Dino's Sex Wagon (I Kid You Not)

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

As a kid, I instantly "got" James Bond: look cool, kill the bad guys and the girl's yours. I was a little vague about what you did with her afterwards, but the British secret agent still made perfect sense. Dean Martin's riff on 007, Matt Helm, was a different story. As far as my crew was concerned, the American booze hound super spy lech didn't even qualify as a junk Bond. In fact, I got the same feeling watching Matt Helm movies as I did I seeing local Catholic boys dress up like girls for their "father." And while Bond's Aston was the business, I didn't know until this morning which wheels Matt Helm graced with his cinematic presence. Well, here it is: a George Barris modified 1966 Mercury station wagon. Figures. A station wagon is about as cool as The Carpenters, maybe, no, definitely, less. My mom drove a station wagon. (There's that icky thing again.) Turns out the Volo museum snagged this formica and plexiglass shag palace for their collection. Lucky them. I rang up the museum and spoke to their Director about Dino's Sex Wagon and the museum's more, um, salubrious whips.

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Jazbo123 Jazbo123 on Jul 19, 2006

    I disagree. I think that Merc is way cool. I'd love one.

  • Terry Parkhurst Terry Parkhurst on Jul 19, 2006

    Hey "fr88" thanks much for the link to the Aurora concept station-wagon. That's interesting stuff; however, ultimately it's about exterior design - what used to be called simply "styling" in the days of the late Bill Mitchell - as much as interior design. As the saying goes, "You only have one chance to make a first impression." People remember the E-type Jaguar because the first glance at it was akin to seeing Ursula Andress in that bikini during "Dr. No." If the Mercury station wagon, looked as good as the Aurora, there'd be more of us willing to stop by the Volo Museum to see it. But as it is, the so-called "celebrity connection" is what it will make people want to stop by and see the Mercury, not any connection to the Aurora. The museum's big draw will likely continue to be the muscle car collection. That Shelby prototype convertible alone will likely continue to be the big draw.

  • Nels Nelson Nels Nelson on Jul 19, 2006

    FR88, I was going to post a comment on the 1964 Aurora concept, but you beat me to the punch. In addition to your information, Ford incorporated many of the Matt Helm ???65 Colony Park features in a subsequent concept based on a 1969/70 Country Squire and called it the Aurora II. I was 10 years old when I saw ???The Silencers??? and thought his car was cool. In my opinion, the Mike Myers??? Austin Powers movies missed a great opportunity in not picking up on it. What better car can you think of from the secret agent/spy movie genre to ???shag??? in? Yeah Baby!

  • Rudiger Rudiger on Jul 21, 2006

    Dino's '66 Merc from The Silencers seems kind of like an incognito limousine more than anything else. Actually, a mundane '66 Mercury station wagon is much closer to what a real-life spy would drive, since drawing attention to oneself is not exactly keeping with the whole idea of 'spying'. IOW, a spy in today's world would much more likely be driving a 3-year old Taurus instead of an Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. But what's really interesting about Matt Helm's car is the connection many of the car's features have with the '64 Aurora concept which, ironically, is described in the Motor Trend article as the first 'crossover' SUV.

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