Even if they suffer under the blows of the SUV, the station wagon resists. For example, the latest Volkswagen Passat exists only as a station wagon. But where did this name come from? Like many others like the sedan, phaeton or convertible, it comes from the horse-drawn world. In English, in the equestrian register, “to break” means “to train”, so initially, the station wagon was a vehicle intended for training horses. Subsequently, the use of this vehicle expanded, being used for transporting goods and people, even for walking in the country, and was used from the rear.
It was precisely at this time that it took on a rural meaning. Naturally, at the turn of 20E century, we have swapped horses in power station wagons for steam engines, which are still far from their current concept. This became evident in the 1930s, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, where they were called “station-wagons” and “estates”. In the first case, it comes from the words wagon, initially designating a cart and station for station. These machines were used to pick up passengers when they got off the train. In another, this refers to owners of large estates who used this type of car to travel through them.
It was Ford who introduced the station wagon name in 1923 on a model distinguished by a wooden rear. for what Because converting a mass-produced car like the Ford T into a station wagon, intended for a relatively limited production run, was carried out by subcontractor body builders and was cheaper using wood.
In 1929, the Ford A station wagon (completely made in-house) had 4 doors, the rear one opening and the latter fully closed: the formula has hardly changed since then. It was widely copied and gave birth to the Woodies, the sometimes very elegant and luxurious station wagons that enjoyed particular success in the USA from the 1930s onwards.
In France, from 1948, Renault offered its Juva 4 Commercial in 4 seats, with a sheet metal body but only two side doors: the Dauphinois. Peugeot launched the 202 Canadian in 1949, mostly made of wood, but equipped with four doors. In 1950, the Peugeot 203 Commercial can be considered the first modern station wagon with its metal body, its four side doors and its large loading volume. However, and curiously, it was Citroën that used the term station wagon commercially in late 1958 with its ID brake.
Peugeot followed suit in 1963 with its 404 Brake Super Lux, followed by the 204 Brake in 1965. Generally speaking, manufacturers are often reluctant to call a spade a spade and therefore call their station wagon a station wagon. Citroen would use the Evasion name on the BX, Renault would use the Nevada on the R21, and Peugeot would use the SW (for the station wagon), especially on the 406 and 206.
As we saw above, the term station wagon also has an almost exclusively French meaning: for international markets, the second name is better. Moreover, no English car is now called an estate (paradoxically, the term has been revived by Renault!), nor a German Kombi, or Combi (for Kombineshkraftwagen, station wagon across the Rhine). But, even if they go by other names, station wagons retain a certain interest due to their large useful volume and their good profiling, which often allows them to reduce their consumption compared to SUVs.
