Dundas man’s ‘woody’ wagon sparks memories of a Griswold family Christmas
He knew it was iconic.
He just didn't realize how much so until he drove down the street and started to be greeted with cries of, Hey Clark! Is the sh----- full?" - a nod to the famous scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" in which Cousin Eddie empties the waste tank of his trailer into the sewer in front of Clark Griswold's home.
Sean Kiely got the station wagon four years ago. It had belonged to a retired McMaster University professor he did odd jobs for. And he had always admired it. After the professor died, his family knew Sean should have it.
By modern standards it's a boat, and a big one at that.
The vehicle is a 1978 Dodge Monaco Crestwood woody" Wagon, and the sides of the green beast are adorned with fake wood grain. It's powered by an eight-cyclinder engine and seats eight, including two in backward-facing seats in the rear. That's where his grandsons sit and wave at trailing vehicles.
The odometer reads over 160,000 kilometres. And it's towed a trailer to Alaska twice with its former owners.
It wasn't until three years ago, when Kiely took the station wagon to get his Christmas tree, that he realized just how big a deal it was. People at the lot wanted to pose next to it - in large part because it looks just like the one Chevy Chase drove as Griswold in the 1989 film.
That first year, he drove around for several days with his Christmas tree tied to the top. Then last year, he bought a tree specifically for the car - tall and spindly, just like the movie." He told the tree lot owner he didn't need boughs on one side, and she gave him a deal.
I didn't want to spend $100 on it," Kiely said. Not a tree I am going to use. I'm just bringing cheer to people."
This year, the tree is back and decorated with LED lights plugged into the cigarette lighter. And there's a wreath on the front grille.
When Kiely starts it up, it sounds like it has come straight from the movie's prop lot with its deep and throaty growl.
Recently, someone followed Kiely into University Plaza on Osler Drive to ask for a picture. The vehicle has made appearances on social media platforms, including some the retired math and geography teacher has never heard of.
In addition to the vehicle in Kiely's driveway, there is a small shrine to the station wagon inside his Dundas home. Ornaments of woody wagons carrying Christmas trees sit on a shelf below a crayon drawing by a grandson, a birthday card with an image of the car full of smoke, and a needle-pointed pillow.
On a recent weekend, Kiely's grandson Jack, 6, was visiting and Kiely and wife Karen borrowed the movie from the library to play for him.
Who knows, there might even be a little something in his stocking this year too," she hints.
John Rennison is a Hamilton-based photojournalist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jrennison@thespec.com