In a sea of SUVs…the humble, old-school station wagon is actually…cool?
Sure, you can go out right now and get the latest, greatest and trendiest car on the block…and it probably won’t be a station wagon. At least, not if you take a cross-section of every American traffic jam these days, where the roads are absolutely crammed with SUVs and massive pickup trucks. That hasn’t been a sudden phenomenon, either — even back in the 1970s, wagons weren’t exactly the shockwave in front of the cutting edge of “cool”…just the opposite, actually.
Nevertheless, as they become nearly extinct in your daily commute, car folks in particular are looking at cars like this Volvo V60 Cross Country (and all its forebears over the decades) as something different, mysterious, and yes, actually and unironically cool. In fact, modern crossovers, including those from iconic wagon brands like Volvo, owe a lot to the “humdrum” station wagon, and in this video Tommy goes through some history to show just what they represent in that larger context.
If you are the type to actually seek out a wagon as the sort of anti-crossover, protest purchase, you’re sadly left with few options left on the market. Oh, a few automakers are just holding on. There are some, dare we say, exotic wagons like the Audi RS6 Avant or the Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid. The Volvo V60 is still clinging on in Cross Country form, and there are a few other options across the spectrum as well.
For the few players who are left, wagon’s utility coupled with major performance gains (even for the “mainstream” models) versus the early 1970s do make them a seriously cool buy against your everyday crossover. Let us know what you think, though, and if you are aiming for something a little different to the masses…you may want to consider pulling the trigger before it’s too late.
