There will never be another dare-to-be-different automotive era like the late 1950s and early 60s.
You can list many reasons why—since then things like heavy safety and fuel laws and public acceptance of space age styling have changed the game.
This was a time when anything that hit a design paper was on the assembly line the next year, so here are five station wagons that went into orbit 60+ years ago.
Jim Sutherland
Edsel was in the sunset of its existence in 1960, but it exited with one of the coolest wagons ever built—the 1960 Edsel Villager.
The back end of these cars was a study in how far chrome and angles can go. George Barris couldn’t improve on the sheer nerve behind this design because a 1960 Edsel Villager looks more like a locked-and-loaded Star Trek battle cruiser than a family hauler.
The next car was also on life support—it was the 1958 Packard Clipper wagon.
This was Packard’s last year, and the Clipper wagon was basically a Studebaker with some add-ons. Packard merged with Studebaker out of necessity and the name died in 1958—but not after leaving a very cool car behind.
The ’58 Clipper is another wild-looking wagon from front to back and it’s controversial with hardcore Packard fans–but if you’re going up in flames, make it a supernova explosion.
Studebaker had their own wild-looking wagon in 1957.
The ’57 Studebaker President Broadmoor was their answer to increased demand for more kiddie room because this was peak Baby Boom. The Broadmoor was the high-end model, so it was loaded—by Studebaker standards. You didn’t see many of them back in 1957 and the odds are good you’ll never see one in 2024—that’s your loss.
Chrysler put their stamp on the late 50s with their Forward Look fin cars.
If any line of cars spoke to the Space Age, it was Chrysler, but the 1958 DeSoto Fireflite Explorer took the Forward Look to Level Two.
DeSoto didn’t have many ticks left on the clock in ’58, but the Fireflite wagon was a great way to exit. This too, is a car you’ll likely never see in ’24 but if you do–you just saw a unicorn.
The last classic late 50s/early 60s station wagon is the 1960 Mercury Colony Park.
Mercury still had a few decades of life left in 1960, so the ’60 Colony Park wagon wasn’t a swan song for the name. In fact, this car pointed the way for the new decade.
These were bold statement cars, and they carried most of the late 50s space era stuff, but the Colony Park wagons had a front end that said a new decade was here. If you see one in today’s world buy a lottery ticket–because the odds of seeing one would bankrupt Las Vegas.
What do these cars really tell us about this point in time?
They tell us the world was more interesting, bolder and a million times cooler.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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