For 1972, the giant Chevrolet division offered a full line of station wagons, from the adorable Vega Kammback to the roomy G20 van. Here’s radio legend Casey Kasem with the pitch.

In the early 1970s, the mighty Chevrolet division of General Motors was sitting on top of the world. The biggest brand in all the industry, the bow tie sold more cars per year than Ford, or Chrysler, or the rest of the GM car divisions combined. No marque could ever be all things to all people, but Chevy made a mighty effort and for some years, nearly pulled it off.

In this original 1972 commercial, the Chevy station wagon lineup is pitched as “the widest choice of wagons anywhere.” At the subcompact end of the range was the sporty two-door Vega Kammback with its one-piece vertical liftgate, while at the opposite end, Chevy offered the truck-based Suburban and G20 Sport Van. Suburban enthusiasts will note that ’72 was the last year for the old three-door body style, and that a conventional four-door would appear with the 1973 “square-body” redesign.

The full-size passenger-car based (B-body) wagons boasted GM’s memorable vanishing tailgate, in which the top glass retracted into the headliner and the lower half stowed in the floor pan behind the bumper. You can see the novel feature (official name “Glide Away”) in action at around the 22-second mark. “Chevrolet wants your new wagon to be the best one you ever owned,” proclaims announcer Casey Kasem, a Detroit native who began his radio career in Flint, Chevy’s home town. Video below.