![]() ![]() He had taken out the carpets and the headliner to paint the floors with a rust preventative. Tom explains, “He found it online, so he flew out there and drove it back to Pennsylvania.” Years later, his decision to sell it came down to a lack of space and time to work on it.” He further explains, “The overall condition of the Vista was pretty good. Originally sold new in Washington, at some point it migrated to Oregon, which is where the previous owner purchased it from back in 2009. Read More: The Studillac a Studebaker Commander with Supercharged Cadillac Power “He said it was cool and I should go and look at it and buy it because it was cheap.” It turned out that it was a local listing and it didn’t take him long to cut a deal on it-as a bonus many spare parts and a well-worn 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Holiday Coupe were included. “My brother Anthony found the wagon on Craigslist,” he explains. Tom managed to get as far as completing one side of the conversion when the 1972 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser Wagon popped up on his horizon in 2014. ![]() ![]() Part of that build relied heavily on a wrecked 1998 Camaro for its drivetrain and braking. After high school he embarked on his first station wagon project, a 1966 four-door Chevelle wagon that he started to convert into a two-door hardtop. Tom’s teenage dive into the convertible helped him develop his bodywork skills at that early age, along with the help of his father, Harold, while welding skills were honed because of shop class. As a fan of GM’s A-body offerings, that specific interest initially blossomed with a 1966 Chevelle convertible that he built during his high school years. If you’re into muscle cars and have a soft spot for station wagons then you’re in the same ballpark as Pennsylvanian Tom Thomas. By virtue of their passenger car underpinnings, by the mid ’60s many of these wagons shared the front clips with the muscle car offerings of that era. That refinement continued after World War II as wooden bodies gave way to steel panels and a foundation based on passenger car chassis. Originally conceived as a doorless people and cargo mover on a truck platform in the early 1900s, by the middle of the 1920s Ford had added some civility to it with the introduction of the Woodie. One can arguably state that when it comes to the station wagon America has done it bigger and better than anyone else. How Tom Thomas Built This Daily Driven Vista Cruiser Wagon One Step At A Timeīy John Machaqueiro – Photographer By the Authorīefore the SUV and the minivan there was the station wagon. ![]()
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