Why Is it Called a Station Wagon?
The station wagon holds sentimental appeal for many American families who took them on summer vacations. Wagons were most popular in the 1950s and 1960s, but were replaced in family driveways in the 1980s and 1990s by minivans and SUVs.
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The Original People Mover
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A station wagon is an automobile in which the passenger compartment extends all the way to the back, with a cargo area behind two rows of seats. The first wagons were commercial vehicles used to transport passengers and their luggage to and from train stations.
1923
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The first mass-produced station wagon was the 1923 Durant.
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The "Woodie"
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The first station wagon bodies were made from wood. Car makers converted to steel because wood was hard to maintain, but attached simulated wood paneling decals to the steel.
The Wagon's Heyday
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The station wagon's popularity grew after World War II as growing families moved to the suburbs and needed larger cars. By the late 1950s, one out of six new cars sold in the United States was a wagon.
The Wagon's Demise
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Station wagons fell out of favor in the 1980s with the introduction of the minivan as an alternative people mover, followed by the sport utility vehicle (SUV) in the 1990s.
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