The original ‘The Getaway’ motion picture is a movie I’ve seen many times over the past 54 years.
The movie starred Steve McQueen and was directed by Sam Peckinpah, so one can assume movie-goers did not fall asleep in the theater.
Jim Sutherland
‘The Getaway’ followed an early 1970s trend in which an antihero was the star in the flick, despite his tendency to commit major crimes, a vocation often frowned upon in polite circles. Steve McQueen’s character was indeed a bank robber who had to outrun the law (along with other criminals) after a botched bank heist.
Throw in director Sam Peckinpah and you have the makings of an all-out gun brawl with plenty of gore along the way. Mission accomplished in ‘The Getaway’ but, for me, one of the stars was a 1968 Ford Country Squire station wagon because it had hideaway headlights that showcased the car’s very cool front end.
The Ford models had undergone a major style change from 1967 to 1968, including horizontal headlights instead of vertical headlights. The change allowed Ford models to offer hidden headlights, a feature found on other Blue Oval family models like Thunderbird and Cougar in 1967.
The hidden headlights on the ’68 Ford Country Squire transformed a garden variety family hauler into a stylish set of wheels in my humble opinion. The net result was McQueen’s movie wagon was a scene stealer for this car guy.
The same cool ride vibe could be attached to another Ford wagon, namely the 1970 Ford Torino Squire, a car equipped with an even cooler front grille because of its hidden headlights integrated into an angular front end.
These two Ford station wagons equipped with hideaway headlights stole the show in a sea of regular long roofs.
Chevy was already well into the hidden headlight scene with its Corvette and Camaro models, but neither was sold as a station wagon. That honor went to the 1969 Chevy Caprice Kingswood Estate long roof equipped with the hideaway headlight option.
The big Bowtie wagon was a true land yacht with enough room for the Waltons, but the hidden headlight option made the ’69 Chevy Caprice Kingswood one of the coolest family chariots on the planet that year.
Mother Mopar was also heavily into the hidden headlight scene with its first- and second-generation Dodge Chargers, but Chargers also did not come in station wagon form. Instead, that honor went to the 1970 Plymouth Fury Sport Suburban model because of its hideaway headlight option.
The net result was a large car with an intimidating (but very cool) front end that added serious style to the ‘70 Plymouth Fury wagon.
Mopar’s Dodge division jumped into the station wagon hidden headlight game in 1972 with its full-sized Monaco model. The beefy front grille looked menacing when the ‘72 Monaco’s headlights were concealed by a generous expanse of metal.
The net result was a station wagon that would have fit right in with the Mad Max crowd and been the coolest ride in the post-apocalyptic world even if its owner didn’t mount a rocker launcher on it.
Yup, hidden headlight station wagons were a cool part of the automotive world all those years ago. Even the ones not driven by Steve McQueen.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
- CLICK HERE to Sign Up for the Newsletter
- CLICK HERE to Like us on Facebook
- CLICK HERE to Follow us on Twitter
- CLICK HERE to Follow us on Pinterest
