05/15/2026
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The $800 Station Wagon That Became a Movie Star
Bill Lenihan never expected his old station wagon to become a movie star.
Back in 2008, he bought the car, a faded 1967 Ford Country Squire, on eBay for just $800. Shipping it from Utah to New York cost another $800, which probably made the whole thing sound even less sensible to his family.
But Bill didn’t buy the wagon because it made financial sense.
He bought it because it reminded him of growing up.
Like many Americans of a certain generation, he learned to drive in one of these giant family wagons during the late 1960s. The fake wood paneling, the whitewall tires, the giant bench seats, it all felt deeply familiar. His wife and children tolerated the old Ford with mild amusement.
Bill, meanwhile, absolutely loved it.
Then something unexpected happened.
Later that same summer, Bill spotted a newspaper advertisement looking for period-correct cars for an upcoming Ang Lee film shooting in upstate New York. The movie was Taking Woodstock, set during the late 1960s.
On a whim, Bill submitted his station wagon.
The production team called almost immediately.
Soon, Bill found himself driving onto a movie set, becoming an unscripted extra while his old Ford appeared briefly on screen. The wagon was visible for only a few seconds in the finished film, but those few seconds changed everything.
Because the movie industry noticed the car.
Almost overnight, the Ford entered a quiet network of prop coordinators and vehicle scouts constantly searching for authentic vintage cars. And Bill’s Country Squire turned out to be perfect for recreating late-1960s and early-1970s America.
The old wagon suddenly had a career.
Over the following years, it appeared in films and television productions, including Men in Black 3, HBO’s Vinyl, fashion shoots, commercials, and magazine spreads. It was even offered a role in American Hustle, though Bill eventually had to decline. Between his full-time career and the growing demands of movie productions, managing the wagon’s acting schedule had started becoming a second job.
Still, he never lost his sense of humor about it.
At neighborhood parties, people no longer asked Bill what he was doing.
They asked what the car was doing.
What role was next?
What celebrity had sat inside it this time?
Somewhere along the way, the old Ford had become the real star of the family.
And honestly, it makes sense.
The wagon is practically a rolling time machine. Every detail evokes another era: stacked headlights, chrome hubcaps, push-button AM radio, ashtrays everywhere, and enough faux wood trim to instantly transport people back to suburban America circa 1970.
Cars like this used to be everywhere.
Now they’re almost gone.
That rarity gives the Country Squire something Hollywood desperately needs: authenticity.
Bill says the car has long since paid for itself. But the real reward has been stranger than money.
An old station wagon he bought for nostalgia somehow found a second life pretending to be the past for everyone else.
