At its core, this is a story about how the evolution of demo-graphics, buyer desires, and auto design in America had a fundamental impact on one of the industry’s most firmly established vehicle body styles. You can trace the station wagon all the way back before Henry Ford started chopping down Michigan forests to create wooden wagon bodies for his Model A.
The station wagon evolved from there to all-steel bodies, ever more extravagant trim, and for most manufacturers, multiple levels of appointment. While all this was happening, the American station wagon gradually became a societal touchstone, especially after World War II, when a new generation of young families parked them in the driveways of their tract houses in between trips across the continent, maybe with an Airstream in tow. For generations, a station wagon was a family vehicle. Period.
By the time this family vehicle was assembled, some
