If you’ll recall my recent post on the baby blue 1973 New Yorker Brougham, it was sold by my friend Anthony Rose, of the greater Cleveland area. Well this morning, just before I clocked in to the office, he posted this survivor of ’80s suburbia: a very above-average condition Caprice woody wagon. I immediately tagged my friend in Boston, Matt Smith. “Issa Caprese.” Oh, sorry. Private joke.
Anyway, in the decades before buyers decided that fat, drunk and stupid was the preferred look in motorized private vehicles and began buying combovers, these ruled the roads. Though even then, the Chrysler minivans were making major inroads in their turf. Not to mention the Aerostars, Astros and Safaris, Vanagons, Toyota Vans and long-vanished Bitsumishis.
Wagons would hang in there to an extent until the mid-late 2000s when they began dropping like flies, but the big full-sized Big Three wagons were gone by the early to mid ’90s: LTD Country Squire and Colony Park in ’91, Olds Custom Cruiser in ’92 and the Caprice and Roadmaster Estates in 1996.
These used to be everywhere, and since they were mommy mobiles, were passed on to teenage offspring and summarily run into the ground. So really nice ones aren’t terribly common in the Year Of Our Lord, 2022. But this one made it.
As Anthony related, “Fresh for sale, 1984 Chevrolet Caprice Classic 4 dr Station Wagon. 64k miles. 305 V8. New rear fillers. New headliner. Original Maroon paint. Original wood grain. New tires. Power Steering, Power Brakes, Tilt Wheel, A/C, and 3rd row seat. $13,995. 216.470.8844.”
So if you want a dose of the past or are thinking about taking the tribe cross country to Wally World this summer, drop Anthony a line. Tell him Klockau sent ya.