Alternatives to Cars, Family Cars - Vehicles

1904 Packard Model L Touring Car

Automobile

James Ward Packard built his first car in Warren, Ohio, in 1899. By 1903 a group of Detroit investors had purchased the company and moved the operation to a new factory in Detroit. One of the first cars built there was the Model L touring car. It was the first four-cylinder Packard and the first with the tombstone-shaped radiator shell that became a Packard trademark.

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1918 Overland Model 90 B Touring Car

Automobile

Overland was one of the most successful early car companies. Founded in 1903, Overland had by 1912 become the second-bestselling American car behind Ford. This Model 90 Overland was more stylish, comfortable, and powerful than a Ford Model T, with a six-inch-longer wheelbase and 12 more horsepower. It also cost $345 more.

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1950 Plymouth Deluxe Suburban Station Wagon

Station wagon

The earliest station wagons appeared in the 1910s and actually were used to haul people and luggage between railroad stations and hotels. They featured special wooden bodies installed on standard car chassis. Wood continued to be used in station wagons bodies until after World War II. Plymouth's 1949 Suburban was the first station wagon with an all steel body. It transformed the wagon into a practical family vehicle.

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1984 Plymouth Voyager Minivan

Automobile

Plymouth Voyager advertising called this the "all-new space-age American family wagon," and it really was a new kind of vehicle. Shorter than typical sedans, station wagons, or large vans, the new "mini-vans" were easy to drive but could carry seven people, plus lots of luggage, camping gear, or sports equipment. They were instantly popular with buyers and were immediately copied by other manufacturers, foreign and domestic.

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1939 Dodge Airflow Tank Truck

Truck

This streamlined tank truck connected local Texaco service stations to a larger national distribution network. Each of America's competing oil companies had a branded fleet of trucks that took gasoline from refineries to its retail service stations. Even independently operated stations had to buy gasoline from a big oil company's refinery. This truck's capacity is 1175 gallons.

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