LROM JAN 2016--- AzDon

Thanks Tom for inviting me to do this!   I'll do this in pieces since I already had typed a big presentation that was lost when I tried to preview it, asking me to log in (again) Apparently, I was timed out......

I spent many of the first years of my life riding in the third row of a 59 Kingswood wagon. While I identified myself as a "Van Guy" and later, a "Boat Guy"......I have owned a bunch of wagons over the years:
A 1956 Chevy Tradesman (2 door)
A 1958 Vauxhall
A Volvo 145
A 72 Chevelle
A 1980 Wagoneer
A 74 Suburban
A 68 Suburban
My 91 OCC
Other assorted 91 wagons (3 more of them)

When I got married, I drifted away from the "van club" lifestyle and started rebuilding neglected v-drive flatbottoms for a few years, eventually moving next to the west's premier "hot boat" lake. Also gave up being a pro mechanic to be a pro truck driver about 1978 so that I could actually enjoy being a mechanic again.....

Here is some pictures of my wagon, along with some others I've owned:





My "keeper" is this 91 OCC, which I swapped an entire blue cloth interior in to......It's also had a new transmission and some fuel system upgrades/repairs while I've owned it...







This OCC gave up it's blue cloth interior and will eventually give up it's drivetrain for my 69 Chevy van project....I sold it to my neighbor and then traded the RMW below to him for the blue car because the RMW is a better car with a straight body which he's committed to preserving....







My 68 Suburban!





with my son and our Harleys



My 1972 Lebel v-drive Daycruiser with 460 Ford power

I gotta move a lot more pictures to photobucket to effectively complete the story, so stay tuned!
As promised.... a few AzDon historical pics:

     

  63 Shortbed I built for my son before and after pics...

Couple of past boats I restored: 64    Gaylord Flat with 409 chevy and Sanger Hydro with Buick nailhead... Maybe I forgot to mention that I originated and maintain V-Driveboat.com, where we have been discussing fast boats since 1997....
.. my boat with my brother's boat...

a couple of REALLY old pics from my van days:  

Here is my next project waiting for it's makeover...

Nice write up,Don. Even nicer toys.

Thanks for being LROM. Nice write up and pics...Clearly you have an affinity for white vehicles

Send some warm weather and rust free B body cars up North please.

Nice toy collection, looks like a lot of fun. OCC Blue cloth interiors are great too, I may be biased.

Nice write up and some very nice cars.

Nice story and keepers Don.

Very nice! I'm looking forward to the rest of the illustrated story.

Is it true that any black car from Arizona comes with a layer of the owner's skin stuck to the seats?

dmg4 wrote:

Is it true that any black car from Arizona comes with a layer of the owner's skin stuck to the seats?

Not just black, but any leather or vinyl......The blue car, which gave up the cloth interior had dial HVAC controls, manual passenger seat and a mechanical "joystick" mirror on the driver side only. Was also missing keyless entry and cornering lights..... Kinda make me think that maybe all the "loaded" cars had leather while the lesser cars had cloth.......Most folks in AZ would actually pay MORE for a car with cloth......

My former 1996 white Roadmaster was purchased new in Phoenix with all the bells and whistles, and a blue cloth interior.  With the roof window and an acre of glass on the perimeter, these cars warm up like a greenhouse on sunny days.  Even in upstate NY, you'd want window tinting in the summer on a long drive.  I can't imagine trying to keep up with the solar gain in a dark wagon in the Arizona summer.

Perhaps scab some 2x6s into the cabin and put in pink fiberglass insulation?

Just a layer? I prefer cloth in the cold too, sitting on cold leather is not very comfortable!

Nice write up Don, we feel the same way about leather and white cars in South FL.
My Blue OCC (Brokecello's before me), originally was blue cloth and pretty loaded with power everything, but the other cloth OCC I had was manual AC, but had power seats and mirrors, so they came pretty much every which way I guess.

Love your 68 Suburban, had both a 69 and 70 K-5 myself....wish I still had the '70 (4 spd BEAST).

thanks for sharing!

Don, thanks for being the Wagon of the Month.

My folks also had a blue and white 59 Chevy Parkwood wagon. I don't remember a 3rd seat, but my younger brothers would have been relegated to that seat. I think there was the Kingswood, Parkwood and Brookwood. Not 100% sure on that though. It was a 6 cylinder, 3 on the column.

I guess white would be the color to have in AZ.

Nice story and thanks again!


Tom

What is kinda funny about the 59 wagon names is that I can't recall ever seeing a 59 wagon with any WOOD on it....