Posts from ‘Station Wagons’
Buick Regal TourX
Note: The following story was excerpted from the June 2021 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine.
It’s a cliché to say it’s the end of an era, and it’s still difficult to believe, but Buick is technically out of the car business. That’s right; every 2021-model Buick in the U.S. market is a crossover SUV. Perhaps more surprising, the last Buick cars weren’t the marque’s famously all-American four-door sedans. Rather they were the 2020 Regal Sportback and Regal TourX wagon.
2018 Jaguar XF Sportbrake
Note: The following story was excerpted from the April 2021 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine.
New-car buyers continue snapping up SUVs of all sizes, while increasingly snubbing traditional cars. It’s a bit puzzling, then, that the most SUV-like of car styles, the station wagon, has fallen out of favor even more than sedans. Jaguar entered this rapidly shrinking space with the striking and athletic 2018 XF Sportbrake. But after three model years Sportbrake remained largely invisible and didn’t return to American showrooms for 2021.
What If…1955 Ford Crown Ranchero
1955 Ford Crown Ranchero
Two of Ford Motor Company’s most memorable vehicles of the Fifties were introduced within a couple years of each other. Launching for 1955 as the flagship of Ford’s dramatically restyled passenger-car line, the Crown Victoria two-door hardtop brought a new level of glamour and style to the brand. Two years later, the 1957 Ford Ranchero melded the passenger car and the pickup truck into a “best of both worlds” proposition—at least for some shoppers.
1988 Volvo Turbo Wagon (left) and 1988 Lamborghini Countach
When you’re an automaker whose advertising people have spent years brilliantly crafting a message of safety and reliability, you’re going to need to do something special when you add performance to the mix. And so it was when Volvo wanted to get the word out about its turbocharged models—especially the wagons.
1965 Ford Falcon Squire
Note: The following story was excerpted from the June 2018 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine
The Ford Falcon was Robert McNamara’s baby. A practical “numbers guy,” McNamara hated waste and excess. The Edsel went against his core beliefs with its large size, superfluous decoration, and the fact that it competed with existing Ford and Mercury products. As the Edsel was failing, McNamara was campaigning for a compact Ford.
What if America’s independent automakers would have offered true station wagons in the early 1950s?
By Frank Peiler
At the dawn of the 1950s, the American new-car market was running strong. The pent-up consumer demand caused by the World War II production hiatus had not yet been sated, and sales were booming for Detroit’s “Big Three” and numerous independent American automakers. And, as Americans moved to the suburbs in greater numbers, “family hauler” station wagons were becoming more popular at Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors. Ford was particularly successful—its expanded roster of all-new-for-1952 wagons would go on to be the number-one-selling wagon line for many years.
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness in Geyser Blue
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness
Class: Midsize Car
Miles driven: 215
Fuel used: 9.2 gallons
1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban
Note: The following story was excerpted from the October 2018 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine
Frank Troost says his 1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban draws a common comment when he has it out: “We had one when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen one in years.” That’s not surprising since the American station wagon was immensely popular in the Sixties and Seventies, yet the survival rate has been low.
1955 Willys Utility Wagon
Note: The following story was excerpted from the August 2017 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine
After building 362,841 four-wheel-drive 1⁄4-ton military scout cars—the legendary “jeep”—during World War II, Willys needed something to sell postwar. A civilian version of the Willys MB was introduced, but the company wanted something more mainstream.
2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness
The Subaru Outback essentially pioneered the concept of the modern SUV-flavored wagon when it debuted for the 1995 model year. Then as now, the Outback is based on a station-wagon version of Subaru’s Legacy midsize sedan. Its passenger-car roots give the Outback better on-road driving dynamics than the typical SUV, while the smart interior packaging, raised ride height, and standard all-wheel drive deliver SUV-worthy levels of passenger/cargo versatility and rough-terrain capability.
