With Holden ending local production of the Commodore wagon in late 2017, it’s worth taking a look back at half a century of family motoring - Australian style. Hard to believe than only ten short years earlier, the Commodore was king - sold in the hundreds of thousands and loved by millions of Aussie drivers. In a few short years the SUV took the mantle of family car king away from locally made sedans and wagons. In so doing - the rise of the (mostly imported) SUV ended the long reign of the locally built family car.

Like the HR Holden of 1967 - the last local Holden wagon was a big, tough, rear drive four door six cylinder. Other than those basics, almost everything else about the Aussie family car has changed since the best selling HR of fifty years ago.

Back then, Mum or Dad drove a Holden/Falcon/Valiant with ‘three on the tree’ column change manual, a lazy six under the bonnet, and bench seats front and rear. True six seater cars, but you had to order seat belts at extra cost. In 1967 Victoria was the first state in Australia - the first in the world - to make the wearing of seat belts mandatory.

In this age of the SUV it’s worth remembering the Aussie family car of fifty years ago was about the toughest going around. They had to be - to cope with some of the worst roads in the world. It wasn’t uncommon for Mum & Dad to pack the family into the HR to drive thousands of miles on the family holiday, often on unpaved roads - puny cross ply tires and drum brakes all that separated them from disaster. The only thing that could kill the Aussie wagon was rust - the fact there are still so many survivors on local roads is testament to the bullet proof build quality of locally built and engineered cars.

By the late 1960s Aussie family cars began to get safer: dual circuit brakes (with discs up front), collapsible steering column, shatter proof glass, burst proof locks and recessed instruments. More and more new car buyers opted for front bucket seats - signalling a decrease in the size of the average family. Equally popular was the V8 engine option - for status, speed and towing - it couldn’t be beat.

By the early 1970s a much loved feature was phased out - front quarter vent windows that pivoted to allow fresh air in. It was also used to dispose of cigarette ash, butts and rubbish. Despite the fact the Aussie wagon was a family car - there was always an ash tray mounted on the rear of the front bench seat, which doubled as a receptacle for lolly wrappers.

Going one better than their Holden and Valiant rivals, in 1972 Falcon wagons offered the Detroit engineered two-way tailgate. This ingenious contraption allowed Dad to drop the tailgate to carry large loads, or open it sideways like a door to allow entry to the optional rear facing kiddie seats. And the 1970s Falcon wagon, built as it was on the long wheelbase LTD chassis - was cavernous inside. As a twelve year old I once rode in the back of one along with sixteen other boys, two full cricket kits, a set of coir mats, and the driver. Try doing that in your SUV.

Meanwhile at Chrysler, the big new Valiant wagon made for a comfortable family cruiser, going one better than Ford and Holden with a range of superior ‘Hemi’ six cylinder engines. But Ford and Holden had caught Chrysler napping in other areas - the Valiant didn’t have flow-thru ventilation when it’s local rivals offered this essential item at a time when air conditioning was too expensive for most family buyers.

It’s only been in the last 20 years that air conditioning has become a standard fitting on local cars. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, a/c was about the most expensive option and few people ordered it. At around $2k in the mid 1970s (roughly $8k today) - it was the ultimate luxury item.

Without a/c to cool the family wagon after being parked at the beach all day, vinyl seats and metal door frames could burn to the touch. The humble beach towel served a dual purpose as Mums and Dads spread them over back seats to stop the kids screaming in pain when bare skin touched roasting vinyl.

Through the late ‘70s and ‘80s the local family car moved away from American design influence and towards Euro chic - gone were column change gear selectors, chrome bumpers and fancy hub caps, replaced by aerodynamics, soft touch interiors, adjustable bucket seats, and centre consoles.

For the wagon - Euro influence meant the death of the drop-down tailgate. Replaced by an upwards opening door supported on gas struts - it meant the disappearance of another much loved feature of the Aussie wagon - the tailgate window that could be wound up or down as required. The best place for kids to be during a summer drive was the rear cargo area with the tailgate glass down - back where Mum or Dad couldn’t see the faces we pulled at following cars.

The onward march of progress made for safer, more comfortable, and better equipped cars. But it was a trade-off. Gone were the coke bottled hipped, orange/purple/green V8 dream machines that kids once ogled. A Holden/Ford/Valiant wagon seemed to symbolise freedom and the open road, being as they were the means by which a generation of kids went on holiday or a day trip to the surf. Those kids grew up, and today a large percentage of them...hell - us - still admire the stylish ‘60s and ‘70s family wagons we grew up with. And we’re willing to pay top dollar to get our hands on one to relive something in our collective youth - something that seems to have been lost. Vale the Aussie family wagon…

About the author

Raph Tripp is a passionate classic car enthusiast and writer, he is founder of TunnelRam.net. If you wish to publish this article in part or in whole, please credit Raph Tripp and tunnelram.net . This is an original Tunnel Ram production ©2019 Tunnel Ram. All images remain the property of the original copyright holders.