- The Station Wagon was once the vehicle of choice
for the American family but it went away with a whimper.
R.I.P
On the heels of Audi announcing their RS6 Avant
coming to America, finally, the wagon
has stepped in the spotlight once again.
(upbeat music)
But what caused the wagon's demise in the first place?
And are they going to make a comeback for good this time?
I think they might.
Just a few weeks ago, Audi posted this picture
teasing 6 of their RS models to be released in 2019.
A week later, another picture graced the internet,
it's tail lights partially lit
and gleaming through the cover.
Those tail lights are identical to the ones on the S6.
Leaving all those big brains and clever girls
on the inter webs to make the connection that it is
in fact, the RS6 Avant wagon.
Speculation came to an end when Audi made a statement
confirming that the Avant is on it's way to the States
for the first time in Audi Sports 25 year history.
This is a big deal.
But before manufacturers were hopping up sedans
with more trunk space, middle class America was using the
wagon as a means to cross the country
to get to grandma's house.
I think there's a case to be made that besides
the pick up truck, the station wagon might be
the most American vehicle ever.
(upbeat music)
The first station wagons were built in the early 1900s
by independent companies fitting custom wooden bodies
on Ford model T chassis.
Eventually, manufacturers built their own models in house
and switched from wood to steel.
The first all steel station wagon body came in 1935
with the Chevrolet Suburban and by the early 50s,
nearly all the true family mobiles lacked
the wood body that was once the norm.
But the wood appearance was a sign of luxury,
which is why the wood look was kept
by putting wood grain decals
or even sometimes panels on the sides.
By the 1960s, the station wagon had reached
it's zenith of popularity in the U.S.
There were compact wagons, mid sized wagons,
and yes of course, full sized wagons.
And that's kind of cemented the wagon
into the DNA of American vehicle.
Pipey youngsters would sit in the rear facing seats
on road trips, playing sweet or sour, only to realize
they'd be stuck facing that same driver
for the next 250 miles.
We've talked about it before and we'll talk about it again
but the first straw that broke that wagon's back was
the Oil Crisis of 1972.
All these cars had big gas guzzling V8s
that put a dent in the old pocket book at the gas station.
So families looked elsewhere for more economical vehicles
to tout their chunky youngsters around.
In 1977, Chrysler began working on a small, affordable van
that looked and handled more like a car.
Chrysler took a full size van and shrunk it down a bit
so it fit on a station wagon chassis and
threw a more fuel efficient engine inside.
It was a sales success that sent the other big manufacturers
into a frenzy to build their own version
of the miniature van.
It wasn't long before the SUV also hit the scene
and suddenly the American wagon was at the bottom
of the family vehicle totem pole.
- Now you can have all this.
- Although the market for wagons began to dwindle
here in the ol' US of A.
Overseas, the estate continued to maintain the popularity.
Estate is the same thing as station wagon but Brits
just like that word because it's fancier, I'm assuming.
Actually I've just been informed that estate is
kind of the equivalent to the projects here in the US
so it's not quite fancy.
It does sound fancier though.
(upbeat rock music)
Those tea drinkers across the pond,
the love to outclass us revolutionaries with their words.
Bonnet, which is a hood.
They spell tires with a y.
But that all backfired when you decided to
call sedans saloons.
Sedan is a way fancier word.
I dare ya to tell me otherwise.
(beep)
As time went on, wagons and estates had the tarnished image
of being the lame car that your parents drove you around in.
But overseas, they continued to prosper as the immensely
practical do it all vehicle.
Audi realizing they could expand their wagon market,
went off and built a performance version, the RS2 Avant.
(car speeding up)
It's the ultimate sleeper, if you will.
Audi partnered with Porsche to take the 2.2 liter
turbo charged 5 cylinder from the S2
and squeeze 311 horsepower out of it.
A practical car you could carry your kids around and
a month supply of groceries capable of slamming
your kid's noggin into the headrest
and putting your pedal to the floor, that's cool.
The RS2 started the trend of performance wagons for Audi
and really, all other manufacturers.
Volvo, those crazy Sweds, took notice and came out with
the 850R and even raced the damn thing
in British Touring Car championship.
That's sick.
BMW they got their E34 M5 touring edition into the mix.
Touring is the second fancier word for station wagon.
In 2009, Europe got the E61 wagon
with a 500 horsepower V10 engine.
BMW limited the top speed to 155 but
if you got that taken out, it could hit 200 miles an hour.
And speaking of V10s, Audi went ahead and put a Lamborghini
V10 to their 2008 Audi RS6.
Just look at all the stuff that Europe's getting
in those wagons and we're not.
(car driving)
If you're starting to get some jelly wagon fever and
live in America, like me right now, well we had our chance.
Remember when Dodge built the Magnum in 2005?
That thing had all wheel drive and a hemi.
SRT even got their hands on it and made it sicker
but with the mortgage crisis of 2008,
Dodge cut the Magnum from it's lineup.
Just imagine if the Magnum had the hellcat engine.
Maybe the most popular wagon produced stateside
was the second gen CTSV.
GM threw in a supercharged LS V8, which is basically
the C6 Corvette zero one engine.
The CTSV wagon went away in 2014 and was the last American
made sport wagon that we could get our hands on.
(car driving away)
But there is hope on the horizon because in 2020,
Audi is going to bring us the RS6 Avant.
(upbeat piano music)
Avant, again, another fancy word for wagon.
And this model is going to be especially cool.
A 591 horsepower hybrid that goes 189 miles per,
which only adds to the allure of the wagon
and why it's such a big deal as of late,
especially to us USAers.
(car driving)
You know, I think we've been brain washed
over the last 20 years to think that SUVs are somehow
more practical when in actuality, they're not.
They get worse gas mileage, they're harder to park
especially in cities
and no one really uses those third row seats.
The station wagon was replaced by the minivan, the minivan
was replaced by the SUV, the SUV finally usurped
by the crossover.
Which leaves the wagon in a perfect position,
ready to jump into the line up and gain back its popularity.
But that will only happen if people buy them.
And yes I know, a $112,000 for a sport wagon isn't cheap.
I want to see a 500+ horsepower wagon built by Ford
in the next 5 years.
Dammit, I can dream.
(beep)
Check out our 4 part series on Ford versus Ferrari
at Le Mans, one of the greatest rivalries ever in sports.
There's love, loss, betrayal and a whole lot of racing.
It's a great story, one that we want you to hear
so check out Past Gas wherever you get your podcast.
Thank you.
Go check it out, Past Gas.
It's about cars, not about farts.
It's a podcast.
(beep)
When you're working on your project car,
you're going to get dirty, it's inevitable.
And when you go to clean grease off something,
grabbing a towel and unscrewing a bottle of
cleaning solution is the last thing you want to do.
That's why Gunk degreasing wipes are so convenient.
You can grab one and go.
They're super versatile too,
you can use Gunk wipes on anything.
Tools, tabletops, wheels, even your dashboard.
They're large, double sided,
it's got a scrubby side and a smooth side
and they're safe for all surfaces.
Stay clean and support the companies that support Donut
by getting yourself some Gunk wipes.
I love you Brits, I wish I had an accent.
Hold on, I'm not done.
I wish I had a cool accent, I'm from California.
I'm sure there's a Californian accent but since
L.A. is in California, all of our movies
and all of our TV shows have California accents
in them as well so I don't know what it sounds like.
This is a big problem.
Be nice, I'll see you next time.