Most Beloved Family Vehicle Of Your Childhood?

Car geeks of a certain age- say, old enough to have had a childhood free of child seats and three-point harnesses on family road trips- often reminisce fondly of sibling wrestling matches in the cargo areas of lead-spewing station wagons hauling ass to some sweaty bug-ridden vacation destination, the tantalizing danger of power windows that would cut your snitching little brother's head clean off if you but touched the "UP" button, and so on. Then, of course, the talk turns to the cars themselves. Naturally, you win coolness points if your parents had the wisdom to buy, say, a Country Squire with 428 and Toploader (hell, if your parents did that you should call them up right now and tell them you are not worthy of being their child), but everyone's got a childhood car they remember fondly. In my case, it was my mom's green '49 Cadillac, named "Dillinger" because it seemed so bank-robber-esque. Dillinger was a beautiful but aging and unreliable car by the time it rumbled into my family's life in the late 60s (among other idiosyncrasies, it had a bizarre 6V/12V electrical system that featured a tap into the middle battery cell of a 12 volt battery, so as to produce 6 volts for the accessories and 12 volts for the later-model engine), and let's just say a '49 Cadillac was a sub-optimal vehicle choice for Minneapolis in the wintertime and leave it at that (RRRR... RRrrrr... rrrr... rr.. click-click-click). But still, I loved that car, with its vast kid-friendly back seat and bad-guy looks, and was heartbroken when my mom traded it for (brace yourself) an Opel Kadett. So what's your favorite childhood family vehicle? It's Friday, so feel free to neglect your job while you write a lengthy essay for our enjoyment!

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