Section Contents:- Sales of station wagons in the United States and Canada remained strong until 1984, when the Chrysler Corporation introduced the first minivans, derived from the K platform, which, ironically, also was the platform for the Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries station wagon models which the minivan would soon eclipse.(More...)
- The name'station wagon' is a derivative of 'depot hack'; it was a wagon that carried people and luggage from the train station to various local destinations.(More...)
Sales of station wagons in the United States and Canada remained strong until 1984, when the Chrysler Corporation introduced the first minivans, derived from the K platform, which, ironically, also was the platform for the Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries station wagon models which the minivan would soon eclipse. [2] In 1949, Plymouth introduced the first all-steel station wagon, the two-door Suburban, that was based on an automotive platform. In 1950 Plymouth discontinued the woody station wagon in its line and converted to all steel bodies; and because it was too coincidental to the Chevrolet Suburban.
[2] Because of size and safety concerns, rear facing seats ( nicknamed ). Full-size SUVs such as the Chevrolet Suburban and Ford Expedition have similar features to the aforementioned full-size station wagons; such as 9-passenger seating with bench seating in the front.
[2] The ripple effect of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo led to the demise of the station wagon where CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) legislation dethroned the rear wheel drive layout for efficient front wheel drive vehicles. Station wagons were the victims of Detroit's downsizing trend after 1976, and vehicle choice was limited to SUVs like the Chevrolet Suburban and van conversions ( GMC Vandura ) which filled the void of station wagon sales. This, indeed, led to the station wagon's demise.
[2] In Europe, Australia and New Zealand, these vehicles remain popular and in volume production, although minivans (known in Europe as MPVs " multi-purpose vehicles) and the like have had some impact. As in North America, early station wagons were aftermarket conversions and had their new bodywork built with a wooden frame, sometimes with wooden panels, sometimes steel.
[2] In Australia and New Zealand, the most popular station wagons are the large Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore models. These are usually built on a longer wheelbase compared to their sedan counterparts, though they share the same door skins, leading to a slightly unusual appearance with the rear door not reaching all the way to the rear wheel arch. Mitsubishi's Australian subsidiary designed wagon versions of its Magna and Verada for the local market, although it no longer offers a large wagon.
[2] French breaks from Peugeot and Citro"n in particular were available in seven- or eight-seater "family" versions long before MPVs became known in Europe. European manufacturers often built two-door station wagons in the post-war period for the compact class, and not four-door models, a practice that continued at Ford (amongst others) with its Escort Mk III, for example, well into the 1980s.
[2] Buick was the last automobile manufacturer to produce a station wagon with a true wooden structure in 1953. By 1955, only Ford and Mercury offered a woody-like model; however the look was accomplished with steel, plastics and various materials, such as DiNoc (a vinyl product) to simulate broad expanses of wood. Known as the Ford Country Squire, this heavily-trimmed full-size wagon was a staple of the Ford line from the 1940s to the 1990s.
[2] Domestic wagons also remained in the Ford, Mercury, and Saturn lines until 2004 when the bodies began a phase-out, replaced by car-based crossover SUVs and minivans designed to look like station wagons.
[2] Station wagons too, began to be enclosed, especially in higher price categories from up market automobile companies. Windows in these early enclosed models were either retractable or sliding. It was only in 1924 the first closed wagon appeared.
[2] Reintroduction of woody decorated station wagons by other makers in America began in 1966 when Dodge offered the look for the first time in fifteen years.
[2] The first all-steel station wagon in North America was the 1946 Jeep Station Wagon, based upon the rugged Jeep produced by Willys-Overland during the war. The Willys was a two-door vehicle, and in premium trim had its passenger compartment exterior painted in a style that evoked the light framing/darker panel design of wagons from the woodie era.
[2] In 1951, the compact 100-inch (2,540mm) wheelbase Nash Rambler line included a two-door station wagon design whose production continued through 1955.
[2] Advancement in production techniques learned over the course of World War II made all-steel station wagons practical when automobile manufacturers switched over to new designs.
[2] With the introduction of the retro-styled Chrysler PT Cruiser, aftermarket firms began selling faux woodie kits designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia. Station wagons enjoyed their greatest popularity and highest production levels in the United States during from the 1950s through the 1970s.
[2] The roofs of woodie wagons were usual made of stretched canvas that was treated with a water proofing dressing. As time went by the car companies themselves began building their own station wagons.
[2] A hatchback car, although meeting a similar description, would not enjoy the full height of the passenger cabin all the way to the back; the rear glass of a hatchback being sloped further from vertical, and the hatch tending not to reach fully to the rear bumper, as it commonly would in a station wagon.
