Station wagons. Coming back or still bad memories?

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PimTac

PimTac

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This kind of segues from another thread where I commented that in my opinion the station wagon is coming back. I’m old enough to remember the giant Olds Vista Cruiser and the Fords with the peeling fake wood trim on the exterior. I saw a article on www.caranddriver.com regarding the new Buick Regal. Most station wagons today are crossovers like the Subaru Outback, Mazda CX-9, Volvo XC, and so forth. Mazda will be building a new station wagon style crossover in Alabama when their new assembly plant opens. So what say you all? Would you buy one? Have you owned one? Your predictions on this subject are welcome.
 
They never went away in the Euro segment. Estates have remained popular. I remember one guy from M5board swapped the M5 powertrain into his E39 estate and made quite the little sleeper.
 
always loved 'em, and wished they would come back. were i in the financial position to buy that Buick wagon when it comes to my local dealer, I would. but alas, I am not, nor will i be in the foreseeable future....
 
.... but you can't call them station wagons. They now require a different name like SUV or sports wagon or just about anything but a station wagon. I have an 03 4Runner that I consider a 4-door pickup with a very good camper shell but really it's just a variation on the station wagon theme.
 
I'd love to have a Mercedes E63 AMG wagon. 600 horse in a grocery getter. The new Volvo wagon is gorgeous. Not the cross country... The regular one. Amazing. I do like the look of that new Regal wagon, just wish they wouldn't put all that cladding on it. It's not an SUV... don't they realize that no one in the US wants a "wagon" crossover? Just let it be a wagon.
 
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
They never went away, just morphed into minivan and SUVs.
There was a metamorphosis of sorts but the minivans were a prelude in many ways to today’s crossovers and the suv Of yesterday. People enjoyed the ride height of them and the versatility that kept being added to them. I think the v8 is headed for the history books. Today’s V6 is pretty much capable of anything the v8 could do except the gas mileage. Being this is BITOG, I know someone who drove a beater Ford Fairlane wagon. This was in the early eighties. That car burned oil faster than he could pour it in and he found out one day while climbing a steep hill downtown that engines do blow up without oil in them. Sad too as that car had the fake wood trim sides that were peeling, thus my description above in the beginning post.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
They never went away in the Euro segment. Estates have remained popular. I remember one guy from M5board swapped the M5 powertrain into his E39 estate and made quite the little sleeper.
I’ve noticed that too. Volkswagen and Audi are pretty competitive as are BMW and the rest in the wagon segment. Europeans seem to inject practicality more in their buying decisions than do Americans.
 
Station wagons are lower and have lower roof lines inside for fitting bulky things compared to a crossover like a CRV or a RAV4, so what purpose do they serve?
 
If I could afford to go out and drop 40K on a loaded Regal TourX, I would in a heartbeat. My father was die-hard with wagons having gone through a Caprice diesel, Subaru Legacy, B5 Avant, C6 Avant, and an Accord wagon he bought to drive while the Audi's were in the shop. My second car / college car / going out into the world car was the B5 Avant, and I loved it too as a practical driving machine. The only thing I don't like about the Regal is the tragic plastic off-road-whatever cladding stuck on there like the Allroad. I doubt it will sell well, which is unfortunate, but I don't blame people for buying SUV's and crossovers over wagons.
 
I loved my A4 avant, which I recently sold to my brother. Very practical, AWD, 6 speed manual, and even with a flash and exhaust I averaged over 32 mpg on a highway trip of about 210 miles round trip, easily doing 75+ most of the time. In 6th at 80 it would only tach around 2000 rpm. If I could find a nice midsize diesel wagon Id take it in a heartbeat over an SUV.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Station wagons are lower and have lower roof lines inside for fitting bulky things compared to a crossover like a CRV or a RAV4, so what purpose do they serve?
I like to think of a station wagon as a sedan with extra trunk space instead of a shorter crossover. Plus, being lower, you can get a very sporty vehicle while still being useful.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Would you buy one?
Yes, as long as it has a V8, RWD, and possibly manual trans.
And diesel. You want to sell more than 15 a year.
 
We call them "estate cars" in Britain, quaintly pretentious R-US. I had an 1800 Marina estate, landless peasant though I am, and found it much more practical than the saloon (sedan) layout which is, frankly, stupid. I had a Sierra 2L DOHC saloon here and a car that size that you can't put a bicycle in without tearing the seats is an absurdity. Only advantage is load security, admittedly a significant factor in the UK. Not nearly so much here, but estates are very rare because they were associated with load-carrying commercial vehicles which gave less "face" to the owners. Chinese thing. They used to be even more quaintly and pretentiously called "shooting brakes" in the Yook, but I suppose if you called them that in the US people would shoot at them, and break them.
 
We love our 2005 Legacy turbo wagon with manual. It’s fun to drive. Subaru killed it in 2006 and stuck with lessor handling jacked up plastic clad Legacy aka Outback. I’d buy another wagon but they are a luxury item it seems now and selection is slim. Wagons are dead. Oddly my dream car is the recent AMG wagon with 600 ish HP. Way over my $25k cash limit for a car.
 
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