HAULIN' ASS
BBC Top Gear UK|September 2023
America is the spiritual home of the SUV. The truck is king. But the car they usurped the traditional station wagon still has a loyal and passionate following... if you know where to look
OLLIE KEW 
HAULIN' ASS

IN THE 1910s, THE 'AUTOMOBILE' WAS A PLUCKY NEWCOMER to the transport scene. If you wanted to go anywhere reasonably far away within Britain or the US, you used a train. To get the bourgeoisie and their luggage from their country retreat to the railway station, companies adapted a rudimentary car chassis with boxier bodies bolted on top.

Logically, the British called these workhorses 'estate cars'. The Americans termed theirs 'depot hacks', but that morphed into 'station wagons'. And that is how - not for the last time - two nations divided by a common language came up with completely different names for the same thing. You say tom-A-to, we say estate. And they're trousers, not pants.

For most of the following century, the estate car did its duty. Part tool, part family pet, it obediently carried you, your beloved, your offspring and anything they required from A to B and back. Boots grew and shrunk. Doors and seats were added, or taken away. But the versatile brilliance of the wagon - the Swiss army knife of motoring - never diminished. Not here, anyway.

In America, where the SUV gold rush began, the wagon has been under siege since the early Nineties. Once, every single manufacturer from AMC to Oldsmobile, Plymouth and Pontiac made a wagon. Nowadays, none of those brands even exist. And do you know how many estate models are offered by the combined might of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, Dodge and Lincoln today, in 2023? None. Not a single one. The station wagon has hit the buffers.

If you're a long-roof enthusiast in the USA, you're downright eccentric. Even the soccer mom jibes have ceased, moving on to deride Volvo XC90s and the rejuvenated Chrysler minivan. To thirst for the wagons that we take for granted in Europe, you're just a weirdo.

Bu hikaye BBC Top Gear UK dergisinin September 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye BBC Top Gear UK dergisinin September 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

BBC TOP GEAR UK DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
ELECTROMECHANIC
BBC Top Gear UK

ELECTROMECHANIC

Meet the electric restomod that you can create at home it's so easy you can do the conversion in a day, apparently

time-read
5 dak  |
January 2025
ALL THE SMALL THINGS
BBC Top Gear UK

ALL THE SMALL THINGS

Word is there's no such thing as a decent, small, simple, reasonably priced car these days. Allow TopGear to investigate

time-read
5 dak  |
January 2025
VOLKSWAGEN ID.BUZZ 7-SEAT
BBC Top Gear UK

VOLKSWAGEN ID.BUZZ 7-SEAT

Volkswagen’s new seven seater ID.Buzz is now the family mover it always should have been

time-read
2 dak  |
January 2025
BMW M5
BBC Top Gear UK

BMW M5

TO THE POINT: THE NEW BMW M5 IS AN excellent car. It's very fast, confident, endlessly configurable and now offers a not inconsequential 40ish miles of electric-only running for happy tax returns.

time-read
2 dak  |
January 2025
VAUXHALL GRANDLAND vs FORD EXPLORER
BBC Top Gear UK

VAUXHALL GRANDLAND vs FORD EXPLORER

These two brands have been the 'pile it high, sell it cheap' kings of the UK market for decades, but their new core models take a very different tack...

time-read
7 dak  |
January 2025
CAR OF THE YEAR - 5 STAR
BBC Top Gear UK

CAR OF THE YEAR - 5 STAR

Yep, Renault's retro-chic new supermini with an optional wicker baguette holder Scoops the grand prix...

time-read
5 dak  |
January 2025
MEANWHILE... IN THE FUTURE
BBC Top Gear UK

MEANWHILE... IN THE FUTURE

Catching rockets with chopsticks isn't the only autonomous tech going on in Elon Musk's world...

time-read
3 dak  |
January 2025
KING OF THE HILLS
BBC Top Gear UK

KING OF THE HILLS

You wait for one 800+bhp super GT, then two rock up at once. It's the Aston/Ferrari showdown we've all been waiting for...

time-read
8 dak  |
January 2025
PACKAGE
BBC Top Gear UK

PACKAGE

What better way to test the Hyundai Santa Fe's SUV-ness than hand delivering TopGear magazine to each and every subscriber in... New Zealand?

time-read
10 dak  |
January 2025
MYTH BUSTER
BBC Top Gear UK

MYTH BUSTER

\"THE GOLF GTI WAS THE OG HOT HATCH\"

time-read
2 dak  |
January 2025