# What Car is this? 50's something or other station wagon

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [March 4, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732 "2019-03-04T05:08:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 17\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/1 "2019-03-04T05:08:45Z")

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Yup that is me in the pic!

 ![carold](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/2X/2/2932564f360ee6b6ff38f5d4a8c4d476157a72d2.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/2 "2019-03-04T05:15:53Z")

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1958 Plymouth station wagon

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/3 "2019-03-04T05:16:51Z")

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The chevron above the front wheel fooled me. Looks like the ticket!

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**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 5:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/4 "2019-03-04T05:17:26Z")

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That tells ya it’s got a v8

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**Author:** ![pleasedodgevan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@pleasedodgevan2](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pleasedodgevan2)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 5:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/5 "2019-03-04T05:33:26Z")

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Who would name a model Belvedere? I don’t know if that one is, but it might have been.

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 5:37am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/6 "2019-03-04T05:37:55Z")

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My first thought was it was a hearse!

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**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 6:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/7 "2019-03-04T06:15:27Z")

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The station wagons had different names than the sedans and coupes. The cars were Plaza, Savoy, and Belvidere. All named after prominent hotels. The wagons we’re custom, custom suburban, and sport suburban.

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**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 11:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/8 "2019-03-04T11:58:01Z")

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![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/2X/d/d9ef3d7e4b53968881090ed9b372440c59a19458.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/9 "2019-03-04T14:16:32Z")

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Note: Chrysler used the same rear quarter panel stamping on all their wagons, this is why the fin is different than on Plymouth sedans, hardtops, and convertibles.

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/2X/5/59001ccbaea5c262146cc873e6390e31a67ba1c7.jpeg) ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/2X/4/453dfa97ca0dbcb13b11cc1bc24d7b7e28f70a0d.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 3:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/10 "2019-03-04T15:46:51Z")

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> [@old\_mopar\_guy](#):
>
> 1958 Plymouth station wagon

I believe that it’s actually a '57 Plymouth.  
It’s very subtle, but if you look closely, the inboard lights appear to be _slightly_ smaller than the outboard lights. The '58 models had quad headlights, but the '57s had the old-style twin headlights, with adjacent parking lights that were… ever so much smaller than the headlights.

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/11 "2019-03-04T15:52:09Z")

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I think you’re right about it being a '57. A '57 inside light is easier to see on this pic:

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/2X/0/01b428441719f74e47cad240790b174148ccaca7.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/12 "2019-03-04T15:54:30Z")

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Yup!  
It’s very subtle–undoubtedly as Chrysler intended–but there is a slight difference in the size of those adjacent lights on the '57 models.

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**Author:** ![wentwest](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wentwest/32/6073_2.png) [@wentwest](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wentwest)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/13 "2019-03-04T16:14:24Z")

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Even then, when I was just a kid, I never understood the wisdom of a 2 door station wagon. Some folks must have thought it was safer to keep the kids from bailing out at speed, and it was cheaper. but what a pain to try and load stuff in there.

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**Author:** ![old\_mopar\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6bbea6/32.png) [@old\_mopar\_guy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/old_mopar_guy)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/14 "2019-03-04T16:25:26Z")

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You may be right. The clues without seeing the taillights would be the quad headlights and the grill hiding behind the front license plate. Vertical slots = 57, horizontal bars = 58. I can’t see which it is.

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/15 "2019-03-04T16:44:03Z")

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> [@wentwest](#):
>
> Some folks must have thought it was safer to keep the kids from bailing out at speed

When I worked for my state’s child protective agency, back in 1967, most of our cars were 4-door sedans, but there were a few 2-door sedans. We used the two door models when transporting boys to and from the state’s juvenile detention facility. We placed them in the back seat, and there was a little less chance of “elopement” when using the 2-door sedans.

What we REALLY needed–but lacked–were station wagons. When we had to transport mattresses from one foster home to another, we had to tie them to the roof of our sedans, and it always looked like something out of _The Beverly Hillbillies_. If they had purchased two door wagons, they could have done double-duty for transporting our clients to and from the detention facility, as well as transporting state property from foster home to foster home.

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**Author:** ![RandomTroll](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/randomtroll/32/12184_2.png) [@RandomTroll](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RandomTroll)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/16 "2019-03-04T20:43:47Z")

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You can get rear doors that don’t open from the inside. Cops use them, but they’re an option for everybody. I rode around in Plymouth wagons in the '50s.

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-car-is-this-50s-something-or-other-station-wagon/135732/17 "2019-03-04T21:08:30Z")

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Evidently I rode around in Plymouth wagons from the 50’s also. It looks like a 2 door wagon, I suppose it worked out fine as I don’t think child car seats were ever used by our family at the time. I think it might have been a 64 mercury station wagon was the first car we owned with seat belts!
