Stupid. Upsidedown. Vehicle.

When the average consumer went looking for a larger vehicle, the Suburban was about all there was unless you went to an SUV or pick-up truck.

When the effort was on to get rid of the big full sized cars, they managed to do that, but the buyers simply moved into trucks.

SUV's are beginning to look more and more like stationwagons, and that goes for the mini van (are they really mini?) when it started coming with four doors and a rear hatch it began to look like a stationwagon that's been shortened and made taller.

Now that we see the newest Impalas starting to look like those big old Buicks in size, will it be long before we get our full sized stationwagon back? I hope so, my '85 GM wagon is still going, and I hope it will hang on till that day. I just hope they don't continue with those stupid plastic wrap around bumpers.

Reply to
Wooduuuward
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"Perhaps the ultimate quirk is that regulations meant to save gasoline led the auto industry to dump the station wagon, because it qualifies as a car, and create new classes of family haulers, like sport utilities, that qualify as light trucks. As a result, the fuel economy of the average new passenger vehicle is at its lowest point in 22 years."

shortened and made taller.

Reply to
Bill Freeman

Reply to
Wooduuuward

It's the political "flaw" in the CAFE gas mileage economy standards. Consider, "The largest sport utilities and pickups, those with a weight greater than three tons, are not even part of the regulatory system. That means automakers do not have to count many Hummers, Toyota Land Cruisers or Lincoln Navigators, to name a few." Stationwagons handle better, conform to auto safety guidelines, are more stable than SUVs and have to live within fuel economy guidelines. They were/are socially responsible. How many people know, for example, that the "PT Cruiser" is actually a truck .. . conforming to truck non-safety and non-economy standards? The auto industry found a regulatory "leak" and Congress made no effort to plug it .. . I suspect, as with most product cycles, the "stationwagon" will be rediscovered as new models compete against the "crossover" wagons (e.g. D-C's "Pacifica").

Bill

"Wooduuuward" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@nospam.net...

Reply to
Bill Freeman

Not quite correct 'light trucks' witch includes 98% of SUV's including the PT must meet the SAME crash safety and emission standards as those for cars, only the CAFE average is slightly less. The Navigator is NOT built on the F250 HD chassis like the Excursion and is therefore included in those same standards. The Navigator and the Aviator, like most Ford Motor company SUV's are LEV rated, as well, for low emissions. Bash SUV's if that is your intent but try doing it factually if you expect to influence others to believe as you.

mike hunt

Bill Freeman wrote:

Reply to
MajorDomo

You may have missed it but wagon are back, in a subtle way, they just don't call them wagon. Look at the Vibe, Matrix, Volvo, Forrester and Chryslers Pacifica as examples 'new' station wagons with a raised belt line, built on a car chassis.

mike hunt

Wooduuuward wrote:

Reply to
MajorDomo

Stationwagons? They're called "crossovers" .. . see my post. I'll stick by the safety standards for trucks/SUVs vs automobiles. CAFE standards for "ultimate" SUVs and trucks are NOT counted towards the corporate average. The recent IIHS tests on SUVs dismissed all but 2 in side crashes is another example of how flawed the process is. What are the side crash standards for light trucks?!? The American auto industry found a flaw in regulatory law and exploited it .. .

wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@mailciity.com...

Reply to
Bill Freeman

Well I looked at the Pacifica and it looks like somebody squashed an SUV to me. My station wagon can hold six people comfortably, with a suitcase for each, and a cooler and my tool box in the back, pulling a good sized camper trailer or boat down the highway. I saw an SUV the other day trying to do it and what you might call a rear bumper was mighty close to the pavement.

I wouldn't consider a VW Golf to be a stationwagon any more than Vibe, Matrix, Volvo, etc. To do that job you have to move into a truck. If they decide to make the newest Impala into a stationwagon there might be hope, but they better put the frame back into the car it had when it was originally designed. I don't see why a V6, turbo with an extra gear in the tranny couldn't do the job in it.

I can't say my 5 litre V8 is a valid power plant for my safari wag>

Reply to
Wooduuuward

LoL...Crash test...is everybody going to start driving 35MPH? Most everybody where I live are doing 75 in a 40mph zone.....????

Reply to
Patrick Smith

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