Station Wagons That You Forgot Ever Existed

Jan 18, 2024

Before minivans and then SUVs took over the utility-vehicle market in the 1980s and 1990s, station wagons were a dime a dozen, being the de facto choice for those with families or those looking for more practicality from their daily driver. As such, many wagons such as the Volvo 240 and the Ford Country Squire have reached iconic status over the years, whether it be on the virtue of distinctive design or pop-culture recognition.

But we reckon that there are plenty of wagons offered over the past few decades that you forgot even existed. So we dug up a list of 26 wagons that have slipped through the cracks; all were sold in America within the last 30 years or so, although you’d be hard-pressed to see many of these puttering around your neighborhood today.

For four glorious model years, Acura's showroom floors were graced with the TSX wagon. The slinky hatchback entered our market in the 2011 model year with a one-size-fits-all approach, limiting buyers to Acura's rev-happy 201-hp 2.4-liter inline-four mated to a five-speed automatic. Sadly, the TSX sedan's crisp six-speed manual was left off the menu, as was its optional 280-horse 3.5-liter V-6.

Although the front-wheel-drive TSX wagon wasn't particularly quick (we clocked a zero-to-60-mph time of 8.1 seconds), the wagon's 200 or so extra pounds of weight over its sedan counterpart had no effect on the TSX's communicative steering, agile handling, and fantastic brake-pedal feel. We’re not sure if TSX wagons are so hard to come by today because Acura sold so few of them or because owners are so reluctant to turn over the keys to this fun-to-drive and versatile vehicle. Probably a little of both. —Greg Fink

At the dawn of the millennium, there were more than 200 Daewoo dealerships in 42 states. By 2002, when the bankrupt Daewoo Motor America packed up for South Korea after five ambitious years, there were 525. Unless you lived underground, you could have bought a new Nubira wagon as easily as you could buy a Kit-Kat bar. By contemporary standards, the Nubira was a fine-riding, roomy compact car that still looks decent from the outside.

Although the tall-car/small-minivan vehicle sold as the Colt Vista was more popular, the fifth generation of the Colt range—then based on the Mitsubishi Mirage—also included this conventional station wagon, which lasted from 1988 until 1991. For drivers, it was more appealing than the equivalent sedan and hatchback models on two grounds: First, the base version came with multiport fuel injection for its SOHC 1.5-liter inline-four and made a whopping 75 horsepower while other models settled for a two-barrel carburetor and only 68 ponies. Second, the wagon had a three-link trailing-arm independent rear suspension in place of the other model's torsion beam. Downside? You couldn't have the turbocharged 1.6-liter that was an option on the hatchback, although wagon customers still had a choice of a five-speed manual transmission (one gear more than was common to Colts in the era), which made it much livelier than did the optional three-speed automatic. A split-folding rear seat allowed up to 60 cubic feet of cargo capacity in a vehicle that was 0.5 inch shorter than today's Mini Countryman on a 93.7-inch wheelbase, nearly a foot shorter than the Mini's. When considering the modest power output, though, remember that this wagon weighed only 2271 pounds—or roughly 1000 pounds less than the front-drive version of the Countryman. The Colt DL wagon also could be had with four-wheel drive. —Kevin A. Wilson

Originally sold as the Renault Medallion through AMC dealerships, this French wagon swapped names after Chrysler purchased AMC and subsequently created the Eagle brand. Beginning in model year 1988, Eagle dealers officially sold the Medallion sedan and wagon as one of their own.

The 189.7-inch-long wagon offered an optional third-row seat, and it came standard with a 2.2-liter inline-four packing 103 horsepower and 124 lb-ft of torque mated to a standard five-speed manual or an optional three-speed automatic transmission. Sadly, the Eagle Medallion wagon, like Eagle itself, was short lived, helping spell the end for French cars on American roads for many years to come. —GF

Before the Focus took over as Ford's global compact in the 2000s, the Escort was the Blue Oval's small car of note throughout the 1980s and 1990s. During its three generations in America, the Escort—and its Mercury sibling, first called the Lynx, then the Tracer—always included a wagon in its lineup, until 1999 when the Escort was put to pasture. It's hard to say which of these wagons is most forgettable, but we can't remember the last time we saw any Mercury Tracer, let alone a wagon.

The Mercury's timeline wasn't exactly in sync with the Ford's, as the Tracer nameplate first appeared on a rebadged Mazda 323 in the late 1980s before being applied to an Escort twin starting in the 1990s. The second- and third-generation Escorts and Tracers, too, were essentially Mazdas underneath, sharing the ubiquitous Mazda B platform that underpinned a wide range of compact cars throughout the globe, including the Mazda Protegé and even the Kia Sephia. —Joseph Capparella

While Europeans can still walk into a Ford dealer and drive out in a new Focus wagon, it has been a decade since Americans were offered the same privilege. When the first-generation Focus launched for 2000, resplendent in the brand's New Edge design language, it was a rather revelatory vehicle from an American manufacturer, offering a spot of Euro-style driving fun during a time when American compacts either felt tinny (Chrysler's Neon) or ancient (GM's Cavalier and Sunfire). Ford even saw fit to bring over a wagon variant. Regrettably, while the Blue Oval kept the Focus competitive overseas, we continued to be offered the first-generation cars through the 2011 model year. Our first-gen Focus saw a couple of increasingly unfortunate refreshes, the second of which saw the wagon depart from our shores after the 2007 model year. —Davey G. Johnson

One of the more shooting-brakey forgotten wagonoids to make our list, the 1991–1992 Geo Storm Wagonback was a funky-fresh take on the Isuzu-produced sport compact. Available only with the Storm's base, 95-hp engine, the tailgate-party-friendly take on the rebadged Impulse bridged the gap of the Storm's mild mid-cycle refresh.

