Tag Archives: Photo Feature

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Photo Feature: 1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

Note: The following story was excerpted from the October 2018 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine

Frank Troost says his 1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban draws a common comment when he has it out: “We had one when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen one in years.” That’s not surprising since the American station wagon was immensely popular in the Sixties and Seventies, yet the survival rate has been low. 

Troost bought this Sport Suburban in 2008. The Oak Brook, Illinois, resident doesn’t know the history of the car except that it sill wears the badge of a Louisville, Kentucky, dealer. Subject to less wintertime road salt than in more northerly climes, the Plymouth was well preserved, and is original except for the paint and floor mats. Now the nine-passenger model with a rear-facing third-row seat is a favorite spot for Troost’s grandchildren.

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Photo Feature: 1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

The Sport Suburban was Plymouth’s premium wagon. It had interior trim comparable to the Fury III sedan and woodgrain vinyl panels on the sides and tailgate as a badge of rank.

Plymouth’s full-size line was redesigned for 1969 with Chrysler Corporation’s “fuselage” styling that made the big cars look even more massive. The wagons rode a 122-inch wheelbase, had an overall length of around 220 inches, and weighed 4260 pounds. For comparison, a modern Chevrolet Suburban SUV is only about five inches longer, but is substantially heavier at 5808 pounds.

The 5 Most-Expensive American Wagons of 1969

Photo Feature: 1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

The Plymouth was big inside too, with 104.2 cubic feet of cargo room when the back seats were folded. The Chevy Suburban wins with a 121.7-cubic-foot capacity, but the Plymouth beats the current Dodge Durango’s 84.5-cubic-foot capacity.

The two-way tailgate opened both as a tailgate and as a door. Convenient chrome handles on either side of the opening aided entry. Popular Mechanics commented that the handles “give a long overdue helping hand.”

A standard deflector directed air over the tailgate window to help keep the glass clean. This feature was found on many wagons of the time, but Plymouth’s deflector worked better than the Ford and Chevrolet versions. In a test of 1969 wagons (Chevrolet Kingswood, Ford Country Squire, Sport Suburban, and Pontiac Catalina), Popular Science said, “During PS tests, the Plymouth always had the cleanest tailgate window.” The magazine’s Sport Suburban achieved a 0-60-mph time of 10.4 seconds with a 330-horsepower four-barrel-carburetor 383-cubic-inch V8. Plymouth had the worst fuel economy of the group, averaging only eight mpg—but the best was Pontiac’s 10.4 mpg, so none of the big wagons were exactly frugal.

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Photo Feature: 1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

Plymouths were facelifted for 1970 and gained a loop-style front bumper. The Sport Suburban and Sport Furys received a hidden-headlight grille. 

The ’70 Sport Suburban’s base engine was a 230-horse, 318-inch V8. The featured car has a 290-horsepower 383 with a two-barrel carburetor, but peak performance was available via a 350-horsepower 440-cube V8. 

Ford traditionally led in full-size wagon sales, and won in 1970 with 189,015 units sold. Plymouth trailed at 36,813. Among Plymouths, the nine-passenger Sport Suburban was the most expensive at $3804 but the most popular with 9170 sold. Add in the less popular six-seat version and a total of 13,573 Sport Suburbans were built for 1970.

Rising gas prices and changing tastes would soon doom the big station wagons, but in 1970 these welcoming gentle giants still were family favorites.

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Photo Feature: 1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban

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1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban Gallery

(Click below for enlarged images)

Longroof Madness! More Classic Wagon Ads

Written by: Jack Stewart on August 9, 2021.

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1960 Edsel Ranger

1960 Edsel Ranger

by Don Sikora II

Note: The following story was excerpted from the April 2011 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine

Introduced by the Ford Motor Company in September 1957, Edsel was Ford’s attempt to capture a larger portion of the medium-price new-car market. But by the start of the 1960 model year, the brand was on very shaky ground.

