[flyingfences]

There aren't even wagons for sale in America anymore. There are a few crossover-wagon options, with lifted suspension and plastic cladding a la Subaru Outback; there are a few overlarge hatchbacks, e.g., the Honda Civic; but, look for a normal wagon with traditional four-pillar proportions and normal car handling and styling and the only option you'll find for sale here is the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo, which is not an affordable family vehicle. Gone are the days of the Volvo 240 or VW Golf wagons; long gone are the big old American wagons.

[cf100clunk]

To me, the North American passenger car manufacturers' changeover from ladder-frame to unibody construction was the death knell for the kind of station wagon you've described, with four-pillar proportions and normal car handling and styling. With the 1970s fuel price crisis, those giant dinosaurs were terribly impractical, but a full sized mid-1970s ladder-framed station wagon could pull a large trailer without being twisted into a pretzel from the forces at play. Nowadays a full-sized pickup truck or SUV with proper towing ratings is needed for the same.

Station wagons in North America were hit with a stigma about carbon monoxide poisoning in the rear seats. The term ''Station Wagon Effect'' is still used in relation to industrial and residential ventilation systems as well as in boating and of course the automobile industry. When mini-vans surged in popularity starting in the 1980s they had better ventilation at the rear, and today any wagon would need to stringently protect against CO inhalation. Still, the stigma remains.

[cafard]

My family had at least one station wagon--Jeep Wagoneer, Ford Falcon, Ford Ranch Wagon--for most of the 1960s and 1970s. I don't remember ever hearing a concern about carbon monoxide. When did this start being talked about?

[cf100clunk]

> Station Wagon Effect

Described in several links I just found here: https://search.brave.com/search?q=Station+Wagon+Effect

but I'm remembering that concerns about it started coming up in the 1960s when vehicle safety regulations were becoming a thing. Sorry, I don't have a historical reference at hand.

[CobaltFire]

Volvo still sells the V60 PHEV if you want one.

Audi sells the A4 and A6 wagons (and the RS6), Mercedes has it's E class wagon last I looked.