In the process of getting a car to replace the one I’m currently driving, I’m reflecting on what I want/need in vehicle. Being of a certain age, my expectations have been shaped by what I grew up with — and what I grew up with was cars like the one above. There’s more pictures and some details on it at this link: Hemmings Find of the Day - 1971 Plymouth Fury Suburban station wagon.
Wikipedia has an entry on station wagons which says they were developed as specific car body types in the 1930’s. They were still going strong in the 70’s and into the 80’s. The arrival of Minivans and SUVs ate into their sales. So have hatchbacks and crossovers. Assorted oil shocks, mileage concerns, changing fashions, and the decline of American car makers have all been factors in the decline of the classic Big Station Wagon.
Reflecting the original purpose of transporting people and luggage between country estates and railway/railroad stations,[2] the body style is called an "estate car" or "estate" in British English, "station wagon" in American English, and generally one of these two variants in the rest of the English-speaking world.
In the United States, early models with exposed wooden bodies became known as woodies.[3]
All of the Big Three car makers sold them; they were emblematic of the suburban life style. Towing a boat, going to the country club for golf, hauling kids and groceries around, these cars were aimed at housewives as well as man of the house breadwinners, back when a family could survive with a single wage earner. At one time, car makers would routinely crank out a wagon version of their sedans, so there was a whole range of wagon models in different sizes and price ranges. Some still do, but it’s more the exception than the rule.
Station wagons were notably satirized in the movie National Lampoon’s Vacation with the Wagon Queen Family Truckster. Hey, when Suburban is in the name...
Now I don’t particularly remember what kind of mileage the big Plymouths I grew up driving in the 60s and 70s used to get, but I was comfortable driving them. Finding a parking space, fitting into a garage — well that went with the territory. With rear wheel drive, you definitely needed snow tires in the winter. AM radio? Check. FM? 8 track tape deck? — maybe… This was back in the days of analog — no digital dashboard, no USB ports, no engine computers to run everything. (If you click on the photo at the Hemmings link, it takes you through a slideshow of the Plymouth wagon, outside and inside.)
Some of the things I remember:
The rear door was always a feature to keep in mind when buying one. They came in a variety of designs, depending on the car maker. The ones I remember had the rear window crank down into the tail gate. It was an advance when you could get an electric rear window — which also could wash itself when going up and down. That was needful, because the airflow over the back of the car seemed to deposit road dirt on the rear window all the time. At some point a rear air deflector became an added feature to minimize that. Another development was a tailgate that could be dropped down, or swung open to the side to get it out of the way.
The big cargo compartment is what I really miss. With the rear seat folded down, it was possible to fit four by eight plywood sheets flat in the back, and still close the tailgate. Unlike a minivan or SUV, you didn’t have to juggle taking seats out of the back to do it. And if you needed to carry even more around, there was always the roof rack.
An additional option was a third bench seat in the back, hidden under a flat panel. It faced to the rear. There was not a lot of leg room, but it made it possible to haul more people around if and when. Of course, not everyone could stand to ride back there without getting sick. I recall that after riding back there and cruising for a distance down the highway, my eyes would briefly have me seeing the scenery rushing toward me when we stopped…
Although the classic station wagon designs like those I grew up with are not really available today, in practice there are close equivalents because the mission profile niche those wagons targeted is still around. People still need something car-like they can haul other people and their stuff around in, sometimes in quantity.
For my own purposes, having something that handles like a car but could still bring home some plywood sheets from time to time (even if they have to hang out the back), or handle an extended vacation trip, or put a canoe on the roof would be useful. I’m trying to imagine something like that Plymouth Fury Suburban wagon updated with modern engine technology for better mileage, safety features, and all the other digital gadgets we’ve gotten used to. With a frame like that, an electric version would have enough room for batteries to really extend its range.
I doubt I could afford it though, and I doubt any car maker would see a big enough market to develop one. If I’m wrong, let me know in comments, and if there’s anything you think might be worth looking at, let me know.