruiser. It was a '68, best-looking of the series in my opinion, but what has intrigued me was the molded dash quality. The car was never garaged, sat closed up, baking through the hottest California weather, and that dash was still soft and pliable to the day we traded it away, years later. No cracks or hardening, no plasticizers leaking out. They must have really used some good vinyls or urethanes back then.

scotts13 said:

I had the Vista Cruiser's sportier cousin, the Pontiac Grand Safari. 454 cu in, 9 MPG... those were the days.

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Holy cow!
Now that's a sour gas mileage. Was it a three speed gearbox?

Those dinosaur size wagons with large displacement V8's were all 3 speed automatics that I saw. Our family had a 67 Ford Country Squire wagon and later a 72 Mercury Marquis Colony Park wagon. That one was a 400 cuin 2bbl and got about 9ish around town and 15ish on the highway. Gas was a lot cheaper back then.

I once worked on a late 60's Suburban (like a cross between a full size station wagon and a full size SUV) that had a six in line engine backed by a three on the tree manual. It was slow empty. I can't image how it was loaded to the gills with people and cargo.

chefro said:

Now that's a sour gas mileage. Was it a three speed gearbox?

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Three speed automatic, as Steve says. Also as mentioned, who cared what the mileage was? Gas was 30¢ a gallon. Ooops, 35¢ - the Pontiac took premium.

Also hold in mind the rear area, with the last row of seats folded, would hold a regular twin mattress, and the storage compartment underneath would hold two cases of beer, with ice. What more could a teenager want from a car?

Ha, I can picture all of those love shacks on four wheels It was also close to the '70s free love movement.
Thanks for going down the memory lane for me and sharing nostalgic tidbits about those cars.
Anyway, I didn't really know what EM was referring to about 1976 in the first post. Heck, I was only 9 yrs old and at the time probably enjoying my Pegasus bike and, once a year, the bump cars at the local state fair

For me, the Passat B5/5.5 wagon has the best size and configuration of any car ever built. My wife's is definitely NOT for sale. (Original owner, 58K miles, garaged, never crashed, etc. Manufactured almost exactly 14 years ago. ) With my 1996 A4 and our younger son's 2000 S4 and 1991 BMW 318i ("German Honda Civic"), it is also the youngster of the fleet.

A little off topic but if I ever hit the lottery I'm buying the exact replica of the griswalds family wagon filling it with beef jerky and going cross country. Just a bucket list item.

Oh man. It's a dream come true haha.

Dunno, there aren't many Passats here FS, and the few that are the majority are sedans.