Studebaker Wagonaire

Studebaker had a great idea -- a station wagon with a sliding roof panel. This made the vehicle a semi-pick up truck or closed wagon. A versatile feature that never caught on but this promo shows that it could be useful for carting a giraffe or a gaggle of Girl Scouts. Of course, if you did that today, the police would haul you off for public endangerment. What were we thinking?

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• auto
• studebaker wagonaire
• Girl Scouts

[mrpitv]

It is surprising to see how many innovations Studebaker had. I'm a big fan of the Wagonaire and station wagons in general, but the sliding roof --- priceless.

[robert3302]

@onehundreddollars The Envoy even copied the Studebaker grill shape. That made me laugh too.

[DamnStraightM35A2]

Back in the good old days American companies innovated, the government wasn't regulating everything, and your kids could stand up in the back of the Wagonaire if they wanted too.

[TighelanderII]

The only time I saw one of these was in a junk yard in the late Eighties.

[darkwhitedirewolf]

I wonder what a cared for one of these goes for now.

[Lamnont]

It's a good commercial, but it needs to be cool.

[Aardvarkrdjlbj]

It seems that there is nothing new unless it was COPIED from Studebaker.

Sliding roof wagonaire, first American with Disc Brakes, Hill Holder, Avanti with built-in roll bar, twin traction rear end, you name it, Studebaker did it...

[Aardvarkrdjlbj]

No it's not customized, it's STOCK and made only by Studebaker...

[onehundreddollars]

and half a century later GMC would implement the same feature on the Envoy XUV and tout it as something never done before.