The 1983 movie ‘Vacation’ was released in 1983—just when minivans started to blow up the station wagon market.
Chevy Chase’s character Clark Griswold carved out a legendary role in ‘Vacation’ behind the wheel of the Family Truckster—an incredibly distorted version of an early 80s station wagon.
This 1978 Chevy Caprice Classic wagon is a real-world example of what Clark was driving in the movie—even though the movie car was a Ford. Collin Pachulek is the proud second owner of this late-70s long roof.
Jerry Sutherland
Collin has owned it for eight years and he admits “it fell into” his hands. He wasn’t specifically looking for a ’78 Chevy wagon when he found this car in an ad.
This was a one-owner car from Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada and it was sold at Beny Chevrolet-Olds to a guy who wanted a wagon for road trips and vacations. Collin has a ton of original paperwork for the car. He knew it was a low-mileage car when he bought it, but it had also hauled three different trailers on summer road trips because that’s what you did in the late 70s.
The previous owner had looked after the car mechanically, but the Caprice wagon shows wear from exposure to real world weather. The paint is faded, and the woodgrain isn’t factory new on the sides of the wagon, but the interior is mint. The only two exceptions are the dash and the headliner. The dash shows exposure to the sun, and the headliner was collapsing into dust, so Collin replaced it.
The body is solid because it spent its life in the semi-desert region of Alberta. Collin is certain the dry climate saved this rare station wagon because he sees no rust under its weathered exterior.
Collin said this was a heavily-optioned car, so it has power seats, power brakes, power steering, power windows and air conditioning. You couldn’t tick off any more options back in ’78.
Collin estimates he’s added 4000 miles to the Caprice wagon over the last eight years. That’s enough to keep the wagon exercised but not enough to run up the tab on the odometer. Collin likes to run with vintage luggage up top on the roof rack– Clark Griswold style.
He said the big wagon is incredibly smooth and quiet on the road because that’s why they built cars like this—to give a solid feel with no drama over a long haul. The 350 Ramjet small block is rock solid, and the three-speed 350 turbo automatic transmission is still transmitting.
Collin is totally invested in the 70s wagon world. He’s amazed at the engineering behind the third seat, the back door and the incredible storage capacity. There’s a massive storage area on the driver’s side and the whole rear area can be converted into a mega-hauler.
There’s a happy ending to this story. The previous owner’s daughter owned it for awhile, then lost track of her dad’s old wagon. She thought it might have been crushed, so when Collin told her how it became his car, she was thrilled to hear it had a happy home.
Collin has a basic game plan for the Caprice—keep it original. He stores it in the winter and he’s okay with its original paint because at this point there’s no rust on the car. If the Caprice does need work, Collin is prepared to fix it.
That’s how you treat a real-life Clark Griswold Family Truckster.
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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