We can debate until we’re blue in the face about whether the American wagon is dead, and if it should be. But there’s something about this particular family hauler that makes us want to pack our stuff in the back and hit the road for the Grand Canyon (or Palm Springs) and never look back.

It’s a 1965 Ford Falcon Squire Wagon, and it’s coming up for auction this weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It doesn’t have a V8 or a manual transmission – just a straight six and a column-shifted slushbox.

It probably leans on its outside wheels around a corner like a sailboat tacking in the wind. And we’d be damn surprised if it didn’t creek to a halt on its (presumable) drum brakes. And yet….

Just look at that Mid-Century Modern styling, the angled wheel arches, the whitewall tires, the wood siding, and the two-tone blue interior to match the bodywork. It has bench seating, for crying out loud – even in the front. All the better, we say, for stretching out on the Great American Road.

Will it hold its own around the Nürburgring, or embarrass expensive sports cars pulling away from a red light? Heck no. But there’s part of us that wants to pay the $15-20k that Auctions America estimates it will sell for and tour America’s national parks or something.

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