The Classic Pontiac Station Wagons John Wayne Loved To Drive

For generations of movie lovers, John Wayne was the epitome of cinematic machismo. That reputation was well earned by the big-screen legend who leveraged his tough-guy persona into a 50-year career that found him making 184 appearances in films and TV shows. Many of those were, of course, Westerns, since Wayne was one of Hollywood's best-known silver-screen cowboys. Though he was on horseback in many a movie, one of his non-Western roles is notable for his using a different sort of horsepower, with the speedy 1973 Firebird Trans Am he drove in 1974's "McQ" – one of five movies that featured the Pontiac Trans Am — ranking among the most iconic movie cars of the decade, if not all time.

Turns out Wayne was a Pontiac fan in his everyday life as well, though his preferred model from the now-shuttered automaker was a bit more family-friendly than the "McQ" Firebird. In fact, the Hollywood icon could regularly be seen cruising around town in a Pontiac station wagon — one bearing the name plate "Grand Safari."

Pontiac introduced the tank of a station wagon in 1971, and kept it in production for the better part of the decade, finally discontinuing the badge in 1978. Wayne apparently found the roomy vehicles ideal for driving his family from Point A to Point B in Hollywood and beyond, owning several Grand Safaris over the years.  

It's not clear how many Pontiac Grand Safaris John Wayne owned over the years, but some outlets believe he purchased at least three in the 1970s. It seems that the icon known to his fans as "The Duke" was unconcerned with flash when driving around town, instead prizing a certain level of comfort for him and his family that only the spacious Pontiac station wagon could provide.

But Wayne wasn't cruising greater Los Angeles in a stock Grand Safari. No, he had his family wagons customized by the one and only George Barris at his legendary Barris Kustom Industries garage. Barris and his crew were responsible for some of the most recognizable vehicles in TV history, including the original Batmobile and a pair of souped-up hot rods seen in "The Munsters." You can even count ahilariously tricked out tow truck designed for "Sanford & Son" legend Redd Foxx — the Lil Redd Recker — among the coolest custom cars ever built by George Barris.

As for Barris' work on John Wayne's Grand Safaris, he didn't exactly go wild on the vehicles. Rather, The Duke largely tasked Barris with raising the roofs on the vehicles to accommodate both his 6-foot-4 frame and his cowboy hats, which Wayne didn't always want to take off while driving. 

At least one of John Wayne's customized Pontiac Grand Safari station wagons was deemed museum-worthy. His customized 1976 Grand Safari is on display as part of the "John Wayne: An American Experience" exhibit at the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas. That exhibit is overseen by The Duke's son Ethan Wayne, who included the vehicle among many other personal artifacts of his famous father. It's included as much for its sentimental value as its uniqueness, as it was the Wayne family ferry when they spent time at their 26-Bar Ranch in Arizona.

That '76 model was likely the last owned by Wayne, who died in 1979. It was, however, not the only Wayne-owned custom Grand Safari that's turned up in the wild over the years, as his 1975 family wagon found its way to the Mecum auction block in 2014. Dark gray with a bright red interior, the vehicle hit the block with Barris Kustom plaque on the dash and the customization company's crest on fenders. It also had a 455 CI V-8 engine under the hood. When the gavel fell at the August '14 event, the vehicle reportedly snagged a cool $71,000 for its owner. It hit the auction block again two years later at Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas, going for $60,500 the second time around.