1963 Plymouth Valiant wagon (Canada).
If only all photographers were so obliging as to include one of the car's badges in their photographs! Here we see a contented gent sat behind the wheel of his circa 1963 Plymouth Valiant four-door station wagon, the front wing bearing an identifying badge. The distinctive angled line on the front wing confirms that this is a 1963 or 1964 car. Being a fan of classic estate cars, I'd quite happily give one of these a home, I especially like the curved rear side glass that many station wagons of this era received.
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On the reverse is the simple handwritten message "Who needs to diet!", the driver doesn't look particularly rotund mind.
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Looking at the fence and the gate in the background, the car appears to be in the same location in both photographs. Here, the car is empty but is instead joined by a group of four children, three of which appear to be concentrating on something high up behind the photographer. The note for this picture reads "The Dunn Tribe with 'Hearse'. Niagara on the Lake, June '66". Clearly, at least one person in this family thought that the dark-coloured Valiant had something of a funereal appearance.
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A Canadian-built example?
Photos of others I've seen - ie US-specification wagons - don't have the pronounced rear lamps that are visible in photo #2. I believe that the Canada-market wagons, assembled in Ontario, were visually near-identical to the US wagons apart from the rear lights, which were from a Dodge Dart. Niagara-on-the-Lake, the location of both photos, is in Ontario, which would seem to confirm the origins of the Valiant shown here.
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