[2] A station wagon in American, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand usage and an estate car, or just estate in British usage, is an automobile with a body style similar to a sedan (saloon in British usage) but with an extended rear cargo area.
[2] In the United Kingdom, estate car versions of small and middle sized models were more common. Estate versions of the Morris 1000 ("Minor") and Mini, with external ash wood frames (structural on the 1000) were popular; they both had 2 vertically divided van-type rear doors in the style of older shooting brakes (see " Station wagons around the world ", below).
[2] Ford dropped the Ford Focus wagon for 2007, and Subaru replaced the Impreza wagon with a 5-door hatchback model. Only a few station wagons models are currently offered, such as the Suzuki Forenza/Chevrolet Optra wagon, the Hyundai Elantra wagon and the Volkswagen Jetta wagon.
[2] In France almost all station wagon models are called the Break (note the different spelling from the English shooting brake).
[2] Most station wagons are modified sedan-type car bodies, having the main interior area extended to the near-vertical rear window over what would otherwise be the enclosed area of the sedan version.
[2] The vast majority of modern station wagons have an upward-swinging, full-width, full-height rear door supported on gas struts, and a few also have a rear window that can be swung upward independently to load small items without opening the whole liftgate.
[2] The first station wagons were a product of the age of train travel. They were originally called 'depot hacks' because they worked around train depots as hacks (short for hackney carriage, an old name for taxis ). They also came to be known as 'carryalls' and'suburbans'.
[2] The Studebaker Wagonaire station wagon had a unique retractable rear roof section as well as a conventional rear tailgate which folded down. This allowed it to carry tall objects that would not fit otherwise.
[2] Early station wagons were fixed roof vehicles, but lacked the glass that would enclose the passenger compartment, and had only bench seats.
[2] The framing of the early station wagons were left unsheathed because of the commercial nature of the vehicles.
[2] The popularity of the minivan in the 1980s and early 1990s is credited with the decline of the traditional station wagon.
[2] In many suburban communities, owning a current year woody station wagon was a sign of affluence and good taste.
[2] Station wagons were the originators of fold down seats to accommodate passengers or cargo.
[2] Traditionally, full-sized American station wagons were configured for 6 or 9 passengers.
[2] Japanese manufacturers did not value station wagons highly until very recently.
[2] The last subcompact station wagon produced in the United States and Canada was the 1992 Toyota Corolla.
[2] Some people define station wagon history as starting with the 1923 Star (the first 'production' station wagon), and ending with the 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. This definition embodies only the classic, stretched wheelbase, rear-wheel drive vehicle, derived from a standard production automobile (usually sedan or hardtop) chassis.
[1] Ironically, the backlash against station wagons that started with the minivan is now hitting back at the minivan - now the minivan is the 'mom-mobile', and style-conscious buyers are swarming to SUVs or sporty station wagons instead. This decade also produced the first inklings of the 'hybrid' wagon/SUV - more wagon-like in styling, but with a car chassis, four-wheel drive, and a 'tougher', off-road stance.
[1] Try to name the defining event for the 1970's that affected the automobile industry (no, not disco), and it would be a toss-up between the first gasoline crisis in 1974, or the new, draconian emissions specifications (starting in 1972) which killed the muscle car (and engine performance in general). Both of these events were particularly hard on the full-size station wagon.
[1] Station wagons are still very popular in Europe - there are many models that are available in Europe that are not even sold in the USA. The range of wagons is much broader, covering the whole spectrum of small to large, and functional to high-performance. Does this have to do with the fact that the minivan has not yet caught on in Europe? Is it cultural? Are the needs of car buyers so very different? I don't really know.
[1] Instantly popular, it became the vehicle of choice for family transport. It was said that in some ways the minivan became popular because people were trying to escape the 'mom-mobile' image of the station wagons they grew up with.
[1] In a way, station wagons are coming back (upside-down?) full circle. It seems inevitable that SUV's and minivans will go out of style at some point (there are already many signs of this), but it is not clear what will replace these vehicles.
[1] What we think of as traditional station wagons will still be with us for some time, though, but more as a niche vehicle than as a full-line, mainstream model.
[1] Until after WWII, station wagons were generally regarded as commercial vehicles like trucks, and production volume was low (station wagons accounted for less than 1% of motor vehicle sales in 1940).
[1] Station wagons also took off in the 1950's - from less than 3% of the U.S. production car volume in 1950, to almost 17% of the market by the end of the decade.
[1] Interestingly, it was originally introduced as being a more versatile car, not a station wagon.
[1] Ford continued to hold a candle for station wagons.it still produced the full-size, rear-wheel drive Country Squire, and in 1986 it introduced the Taurus wagon. It went on to become one of the most popular station wagons ever. As a final, shining beacon, GM introduced the last restyle of its full-size, rear-wheel wagons in 1991 with the Chevrolet Caprice.