The 1991 models featured the semi-pop-up headlamps that debuted on the car, while 1992 Wagonbacks received the less distinctive, Pontiac-style gun-slit lights. The Storm carried on for a year after the Wagonback's departure. —DGJ

Cadillac's Cimarron may have been the most infamous model built on GM's J-body platform, but the budget Caddy never spawned a wagon. Developed prior to Chrysler's minivans that were introduced for 1984, the J-based wagon was featured by every other General Motors brand. Oldsmobile offered the Firenza, Buick dealers sold a Skyhawk wagon, while Pontiac pitched its J wagon under the names J2000, 2000, and Sunbird. No J car, however, outsold the Chevrolet Cavalier, and its wagon variant stayed in production the longest—through 1994.

It may be a stretch for some readers to remember that the J-bodies seemed fresh and even competitive in the early 1980s; with their vibration-prone engines and hokey, squared-off instrument panels, the machines were certainly a product of hubris. But the original Firenza and Skyhawk wagons offered legitimately sharp styling for the time, while the Cavalier and Sunbird at least looked contemporary. A decade on, however, the Cavalier wagon was looking decidedly dated, something repeated exterior refreshes hadn't helped. When it came time to redo the Cavalier for 1995, the wagon went the way of the dodo. The dodo, reportedly, was dismayed by the Cavalier's presence in its domain. —DGJ

The square-back, four-door Civic introduced in 1985 was really more of a tall hatchback than a wagon, but it had "wagon" in its name, so here it is. (In some model years the car was called the Civic Wagovan.) Offered during two generations of Civic and based on the sedan's platform, the wagon featured a tall, stubby body with high-mounted seats and generous window area.

In many ways the Civic wagon is like today's Honda Fit (although the former is even smaller than the latter). Both pack a lot of interior space into tiny bodies, and both feature multiposition, fold-flat rear seats. The two even use identically sized 1.5-liter engines, although the old wagon's 76 horsepower pales in comparison to a modern Fit's 130 ponies—and Honda saw fit to offer the wagon with a neat all-wheel-drive setup. —Alexander Stoklosa

When the XF Sportbrake finally shows up, it won't be the first station wagon from Jaguar, nor even the first sold in America. Between 2005 and 2008, Jaguar offered this wagon edition of the X-type sedan. Over those four model years, Jag sold a grand total of 1602 units here. Called the X-type Sportwagon, its biggest problem was shared with the sedan—it was really a Ford Mondeo, which had previously appeared in the U.S. under the name Contour. A bit of leather here, a chunk of wood there, four headlamps arranged just so, and, presto! It's a Jaguar. With Ford's 3.0-liter Duratec V-6 underhood coupled with a five-speed automatic and standard all-wheel drive, it was good for a 7.8-second zero-to-60-mph run in our tests. We suppose it might make a nice used car today, if you can find one, but don't count on hauling a lot of stuff in it: With the rear seats folded down (they split 70/30), it offers only 50 cubic feet of cargo hold. At least it has more rear headroom than the sedan. —KAW

Back when Kias still sold largely on their used-car prices and yet were covered by new-car warranties, the Rio appeared. That was for the 2001 model year. A year later, a Rio wagon dubbed the Cinco was introduced. The two Kias shared a wimpy 96-hp 1.5-liter inline-four engine and their front-end styling, such as it was.

A wagon body, however, greatly improved the Rio's appeal. Not only did the small longroof look nearly sleek, it could hold more stuff. A refresh for 2003 upped engine output to a raging 105 horsepower and modernized the styling somewhat, neither of which changed the Rio's station as one of the cheapest new cars available in the United States. —AS

Lexus has always been laser focused on the American luxury market, which probably explains why it never truly dipped its toes in the station-wagon pool dominated by European firms such as Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. The bizarre IS300 SportCross, in fact, is the only wagon Lexus has ever sold. It was part of the first-generation IS lineup, joining the IS300 sedan that was Toyota's first legitimate attempt at taking on the BMW 3-series.

An attractively proportioned little wagonlet, the SportCross shared nearly everything with the sporty sedan, including its taut rear-wheel-drive chassis and its silky inline-six engine making 215 horsepower. Alas, only an automatic transmission was available, preventing the SportCross from becoming a true enthusiast's special. Only around 3000 buyers snapped up the SportCross during its run from 2002 to 2005, so when the IS was redesigned for 2006, no one was surprised to learn that this wagon variant had reached the end of the line. —JC

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