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Nostalgic Owners Show Off Their Station Wagons

DEARBORN (WWJ) - More than 40 "classic" cars will be on display in Dearborn beginning tonight, but it's not your average car.

The American Station Wagon Owners Association is holding a rally Friday evening and Saturday to show off the vehicles, which have become popular among collectors. Tom Cleary is President of the Association.

"There's just a nostalgia factor. So many baby boomers grew up with them," Cleary said.

"They were discontinued when the hideous mini-van came out and the ungainly SUV, and so there's a nostalgia for the car that they can't buy anymore and they don't see anymore. And that's where a lot of them spent a lot of their childhood."

Although Cleary said the cars were unappreciated at the time, right now they are making a comeback.

"Since we started the club in '96, we were the lepers of the party with the car clubs. Now, we are featured on Hemmings Magazine for the last 12 issues as America's most collected vehicle."

Cleary said the cars are a big hit in Europe because they love full-sized American cars with big V8 engines.

So what's his favorite station wagon memory?

"My mom took 11 of us boys out in the station wagon without seatbelts to Hines Park when we were growing up. I mean, it was just a go-to vehicle for having a good time with a lot of your friends, throwing stuff out the back window, you know, just hanging out with your siblings or your friends," Cleary said.

More than 40 wagons will be on display Friday evening at the Red Roof Inn on Michigan Avenue and 9 am to 3 pm Saturday at Oxford Lanes on Telegraph.

Do you have a favorite station wagon memory? Leave us your thoughts below.

 

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