The 6 most interesting hardtop wagons of the postwar era
In 1949, General Motors gave us the two-door hardtop. Six years later, it rolled out the four-door hardtop and the hardtop wagon. Indeed, GM was first with the two-door Chevrolet Nomad and Pontiac Safari, but the me-too brigade came out with four-door hardtop wagons with a bit more utility.
Alas, though manufacturers flirted with that style, the hardtop wagon was not embraced industry-wide as its more common coupe and sedan brethren. With good looks and rarity on their side, they offer something different from the typical collectible—here’s a retrospective on these family trucksters.
American Motors
![amc rambler wagon front three-quarter](https://www.hagerty.com/media/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1956-AMC-Rambler-Wagon-Foldout-300x171.jpg)
Yes, it was lowly American Motors Corporation that was first with a four-door hardtop wagon. AMC said of the 1956 Rambler Custom Cross Country Hardtop wagon, “Now you can enjoy all the fun of a fresh-air convertible and the smart, luxurious utility of a station wagon—all in one brilliant automobile.” Wheelbase was a trim 108 inches, but Rambler’s selling point was that it was Rambler-sized on the outside while being king-size inside, so owners didn’t give up much… unless you wanted a V-8. That arrived for 1957 in the form of the new 190-horsepower 250. For 1958, after the dissolution of Nash, Rambler upgraded the hardtop wagon to the Ambassador series, with the Custom Cross Country now on a 117-inch wheelbase and powered by a 270-horsepower 327. Marginal changes arrived in 1959, but the Ambassador had a slight restyle for 1960, plus the standard 327 was downgraded to 250 horses (with 270 optional). With the 1961 redesign, the Rambler hardtop wagon was no more.
Buick
![1957 buick century wagon front three-quarter](https://www.hagerty.com/media/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1957-Buick-Century-Caballero-Estate-Wagon-300x169.jpg)
In 1957, Buick offered two hardtop station wagons: the Special Riviera and the Century Caballero Estate Wagons, both of which featured “low-silhouette styling [and] Riviera design” (the latter a nod to Buick’s nomenclature for hardtop). Aside of trim level and equipment, the main difference between the two was that the Special made do with a 250-horsepower 364, while the Century featured 300 horses. Buick continued the pair for 1958, including the same mechanical specifications under the hood, but now wrapped in unique “Air Born B-58” styling with “Fashion-Aire Dynastar Grille.” Buick quietly put its hardtop wagons to rest for 1959.
Mercury
![1957 mercury voyager wagon front three-quarter](https://www.hagerty.com/media/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1957-Mercury-Voyager-Wagon-300x169.jpg)
“Dream Car Design” came to Mercury in 1957, “designed and built as a separate fleet of cars, not as pieced together models on a passenger-car shell.” All Mercury wagons, from Commuter and Voyager to Colony Park, featured hardtop styling, with the former two available as both two- and four-doors. “Quadri-Beam” quad headlights became optional mid-year, which was a rarity for 1957. A heavy facelift for 1958 was accompanied by the highest horsepower engine option in the industry: the 400-hp Super Marauder 430. For 1959, Mercury wagons were marketed as “Country Cruisers,” though top horsepower fell to 345. A 1960 redesign brought more similarity to Ford but the hardtop style remained a Mercury exclusive, now available as Commuter and Colony Park four-doors. For 1961, the Mercury hardtop wagon was discontinued.
Oldsmobile
![1958 oldsmobile dynamic wagon front three-quarter](https://www.hagerty.com/media/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1958-Oldsmobile-Dynamic-88-Fiesta-Wagon-300x169.jpg)
Oldsmobile wouldn’t let Buick have all the fun in 1957. The Rocket Division offered both the entry-level “Golden Rocket” 88 Fiesta and mid-range Super 88 Fiesta with the same hardtop roofline as Buick but with distinctive Oldsmobile styling and engineering. Both 88s were powered by a 277-horse 371 “Rocket T-400,” with 300 horsepower (via 3×2 carburetion) as close as checking the J-2 option. In 1958, Oldsmobiles featured a bloated, one-year-only design, with the starter 88 becoming the Dynamic 88 with 265 hp, and the Super 88 with 305 hp; both were available with the J-2 option, now with 312 horses. And, like the Buick, the Fiesta hardtop wagon was put to rest for 1959.
Chrysler
![1960 chrysler new yorker wagon](https://www.hagerty.com/media/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1960-Chrysler-New-Yorker-Wagon-e1585862398368-300x166.jpg)
For Chrysler’s first year of “Unibody” construction in 1960, Windsor and New Yorker Town & Country wagons featured four-door hardtop styling with soaring fins, a wide trapezoidal grille, and 413-cubic-inch V-8 with 305 and 350 horsepower, respectively. A facelift featuring canted headlights arrived for 1961, with the new Newport (powered by a 265-horse 361) taking over the lower end of the wagon series in place of the Windsor. The fins were plucked for 1962, then a complete redesign courtesy of Elwood Engel delivered a “crisp, new custom look” for 1963. Both the Newport and New Yorker Town & Country hardtops featured similar mechanical specifications from before and, with mild trim tweaks, continued into 1964. With the advent of the all-new C-body in 1965, Chrysler’s hardtop wagon was no more.
Dodge
![1960 dodge polara wagon side profile](https://www.hagerty.com/media/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1960_Dodge_Polara_Wagon-300x116.jpg)
Like Chrysler, Dodge also introduced a hardtop wagon in 1960. Both the low-priced Dart series and Matador weren’t afforded that luxury, but the premium Polara was, including a standard 325-horsepower “Ram Fire” 383, with D-500 Ram Induction being an option. The restyled 1961 Polara wagon returned with its hardtop roofline, but power was downgraded to a 265-hp 361, though the 383 and D-500 were offered. When Dodge moved to the B-body platform for 1962, there was no hardtop wagon to be found but, when Dodge introduced the Chrysler-based Custom 880 series mid-year, a hardtop wagon was present. After a handsome 1963 restyle, the Custom 880 hardtop wagon would continue into 1964 and then be dropped.