The station wagon was named for its original purpose: shuttling passengers and luggage between train stations and hotels. But by the 1950s, it had become something far more significant — the automobile equivalent of the American family itself: spacious, unglamorous, dependable, and always slightly overpacked.

These were long, low automobiles with cargo areas that stretched behind the back seat like prairies. You could fold the rear seat down and create a sleeping platform large enough for two children in sleeping bags. You could load bicycles, camping gear, and a cooler. You could put the family dog in the very back, where he would spend the entire trip with his nose pressed against the rear window, bewildering drivers behind you.

The Station Wagon Experience

  • The rear-facing third-row seat — where children rode backward and waved at following cars
  • Wood-grain paneling on the sides that was never real wood but always looked distinguished
  • The tailgate that folded down flat, creating a bench for drive-in movies and tailgating
  • No seatbelt laws meant children sprawled freely across the cargo area like cargo themselves
  • Power rear windows that slid down into the tailgate — operated by a dashboard switch

The rear-facing third-row seat was the station wagon's signature feature and its greatest gift to childhood. You sat backward, watching the road unwind behind you, making faces at the car following too closely, existing in a separate universe from your parents in the front seat. It was the children's section, unmonitored and unsupervised, and everything that happened in the wayback stayed in the wayback.

The Wagons We Remember

  1. Ford Country Squire — the definitive family wagon, with wood-grain sides and three rows
  2. Chevrolet Impala Wagon — the practical choice that outsold everything
  3. Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser — with the raised glass roof panels over the rear seats
  4. Buick Estate Wagon — for families who wanted luxury with their luggage space
  5. Volkswagen Type 3 Squareback — the compact import alternative

The station wagon disappeared not because families stopped needing space, but because the minivan arrived in 1984 and the SUV followed shortly after. Both vehicles offered the same cargo capacity in a taller, more commanding package. What they did not offer was the rear-facing seat, the fold-flat tailgate bench, or the particular romance of a long, low automobile that looked like a house on wheels.

No vehicle in automotive history carried more families to more places with less complaint than the American station wagon.