To many people, the words “station wagon” bring to mind a frumpy, boring family-hauler. But those who are more into cars know that not all station wagons are bland vessels for large cargo. About 15 years ago, GM dropped a 556-horsepower LSA 6.2-liter supercharged V8 into the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon. In the 1990s, GM put a (detuned) version of the C4 Corvette’s LT1 into the Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. As the 1954 Dodge Coronet Suburban Two-door Station Wagon in a recent “Jay Leno’s Garage” video shows, Dodge had its own dragon wagon decades earlier.
In 1954, Dodge offered six station wagon configurations. You could get the Coronet Sierra Four-door with seating for six or eight passengers, powered by a 230ci “Get-Away Six” or 241ci “Red Ram” OHV V8 with hemispherical heads and 7.5:1 compression that helped it generate 150 horsepower and 222 lb-ft of torque. The six-passenger Coronet Suburban Two-door was available with the same engine options. Surprise, surprise—Leno’s Coronet has the Hemi.
There’s more to the Coronet Suburban than just power, though. Leno also loves it for its bright and fun turquoise and white two-tone paint and old-school wire wheels and whitewalls. The JC Whitney radio signal booster may be more form than function, but it adds to the longroof’s charm.
That explains why Leno largely left the car alone. Although he had the generator converted into an alternator for more power and consistency, the car still runs on a six-volt electrical system and doesn’t have power steering.
Clearly, as you’ll see in the video below, neither of those retained features diminish the driving experience or Leno’s enjoyment of it.