Station Wagon Wank

kernals12

Banned
Until the recent rise of SUVs, this was the standard car design
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The 4 door sedan with what designers call the 3 box style: 1 box for the engine, another one for the passengers, and a third for the trunk.

But there's a problem: you have a lot of wasted space on top of the trunklid that isn't utilized. There is of course a style that fixes that
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The station wagon. This Chevrolet Caprice wagon takes up as much space on the road as a Caprice sedan, but it has much more cargo space and a third row of seats.

I can come with a pretty simple POD to ensure that the wagon becomes the standard design.

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Most cars until the war had a vertical rear end, like this 1939 Chevrolet sedan. It's not a wagon, as it has a normal trunk, but it could easily evolve into a wagon. However, that same year, Cadillac ruined everything.
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They introduced a new style of sedan which had this big trunk sticking out, before, this had only been used on coupes.

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After the war, sedan trunks slowly started puckering out, like on this 1947 Chevrolet. And in 1949, the inevitable happened
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It infected Chevrolet...
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Plymouth...
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And Ford

Ironically, that same year, Plymouth opened up the station wagon to the masses.
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Before then, station wagons were made of wood and were extremely expensive, but in 1949, Plymouth built the first all steel station wagon, which was affordable to the growing mass of baby boomer families. But even so, people had taken to the sedan and wagons never could exceed 1/5th of the market.

Let us imagine that Cadillac never brought out that new look for 1939 and stuck with the vertical rear end and the rest of the auto industry followed along. Then in 1949, Plymouth could bring out an all station wagon lineup and set the trend for the rest of the industry.

You're probably wondering, what about my sports car? I don't want it to be a boring wagon. I've got good news.
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Say hello to the shooting brake.

At some point of course the SUV craze will still happen. But that's easy to handle.
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Just take your wagon, jack it up a few inches, and add some plastic cladding. No need for automakers to kill off treasured nameplates.

So now I've made the cars of the 20th century far more space efficient as it always should've been.
 
Station wagons have big trunks, but when kids can no longer ride around in the back of a station wagon (same as the bed of a pickup,) everything that makes a station wagon as practical as a minivan or third-row SUV is done. A minivan is more spacious, has automatic doors that don’t befit a station wagon, and can seat at least one more person than a station wagon without cramming a small child right next to the driver.

The only scenario I can think of that boosts the trajectory of the station wagon is a prolonged gas shortage (or a rebound of the 1970s shortages) or a profound gas price spike in the 1980s when the station wagon was still a big thing. Even those benefits may be short-lived, since research into alternative fuels will be accelerated, negating the need for smaller vehicles in the long run.
 
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The only scenario I can think of that boosts the trajectory of the station wagon is a prolonged gas shortage (or a rebound of the 1970s shortages) or a profound gas price spike in the 1980s when the station wagon was still a big thing. Even those benefits may be short-lived, since research into alternative fuels will be accelerated, negating the need for smaller vehicles in the long run.

Have Station Wagons be treated as Trucks, for purposes of CAFE and EPA emissions.

It's one of the reasons that Wagons went away
 

SwampTiger

Banned
Maybe have improvements to the Kaiser-Frasier Travellers. Rambler had two door wagons by 1950/51. As stated above, once minivans arrive, it becomes hard to justify a wagon.
 

kernals12

Banned
Have Station Wagons be treated as Trucks, for purposes of CAFE and EPA emissions.

It's one of the reasons that Wagons went away
It's only one of the reasons. People rediscovered the benefits of tall cars after decades of swallowing the mantra of longer, lower, wider.

And there's no way you can justify classifying station wagons as trucks. Taking a sedan and extending its roof back does not make a truck.
 
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kernals12

Banned
Maybe have improvements to the Kaiser-Frasier Travellers. Rambler had two door wagons by 1950/51. As stated above, once minivans arrive, it becomes hard to justify a wagon.
Station wagons can be made attractive, minivans... cannot. I have no idea what world you live in where people only pick cars based on practical reasons.
 
And there's no way you can justify classifying station wagons as trucks. Taking a sedan and extending its roof back does not make a truck.