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1960 Edsel Ranger Two-Door Sedan

1960 Edsel Ranger

1960 Edsel Ranger

As the medium-price market developed in the years between the world wars, Ford really didn’t do anything to address this growing—and profitable—part of the business. The 1939 Mercury was the company’s first medium-price offering, but it had to compete with Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick from General Motors; Dodge, DeSoto, and Chrysler from Chrysler; and a collection of strong independents including Nash and Hudson.

Ford executives recognized the importance of this market soon after the end of World War II. Still, serious strategic planning didn’t begin until the Fifties.

Carefully orchestrated leaks and media speculation preceded the introduction of FoMoCo’s new medium-price car, the 1958 Edsel. Despite the planning and hoopla, the Edsel faced major problems even before it ever went on sale. 

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1960 Edsel Ranger

1960 Edsel Ranger

The new car found itself caught up in a perfect storm of brutal office politics, a dramatic sales downturn in the medium-price field, and the worst economic conditions since the end of World War II. With sales failing to live up to expectations from the start, and powerful opponents in company management, Edsel quickly lost support inside of Ford, even before New Year’s Day 1958. It was branded a loser, but no matter how good or bad the ’58 Edsel truly was, it probably never really had a chance to succeed. 

Edsel offerings were dramatically scaled back for 1959, and by 1960, the Edsel was little more than a badge-engineered Ford. Introduced on October 15, 1959, the ’60 Edsel arrived in one series, Ranger. Body styles included two- and four-door sedans and hardtops, a convertible, and six- and nine-passenger Villager station wagons. 

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1960 Edsel Ranger

1960 Edsel Ranger

Unique sheetmetal was at a minimum, with the hood and the small sections of the rear fenders next to the decklid being the differences. Edsel’s signature central vertical grille was jettisoned, and the new front end looked quite similar to a 1959 Pontiac. At the rear, vertical taillamps set the car apart from the ’60 Ford with its horizontal lenses.

Dealer and customer response was tepid, allowing the company to officially throw in the towel on Edsel a little more than a month after the 1960 model’s introduction. Production ended by November 30, 1959, and totaled a mere 2846 units. 

The featured car is owned by Judy Doster of Abilene, Texas. The two-door sedan was the price leader of the line at $2643 to start, and the second-most popular 1960 Edsel with a run of 777 units.

A 292-cubic inch “Ranger V8 was standard, but this car has the 223-inch “Econ-O-Six,” a $83.70 credit option. It’s joined to an extra-cost automatic transmission.

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1960 Edsel Ranger

1960 Edsel Ranger

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1960 Edsel Ranger Two-Door Sedan Gallery

(Click below for enlarged images)

Written by: The Daily Drive staff on April 21, 2021.

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Town Sedan

1929 Cadillac Series 341B

by Leigh Dorrington

Note: The following story was excerpted from the April 2012 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine

Cadillac was due for a “quiet” year in 1929, considering the previous season had seen the arrival of all-new Series 341 cars. They came with attractive styling by Harley Earl, fresh off his success with the 1927 LaSalle; a new 90-bhp 341-cubic-inch version of Caddy’s established L-head V-8 engine; and a chassis with wheelbase stretched to 140 inches, a switch to torque-tube drive, and the adoption of 32-inch-diameter tires.

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Those core features were indeed carried into 1929, but Cadillac was still able to make some noise in the automotive field—ironically by quieting things down. The marque introduced the “Synchro-Mesh” transmission, which made it easier to shift into second or third gear without a gratingly audible clash of metal. Other improvements for ’29 included internal-expanding brakes at all four wheels (external-contracting bands had been used previously at the rear), double-acting Delco shock absorbers, safety glass, and an adjustable front seat on most models. Fender-top parking lights replaced cowl lamps.

1929 Cadillac Series 341B

1929 Cadillac Series 341B

The 1929 Series 341B came in 11 “standard” models with Fisher bodies, plus another dozen “Fleetwood Custom” styles. Among the former was the “Town Sedan” featured here, a close-coupled five-passenger four-door model with a shortened body that made room at the back for a large detachable trunk.

Written by: Guest Author on December 1, 2020.