[1] Simultaneous 1960 wagon introductions by Ford (Falcon/Comet) and Chrysler (Valiant), followed by Chevrolet (Corvair in 1961 and Chevy II in 1962), brought new choices to the wagon market. These compacts were in response to a new factor in the station wagon market. foreign (smaller) station wagons.
[1] Chrysler switched over almost entirely to FWD, for example, and rear-wheel drive automobiles became a much smaller section of the market. Interestingly, Chrysler, while producing the minivan (and almost everything else) off the K-car platform, did produce a K-car station wagon (Dodge Aries, Plymouth Reliant, and at its woody, upscale best as the Chrysler Town & Country).
[1] The station wagon going forward is going to be a mix of what consumers like most about the SUV, the minivan, and of course, the traditional station wagon.
[1] The first official factory Plymouth station wagon appeared in 1938 (the P6 DeLuxe Westchester Suburban wagon, although the bodywork was still done out-of-house by U.S. Body & Forging).
[1] First of all, let's get this out in the open - station wagon history is not exactly clear cut, and there are differences of opinion on just what is a station wagon. While the specific facts presented here would be difficult to argue separately, overall what you are about to read is just one interpretation of those facts.
[1] There were woody wagons well before Ford, however - there was a 1931 Dodge Series DH Six woody station wagon, for instance.
[1] By the end of the decade, the station wagon was firmly ensconced as the family vehicle of choice.
[1] Let's not forget the original full-size station wagon, which was still in full bloom.
[1] Station wagons became available in even smaller sizes (subcompacts).remember the Pinto? Vega? And for the final decade, the wagon industry was still ruled by the domestic manufacturers.
[1] The 50's also represented some of the last gasps of pure uniqueness - manufacturers were not afraid to do something different just for the pure joy of it. in many ways there was a sense of adventure that never returned. Station wagons of the 50's are held in such high regard by collectors and the general population alike.
[1] All-wheel drive became an interesting option on station wagons during the 1980's.
[1] In 1958, the top-selling body style in the Plymouth line was the station wagon.
[1] Ah, the 60's. It started off with a new wagon phenomenon - compact station wagons.
[1] The first rule of selling station wagons is, don't talk about station wagons. That's the marketing plan behind the stealthy return of one of the most practical yet most ridiculed automotive designs. For years, the mere idea of a wagon has been poison in the car world, resurrecting memories of ungainly giants such as the Ford Country Squire and Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser for a whole generation of drivers.
[3] The wagon wasn't always reviled. Among the oldest of car designs, station wagons originally were designed to take passengers and their luggage to and from the train station, hence the name.
[3] General Motors and Toyota have introduced models of late that look suspiciously like station wagons.
[3] Co-opted by the minivan and, later, the sport utility vehicle, the station wagon seemed destined for the junkyard.
[3] "Camry station wagon": Don't let Toyota hear you say that. It calls the 2009 Venza a "crossover sedan," with the driving attributes (and presumably the fuel efficiency) of a Camry or Avalon, and cargo utility of a Highlander.
[3] Car on left: 1988 Buick Estate Station Wagon: Members Kris Capps and Aaron Miller.
[4] The ASWOA an automobile collector club for anyone who loves station wagons. The club is open to all makes and models of wagons and to anyone who is a fan of wagons, whether they own one or not.
[4] Station wagons are almost gone now, having been supplanted almost entirely by sport utility vehicles and minivans.
[5] Some of the ancestors of SUV's and minivans were even called station wagons.
[5] You might want to take a few Cadillac emblems along with you to replace the Opel logo. It's not a station wagon, it's a "tourer," or as the British would say an "estate car."
[5] The Dodge Town Wagon
The Dodge Town Wagon. This rare bird is actually more of a proto-SUV than a station wagon; think of it as a Mopar answer to the Suburban.
[5] 
The name'station wagon' is a derivative of 'depot hack'; it was a wagon that carried people and luggage from the train station to various local destinations. Prior to mid-1930s, hardwoods were used by most automotive makes in framing the passenger compartments of their passenger vehicles.
[2] Many people claim the SUVs to be a "station wagon" under the vehicle's registration title.
[2] They fell out of vogue when minivans and SUVs came along, and the very name "station wagon" is marketing poison. They have all the advantages of a sedan stability, fuel economy and can haul as much as an SUV. In this time of $100-a-barrel oil, car buyers welcome wagons, whatever they're called.
[3] "Station Wagon" was VW's official name for the vehicle that came to be known as the Bus.
[5] 