But bolting two rearward facing seats in the bed of a Subaru Brat changed it from a truck to passenger vehicle to get around the chicken tax
 
Have Station Wagons be treated as Trucks, for purposes of CAFE and EPA emissions.

It's one of the reasons that Wagons went away

An easier way is to get rid of CAFE altogether. As it turns out it would have probably been for the best. People with kids need larger vehicles to carry sports equipment and other supplies for their kids.

That is a big reason my brother bought an SUV. He has 3 kids and 2 stepkids. You can't haul a lot of sports or camping equipment in a Prius or something. If they would have made that too expensive he would have bought a pick up instead.
 
Aren't there some structural reasons for the superiority of the sedan? I am not a car guy but I seem to recall more stiffness or something. Then there is visibility. You can see more of what is behind you in a sedan.
 

kernals12

Banned
Aren't there some structural reasons for the superiority of the sedan? I am not a car guy but I seem to recall more stiffness or something. Then there is visibility. You can see more of what is behind you in a sedan.
Those structural issues were gone by the 50s.
 
Aren't there some structural reasons for the superiority of the sedan? I am not a car guy but I seem to recall more stiffness or something. Then there is visibility. You can see more of what is behind you in a sedan.
Before 'Longer, Lower and Wider'
1938 Ford Fordor Sedan
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Wheelbase: 112 inches
Seats 5
Length: 179.5 inches
Height: 68.6 inches
Ground clearance: 8 inches
Wheels: 16-inch
Weight : 2750 lbs
Engine: 221cu.in V8 (3.6L) 80HP
Transmission:3 speed manual, rear live axle
Drum brakes, mechanical link, non-hydraulic
All Steel Body on Frame construction
MPG 18
$685-$900($12,350-$16,230, adjusted for inflation) Early tube radios cost over$100 to add in, oh, and heaters were still optional, too


2018 Ford Escape
ford_escape2018_red.png

Wheelbase: 105.9 inches
Seats 5
Length: 178 inches
Height: 66.3 inches
Ground clearance: 7.9 inches
Wheels: 18-inch
Weight: 3542 lbs
Engine: 152.6 cu.in. I4 (2.5 L) 168-245HP
Transmission: 6 speed automatic, FWD or AWD, independent.
Disk brakes, power ABS/Traction control
Unibody construction
MPG 24
$16,500 to $26,600
 
I would personally love a TL where station wagons remain the standard, if for the only reason that it'll likely mean hatchbacks remain common as a "mini-station wagon"

My brother owns a Prius V, which is like a station wagon version of the Prius. It's marvelous. So much room in a car only a little longer and wider than my regular Prius. Shame Toyota killed it off to make room for the hybrid RAV4s
 
Station wagons can be made attractive, minivans... cannot.
Well taste is subjective. Personally I can't see how you can pretty up a station wagon to look better than a minivan, which means it loses on both looks and utility.
 
No matter what the naysayers say, the SUV is a great victory for automobile space efficiency.
I disagree.

The SUV is an evolutionary dead-end in 99.99% of cases.

There is nothing a standard SUV can do better than a MPV (minivan for those of a NA persuasion). The vast majority of SUVs are FWD and for a larger carbon and physical footprint provide less space and economy.

The best looking SUV is still an ugly bit of kit whereas a well-designed MPV can be a thing of exquisite beauty.

I speak as someone who has owned many examples of both types of car. My favourite car to drive of all time was a proper SUV (Subaru Forester) but it was a pig to look at and had a small cargo capacity and shocking fuel economy.
 

kernals12

Banned
I disagree.

The SUV is an evolutionary dead-end in 99.99% of cases.

There is nothing a standard SUV can do better than a MPV (minivan for those of a NA persuasion). The vast majority of SUVs are FWD and for a larger carbon and physical footprint provide less space and economy.

The best looking SUV is still an ugly bit of kit whereas a well-designed MPV can be a thing of exquisite beauty.

I speak as someone who has owned many examples of both types of car. My favourite car to drive of all time was a proper SUV (Subaru Forester) but it was a pig to look at and had a small cargo capacity and shocking fuel economy.
Minivans are hideous
 
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