The odd life of 2 door wagons

commando1

Old Man with a Hat
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Great reading. I loved it.

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/auto...t-and-odd-life-of-the-two-door-station-wagon/

Plymout-1960-2-door-wagon.jpg
 
I didn't read the entire article, but found myself disagreeing with the overall conclusion that there was no real logic for the creation of 2 door wagons.
First, they mention the Jeep wagon as the first 2 door wagon. Personally, as today, I would class the Jeep wagon as more of a truck than a car. The Chevy Suburban would be in the same class, and the Suburban was around in the 30's and was also a 2 door model.
For me the first real 2 door wagons were the 1949 Plymouth Suburban all steel 2 door wagon and the 49 Ford and Mercury 2 door woody wagons.
Actually 2 door wagons were quite popular in the 50's. Remember that cars didn't have seat belts, there were no real child safety seats and no child proof door locks in those days. On any 4 door wagon or any 4 door sedan back in those days, there was nothing to prevent a 2 year old in the back seat from opening the door at 60 miles an hour. As wagons became a popular choice for families, 2 door wagons were the wagon of choice for safety minded families with small children. Remember that prior to 49, most Chrysler product 4 door sedans still had the back doors hinged at the rear "suicide doors". Moving the rear door hinges to the front was a big move towards safety simply because it would be aerodynamically more difficult to open the rear doors at speed with the hinge at the front. The mindset of the car buying public was that two doors were alot safer then four doors if you had small kids who were likely to mess with door handles while riding in the back.
By the mid 60's there were childproof locks and seat belts in the back, which made the 2 door wagons obsolete, until the "subcompact" Vega and Pinto wagons came along.
 
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