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Love Wagons... especially the American kinds of yesteryear. ALL gone!!
Then the best wagons were the Volvos... Volvo was the only one that had a real "wagon" square in the back while BMW, VW, etc. started to round the square back hatch which loses stowage capacity.
Volvo used to brag that one can fit an Ikea square sofa in the rear and now no more. The last real Volvo station wagon was the 2018 XC70 which has now been replaced with a V90. The V90 rear hatch is not square... and of course so much more $$$$$.
cheers...
The Volvos were the last ones that had a wide cache - - setting aside the steady appeal of the Subaru's all-wheel capabilities in snow areas. Volvo wagons are what I remember in the 90s as the first "soccer mom" vehicle before the mini-van rolled-in. Of course, this was well before the SUV trend.
I drive an Audi A4 Avant in the South, and it is certainly unique. Agree the styling trades-off a bit of utility.
I used to own a chevy wagon, 1970's. Long and wide. Kept it til around year 2000. it had good V8 power, was soooo handy, you could put long boards, furniture, all kinds of stuff in it. fold downt he back seat and sleep 2 adults in it. LOVED it and would like em to come back! beats pickups if you are a mom, have kids, and it's also a lower loading gate. Easier to load things, just tip that dresser on its back and slide it in...... handled like a dream, turned on a dime , surprising for such a big car.
Notice they don't sell the conventional Legacy wagon here any more. They have to jack it up to nearly 9 inches ground clearance and put plastic cladding all over it to make it look like a poseur truck to convince Americans to buy it. The Outback is considered a CUV.
That is so it can be classified as a light truck for CAFE fuel economy regulations. It doesn’t matter how much market demand there might be for a Legacy wagon. Subaru isn’t going to build anything that large that can’t be classified as a light truck.
I own a 6 cylinder Outback. I wish there was a cheap lowering kit. I’d rather have the cleaner aerodynamics and better handling of a car with 5” of ground clearance than 8.7”.
My first new car was in 1981. I’ve never bought a car that didn’t have some kind of liftgate or tailgate. Sedans make no sense to be. I’m always hauling around stuff. It wouldn’t fit into a sedan.
I guess the lower two thirds of the vertical hatch should be ignored, as the small window above tilts forward to match the roof line. You also need to ignore the large square vertical opening to the cargo area, or the fact that cargo are is actually taller than the rear opening. You might want to take a look at the Civic hatchback to see the difference. When you pull up to Lowe's, load a washing machine in the rear of a hatchback and successfully close the hatch, you get back to us.
I guess the lower two thirds of the vertical hatch should be ignored, as the small window above tilts forward to match the roof line. You also need to ignore the large square vertical opening to the cargo area, or the fact that cargo are is actually taller than the rear opening. You might want to take a look at the Civic hatchback to see the difference. When you pull up to Lowe's, load a washing machine in the rear of a hatchback and successfully close the hatch, you get back to us.
The first generation CR-V was a Civic with almost no cargo area behind the back seat. I had one for 3 weeks on a summer ski trip in New Zealand. You could barely get 190 cm skis in it on the diagonal with the rear seat folded. About like my MK IV and MK V VW GTIs. The latest generation is a much bigger car with far more cargo capacity. It's no longer what I'd call a compact crossover. Of course, the Civic got bigger, too. It's the size of a mid-1990s Camry.
Anyways, I prefer a car seating position to the more upright bench-like seating of a crossover. That's part of the attraction of the Outback I'm driving now. Other than the 3" of suspension lift so it qualifies as a light truck, it's a Legacy wagon.
With unlimited funds, I'd rather be driving a European luxury wagon. My girlfriend drives a Volvo S80. A V90 would be nice. I just can't justify that kind of depreciation and I don't ever want to drive a car that drinks 91 octane fuel. When I had GTIs as my daily driver, I watched the price spread between 87 and 81 octane go from 20 cents to 50 cents. At 20 cents, I don't care. At 50+ cents, it starts adding up in operating costs. When I was consolidating a body-on-frame SUV and a GTI down to one car in 2015, "must run on 87 octane" was high on the list. I ended up with the world's most boring car but an Outback checks all my utility check boxes.
I had a Camry wagon I loved. Only vehicle that would fit all my dogs in at the same time. I could also load 8 baffles of hay in that thing! (Without the dogs.)
It was awesome.
That is so it can be classified as a light truck for CAFE fuel economy regulations. It doesn’t matter how much market demand there might be for a Legacy wagon. Subaru isn’t going to build anything that large that can’t be classified as a light truck.
They already build something that large that can't be classified as a light truck: the Legacy sedan.
Yea, your right. It's got five doors, a hatch attached to a squared off rear end, and a ton of room in that cargo area behind the seats. I guess, it's not a wagon, must be a coupe.
You just described my Cayenne, so I guess I drive a wagon now
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as that looks I would venture that many people starving for a wagon would purchase it if given the chance.