Ours had a broken “prundle” light

I was thinking about our old car, the first one I drove when I got my license. They don't make cars that big anymore. It could fit flat goods (4' by 8' sheets of plywood) inside with the doors closed. Most of today's pickup trucks and SUVs can't do that. With the tailgate down, we'd slide in our 17-foot canoe. I remember partying on the roof while waiting in line to buy gas. The giant V8 engine provided lots of fun power, blowing away my friend's Triumph Spitfire.

Alas, there aren't a lot of pictures of this old monster on the 'net, but I did manage to find someone who was selling their 1970 Chevrolet Townsman station wagon. Ours, though, was brown. It was named "Bessie." The gearshift indicator light (behind the "PRNDL" display) burnt out and was too expensive to replace, so it was hard to see what gear you were in at night. And by the time I took her to college, she leaked around the windshield and wouldn't even start in the rain. And she had a lifesize photo of Bogart in the rear passenger window with a spring-loaded arm that waved when the car moved.

The seller claims it could seat 8, but that's a bit conservative. Pile a bunch of kids in the back (we always did), and you could easily fit 10 or 12 people in there. More, if you squished. Seatbelts, shmeetbelts.