The Country Squire wagon concept packaged the car-camping essentials, including the boat and kitchen sink
Ford Motor cast a line for 1959 to test the waters of consumer interest for a car-camping concept based on a 1959 Ford Country Squire. The rig would provide push-button station wagon living with all the gear, including the kitchen sink.
According to Wikipedia, the U.S. and the world were emerging from the “Recession of 1958.” And Ford marketers might have felt that consumers were ready to get out and enjoy the freedom of car camping.
That might have been so, but not so much for this outrageously sophisticated concept. I came across these two photos at the Ford media site, but there were no other details.
In this era before the modern SUV, the big Ford Squire wagon was a good starting place. Built on a bigger platform for 1959, the Country Squire body was 5 inches longer and the new 118-inch wheelbase was 2 inches longer than the 1958 model. In addition, the second and third rows were re-engineered to fold flat.
Country Squire Concept
An online search for information on this concept car brought up Shorpy.com, an American historical photo archive.
Shorpy has a news item from the Washington Post of July 3, 1958, highlighting the details.
“Travelers and sportsmen who would like to park their cars after a day’s drive and set up camp by pushing a few magic buttons may be able one day to do just that.
“With the ‘pushbutton camper,’ a specially equipped experimental Ford station wagon, a traveling couple could pull into a parking area, lower a boat from the roof top, pitch their tent and set up a kitchen unit protected by an overhead awning — almost without getting out of the car.
“One push button lifts the boat and swings it over the side so it can be easily removed for launching. A car-top tent, containing a full-sized double bed, already made up and equipped with a reading lamp, is erected by another button.
“After the tailgate is opened, a third button slides out the compact kitchen unit complete with an electric refrigerator and two-burner stove, a work table and meat cutting block, and a sink with hot and cold running water.
“The roof compartment also houses a shower head, complete with curtain. Ford has no definite plans for mass producing such a vehicle.
“If consumer demand warranted it, a company official said, the automatic equipment could be produced by independent suppliers and installed by a Ford dealer.”
‘Louie Mattar’s Fabulous Car’
The Country Squire wagon concept was a feat of engineering finesse, but it was not the first such example.
I give that credit to Louie Mattar who upfitted a 1947 Cadillac with all the comforts of home. Then, in 1952, he and two other men established a cross-country endurance record. They drove the Cadillac from San Diego to New York and back without stopping. Their trip totaled 6,320 miles and required refueling from a moving gas truck three times.
“Louie Mattar’s Fabulous Car” is on view at the San Diego Automotive Museum.