10 wagons we want but can’t buy
We won’t be seeing these longroofs here any time soon
If there’s one car body style that’s on the ropes in North America, it’s the wagon. Seems as if folks see the Griswold family truckster everytime anybody comes out with a factory longroof, and that’s a real shame. Wagons provide most of the ride and handling of a normal family car, except with better cargo capacity than your average crossover. Sadly, we won’t get any of these over here any time soon, but here are 10 of the best. Dare to dream.
Jaguar XE Estate
Don’t mention the X-Type. Here’s Jaguar’s latest salvo in its battle to once again be a relevant player in the luxury market, and it’s a fullon broadside against BMW. The XE looks sharp, comes with a variety of punchy engines, and wouldn’t you know it, you can get it in a wagon variant. The slate grey paint and the two-tone wheels give this machine an understated look, but that’s the same bellowing super charged V6 you can get on the ultra-sexy F-Type.
Ford Focus ST Estate
Canada did have a wagon version of the Focus some years back, and many owners seem to remember it fondly. While never available in the sportiest trims, it was nonetheless a thoroughly useful machine, and nearly as capacious as the boxy early Escape. However, imagine that utility combined with the rootin-tootin’ performance of the Focus ST. Imagine the rapidity of a Focus wagon equipped with the ST’s 247 hp 2.0L turbo gasoline engine.
Citroën C5 Tourer
Vive la différence! Never mind that the C5 comes with an efficient turbodiesel or that it has plenty of space to haul around your new Le Creuset collection — here, it’s all about the ride. With laminated glass for extra quiet and the Hydractive suspension ironing out the bumps, this Citroën is fantastically smooth.
Honda Civic Tourer
We’re not greedy: if Honda will at least bring back the hatchback, we won’t press for a wagon. But remember how useful the old Accord wagon was? This is essentially the same thing. The styling’s a little on the funky side, but this has nearly the haulage capacity of a CR-V in a car with a low centre of gravity and some of that old fun-to-drive Honda charm. There’s a diesel for the European market, but it’d be hard to fault the standard 1.8L gasoline engine, ideally equipped with a snappy Honda manual gearbox.
Mazda6 Wagon
This one stings a little, especially as it’s not all that long since you used to be able to get a little Mazda zoom-zoom in a utilitarian package that was also great looking. The new Mazda6 is a sharply styled car that handles extremely well, and that 2.5L high-compression Skyactiv engine delivers excellent fuel economy. Mazda hopes that if you need a little more carrying capacity, you’ll consider the CX-5 crossover; but what if they made this available?
Hyundai i40 Hybrid
The new Sonata has taken a bit of bad press for its newer, more conservative styling this year, but just take a look at what Hyundai offers in approximately the same size bracket in Europe. It looks lovely, and while this hybrid version is billed as a concept, it’s certainly no zany flight of fancy. While the Santa Fe cleans up in the sales department, Hyundai could really use a small wagon like this.
Volkswagen Passat Variant
Nobody does a euro-wagon better than the Germans, and in the Passat Variant, VW has a handsome machine with a simply enormous trunk. Probably the most interesting variant of the Variant is the GTE, which combines a 1.4L turbocharged engine with plug-in hybrid capacity for a total range of over 1,000 km, and a fuel-economy rating equivalent to 1.7L/100 km.
Audi RS 6 Av ant
Sweet Lord a-mercy. Check this thing out: huge fender flares, wheels wide enough to be bolted onto a LeMans Prototype, exhaust pipes like a pair of twinned sewer mains, and at win-turbo charged V8 putting out 560 hp. Oof. The RS breed first started as a wagon, so it’s hard not to feel a little more affection for this rocket-propelled chuckwagon than for the svelte liftback we do get.
BMW 335d Touring
BMW makes its 3-Series available in “touring” form (don’t you dare call it a wagon!) in North America, and it will even offer you a choice of engines: an efficient diesel, or a peppy 2.0L gasoline turbo. Live in Europe and you get more choice. Not only can you get your longroof Bimmer as a low-option stick-shift in rearwheel-drive, but you can option it right up to this level — the 335d, packing a 3.0L turbodiesel engine making 313 hp and a stonking 465 lb-ft. of torque.
Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 Estate
Driving’s managing editor Derek McNaught on say she’s already claimed this one as his own, but I’m perfectly willing to duel for it. Swords at dawn, I say, monsieur—Engarde! Like BMW, Mercedes-Benz offers a proper eurowagon in North America, but only as a version of their E-Class. Both the E350 and E63 have a customer base that skews toward the very wealthy. There’s certainly a case to be made for the C-Class estate as both a smaller, more urban-friendly runabout for well-heeled clientele, and in the C63 you’ve got possibly the ultimate family war-wagon.