Jalopnik: vista cruiser

Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser Gets Last View Of California Sky Through Roof Windows

Murilee Martin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:30:00 EDT

I can't recall the last time I saw a GM Skywagon in the junkyard; these things have been getting lovingly restored for decades. This Vista Cruiser, however, didn't get that memo… and here it sits.

It's pretty rough, and plenty of parts have been picked from it by now, but the all-important roof glass remains. There's an example of today's Engine Of The Day honoree under the hood, too- looks like a 2-barrel 350. Nice Bondo-y patina on the tailgate!

1967 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser

Murilee Martin — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EDT

I've been scouring the island for a Skyroof-equipped Olds Vista Cruiser (or its Buick Sportwagon sibling) for many months now. I saw a very nice blue '67 at the Park Street Car Show last year, but I couldn't find the owner to ask about the car... and there's no way such an original '67 could possibly live on the street, right? Wrong! Alameda is laid out with a tight Victorian maze of tiny side streets and a car on such a street can hide right under my nose, as was the case with this wagon. For years, this car has parked less than two blocks from my house, just around the corner from the '68 Volvo P1800.

When I started shooting photos, the owner came out to see what manner of weirdness was being inflicted on his wagon. As is almost always the case, once I explained the DOTS thing to him he was quite enthusiastic about showing off his car to the world, even opening doors and hood so I could get better photos.

The interior has been semi-restored, but most of what you're seeing is original stuff. The 330 Olds engine is the original powerplant, of course.

You could get a new '67 Vista Cruiser for $3,339, a few hundred bucks more than an Impala wagon and about the same as a Ford Country Squire.

DOTS 1-200 • DOTS 201-250

1977 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Station Wagon

Murilee Martin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:15:00 EDT

We haven't seen many Oldsmobiles in this series, and it's been almost two months since the most recent station wagon, so this Custom Cruiser seems like the right car for today. This is actually our second '77 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon, the other one having been shot just a few blocks from today's car (which also lives just around the corner from the '71 Blazer we saw on Monday.

A few decades before getting the axe from The General, Oldsmobile was moving quite a bit of iron off the showroom floors, mostly Cutlasses but also plenty of wholesome American station wagons like this one.

Sometimes the owner of a DOTS car comes out to see what's going on while I'm shooting the car, and that's what happened with this one. This guy was pleased that his pride and joy was getting such attention, and was even willing to pop the hood and let me get shots of that 185-horse 403 (also known as the "6.6 Liter" under the hood of many a Malaise Trans Am). With 320 ft-lbs on tap, the 403 worked pretty well as a station wagon powerplant.

This is a lifelong Alameda car, having been purchased from the original owner not long ago. It parks on one of the busiest north-south arteries in town, showing all those SUV drivers what a real family hauler looks like.

First 200 DOTS

You Will Never Catch An Olds Vista Cruiser

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST

If you were pursuing someone you'd probably want something sportier than an AMC Matador, unless the car you're chasing is actually an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser that's towing a boat. And thanks to the great handling and power of the Vista Cruiser, the Matador was evaded with explosive results. We're fairly sure that this is a clip from the show The Fall Guy, because other than that we're not having luck finding a TV show called Soldiers of Misfortune. Just watch out for that outhouse! [YouTube]

Why Get The New Challenger When You Could Have This?

Murilee Martin — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:30:00 EST

It tells you something about the wrath of numbers-matching/date-coded Mopar fanatics that the seller of this '71 Challenger station wagon feels compelled to start off his description with the statement: "Not orig anymore and has not been since 1973 so # guys get over it. So no emailing me telling me its not correct and I should put it back orig to me its worthless that way as it would look like any other challenger out there." This thing would be cool enough simply as an E-body wagon, but it has an Olds Vista Cruiser roof! Potrzebie! Imagine having this thing in your garage... right next to your Demonpage and Valiantpage, of course. Thanks to Yuri for the tip! [eBay Motors]

Vista Cruisers And Sport Wagons, Ahoy!

Murilee Martin — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:56:00 EDT

All right, we have so many station wagons on our wish list that we may well have to institute a Jalopnik Fantasy Wagon Garage. And, by gum, the first two wagons to rumble into the JFWG would have to be a mid-60s Buick Sport Wagon and a mid-60s Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. Both would be equipped with 455s and 4-speeds, of course (but you knew that). Click the link to visit the GM Skywagons Club's site-o-wagonly-goodness. – Murilee Martin

GM Skywagons [vistacruiser.com]

Related:
The Mightiest Buick Sport Wagon of All Time [internal]