What happened to the traditional family car?

This post has nothing

to do with politics.

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It's a commentary

on cars.

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Yes - automobiles.

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The picture on this

post is of my first car.

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Not THE car, but exactly

the same car - a 1965 Ford

Galaxie 500.

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This is a perfect example of what cars used to be.

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They were full-sized, which meant you could put 3 adults in the front, and three in the back with elbow room.

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If you were stuffing kids in the car I believe you could get a total of 10 or 11 in and close the doors if you had to.

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These cars came in 2 door, 4 door, and station wagons.

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They were all rear-wheel drive.

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With a Ford you could get a variety of engines, from a 240 inch straight 6, to a 289 V8, a 352 V8, or a 428 'Police Engine'. For a Dodge, it went from a 225 slanted 6 cyl up to a 440 Magnum.

All the manufacturers had the same options.

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Every year, Dad would get out the snow tires and put them on, and he also had a set of chains for deep snow.

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There were no front wheel drive cars. There were no hybrids. There were no crossovers.

Power windows were not always an option. If you wanted something high-tech, like an 8-Track player you put it in yourself.

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The reason I started thinking about this post is because the 'old' family car, a 1996 Ford Windstar needs to be replaced. It has about 158,000 trouble-free miles on it, but I don't want to trust it for trips across the plains in winter anymore.

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So I'm going to junk the 1987 Blazer, buy the wife a newer family car, and I'll drive the van myself until it dies - I want to run it to 200,000 miles first.

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Usually it's just she and a bag of groceries, so she's not getting another van.

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She's not getting a gas guzzler like a SUV either, not with nearly $3.00 gas.

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I'm on a limited budget too.

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So I'm on a quest for a traditional family car.

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I've told the kids more than once, that it might be 2010 now, but at this house it's still 1955. There's nothing wrong with being a traditionalist sometimes.

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The car I get will reflect that.

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Full-sized, big trunk, V8 engine, rear wheel drive.

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Must have reletively low miles, 30k-40k tops. With modern vehicles, that'll get me 10 years of use.

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No Government Motors (GM) cars, because if I buy one it'd be like saying the government takeover was OK by me, and that I don't mind what GM did to Stillwater Mine. (Hello politics)

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No Chrysler products either, also a Government Motor company.

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So my choices are going to be quite narrow.

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I might not be able to find something.

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I'll keep you posted.