re: Best memories from station wagons and conversion vans?

My grandparents had a conversion van. Could always count on Ms. Doubtfire on the TV and my grandpa playing his Meatloaf cassette tapes while driving with one foot on the gas and one on the brake, drinking out of his Casey's 64 oz. travel mug.

Neither of those, but my mom did have a Caprice Classic and then later an Astro minivan (1st of its kind). The back seats in the Caprice was wrapped in a plastic bubble wrap looking covering to protect the seats from any spills us as kids would get on them. The minivan, we used to ride all the way in the back where the luggage was supposed to go. No seatbelts while mom smoked and used the ashtray inside the van... Ah, the good ole days.

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The one that sticks out to me was a buddy of mine growing up in Mississippi, his dad had a conversion van. We'd ride around in the back of that thing, it had no seats, just an old mattress. There were some seat belts along the side wall, so we were buckled in, but sitting on a mattress. Looking back now, I'm guessing the old man had a side piece and it was his shaggin wagon.

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Think of all of the kids who grew up in the 70s, 80, and (early 90's) who rode around in these vans thinking they were awesome (and they were!) without realizing many were just mobile "bedrooms" for sex

That said, the allure of the van still appears to be strong. A friend of mine owns a MB Sprinter Van with a luxury interior (quilted leather, sound system, TV, bathroom/kitchenette etc). A few years ago, he invited me to meet him and some friends at the beach. He and his buddies traveled in the van. That night at the bar we made friends with a bachelorette party (ages 22-50). At the end of the night we offered a ride home to the handful that stuck around when others left earlier. When we told them we hand room in the van they were a little leery of the fact we were in a van and not exactly eager to jump in. However, one guy then says "We have candy" to which the women responded by happily saying "Oh, ok" then getting in.

At that moment I thought "Holy shite!" My entire childhood it was drilled into me to NEVER get into a van with a stranger offering candy. Yet, 40 years later strangers in van offer candy to a group of 30-40 year old women and they jump right in. Maybe they thought "candy" meant something else. But it was, in fact, just candy. Starburst, the small Snickers, and jelly beans. Regardless, the bait worked

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we had a series of pinto wagons growing up, always lime green . Talk about pieces of shite, I have a vivid memory of all the interior door grab handles being broken off

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man my dad had one of those. thing got egg'd a few times, actually made it look better! he told me to wash it one day. I asked why? he just looked at me.

My dad would put me in a blender in the back by swerving all over the place

Bag then we called them “shaggin wagons”

Riding in the back seat facing the back of wagon - window down
Smelling gas fumes - oh the memories

At different times, we had both a station wagon and one of the "Mr. T Mobiles" as we called them.

Had a rear tire tread blow out on the wagon on the tire right below me (the rear wheel well was damn near under the back seat). I was looking out the window at an 18-wheeler when it happened. The spare tire cage was empty on the truck and swinging and I thought it had hit the car.

The sound of the tread banging in the wheel well scared the crap out of all of us, but mostly me. Thought I was a goner.

My dad kept yelling at me to be quiet as he tried to pull off to the shoulder.