I am a wagon guy. Two of my last three project cars were Volvo 240 longroofs. PR people know, instinctively, to send me wagons because wagons make me happy. They still make me happy, but I’ve been in the car business for a while and one truth is clear to me: Sedans are now cooler than wagons.
(This is a new, recurring feature we’re trying out called “PROVE ME WRONG” where we take our hottest genuine take and try it out for you, our adoring fans. We want you to prove us wrong, even though we are almost certainly right. While some takes exist to shut down arguments, we want this to be a way of encouraging thoughtful conversation around issues and ideas car enthusiasts are facing.)
This thought has lingered for a while and what better place to air it than here, amidst the wonderful and attractive community of Autopians, none of whom, I’m sure, are sharpening ginsu knives or gassing up chainsaws as they seethe in rage at the very hint that wagons aren’t the coolest thing since Miles Davis or wetting your drawers.
Here’s the problem with loving station wagons: Station wagons won. Station wagons are to car culture what Dookie was to popular music. One day you’re counter-culture and then the next day you are culture and everyone in your suburban Nashville junior high is dressing like they just walked out of 924 Gilman.
It is not special to be pro-wagon when, actually, we get some pretty nice wagons. Subaru Outbacks are outrageously popular cars for parents. Mercedes will give you an E-Class wagon, albeit in all-terrain form. Most impressively, we got the Audi RS6 Avant we’ve always begged for. Not only that, we got a sweet commercial to go with it:
[Editor’s Note: That’s almost seven minutes! That’s not a commercial, it’s a student film. – JT]
This is natural. This is ok. But what’s going to fill the void? Sedans, of course.
Follow my logic here: The family car of the ’60s and ’70s was the station wagon which meant, for a certain generation of person (Gen X, largely) the station wagon was démodé. This is why the minivan was a necessity for ’80s and early ’90s parents who viewed it as a way to be hipper than their own progenitors. But if you were a car geek? Wagons became forbidden fruit. Something you’d read about in car magazines or see pictures of on the nascent automotive internet.
Ford wagons brochure via Ford Heritage
Now those people are old enough, have earned enough, and are frankly bored enough to start buying all the wagons they didn’t get. Don’t believe me? Just look how many Audi RS2 Avants have been imported and sold on Bring-A-Trailer.
SUVs quickly replaced minivans and just never went away, though they’ve slowly started to morph back into station wagons. But sedans? Sedans, we were told, are dying. Hell, Ford is going to outright stop making them in the United States.
And yet, there are two good reasons why sedans are both the future of general consumer cars and enthusiast cars.
Lucid Air via Lucid
On the general consumer front, the simple aerodynamic advantage of a sedan makes it the go-to shape for electric vehicles. For a lot of people the Tesla Model S is the coolest car on the planet and it’s hard to argue with them. [Editor’s Note: For many reasons. – JT] It looks good. It can outperform most sports cars in quantifiable if not qualitative ways. It is luxurious without being ostentatious. Joining the Model S are the Lucid Air, Mercedes EQS, and hilariously named Genesis Electrified G80.
The lack of the engine in an EV also means you can add a frunk, which brings back some of the utility that sedans of yore lacked.
On the enthusiast front, it is the fact that they are not popular that will make them popular in the future. It’s a trend as old as trends itself. Citizen Kane was a commercial flop when it debuted and was largely forgotten before being hailed as one of the greatest movies all time. Vincent Van Gogh died penniless. The mere reality that you think sedans are not cool will make them cool. Just you wait.
Plus, sedans now are exceptionally good. Both the recent Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are excellent vehicles (someone even brought a new Camry to our Autopian reader meetup!). In 15 years a manual 2019 Honda Accord Sport FWD will be something enthusiasts get excited about.
This is what I believe. Do you disagree? In the immortal words of Seymour Skinner: “Prove me wrong, kids, prove me wrong.”
I will tackle this with nuance: It depends on the model, though I’m going to go with a mix of new and old to make this point. For example, the 7th-gen Toyota Corolla, which I bring up largely because of the recent Shitbox Showdown, is significantly cooler than the sedan – okay it’s not a cool car but stay with me – because it ran with the utilitarian nature of it and had nicer detailing. The Buick Regal TourX was significantly cooler than the sedan, because it had better detailing and better proportions. The Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo actually gave the Panamera proportions that worked.
On the other hand, the current Hyundai i30 wagon gives it a weird dumpy butt, the sedan – well, fastback – is substantially better looking. The upcoming Toyota Crown’s wagon concept looked very generic next to the sedan concept. The first-gen Mazda 6 had a wagon that squared up the styling that really tamed the styling and made the car look kinda inert – later generations of Mazda 6 had cooler wagons, however.
“…aren’t the coolest thing since Miles Davis or wetting your drawers.”
OK Billy Madison.
As far as weather or not sedans are cooler than wagons, I think the reason why many of us think wagons are cooler are more due to the fact that for the most part wagons largely died off 25-30 years ago (at least here in the US) while the sedan carried on. Personally, I’m not swayed toward one or the other.
Ford had already killed off the sedan, at least in America. The Fusion was the last one they sold and that was discontinued in 2020. In fact, the Mustang is the only thing listed in the “car” section of their website. Everything else is considered a truck, SUV or “electrified” in the Mach-E’s case.
You’re dead to me.
Must be a Euro thing. Wagons lost favor in the US in the 80’s. there are still holdouts, but event the old 2 door vs 4 door debate has dramatically cooled. the sedans I miss the most though are hardtop 4 doors. but NHTSA killed those.
Okay to start you’re comparing apples to starfish. Cars to trucks. I would suggest wagons, SUVs , vans and pickups follow in one utility group and cars, sedans. Hatchbacks, crossovers and sports cars are in a totally different genre. If you like big comfy cozy you go with the first. You like slim tight and sporty you go with the second. There is some mixing of the genes. Now not all of one genre are going to be economically collectable, ie worth more after restoration. And even the worst every vehicle will attract a few fans ie Yugo. But sedans aren’t anymore cool than a wagon along the same fan group. It’s a Ginger or Marriane, Star Trek vs Star Wars, Kirk vs Picard, red licorice vs black licorice thing. There is also popular cheap transport genre. None of the basic transport Japanese high selling high resell value run forever but nothing special will be collectable because lack of rarity but will keep value because who doesn’t want a reliable DD and if it’s used and cheap so much the better. The author has a problem with his definition of cool. Now if we take cool HS definition, and remember the word cool isn’t cool anymore, it’s the elite,the top 10%. But each high school had there cool group, ie different genres. The author is trying to repurpose the term cool in this HS is cool this one isn’t. That doesn’t fly. Cool is grading on a curve top 10% cool. So trying to say sedans are cooler than wagons is saying a barebones,
GMC sedan like a Spectrum is cooler than any Volvo Wagon or Dodge Magnum wagon with a Hemi. You’d think a auto journalist might know better than to make such an idiotic argument or maybe he is testing us.
Hey Matt I’m in the Matrix you can’t touch this. lol
Hey Horchak. Me and Mr. Whitman would like to have a word with you after class. (your friend, Mr. Kotter. no offense intended.) Just couldn’t resist the reference and your name. I say “good day to you sir…”
The model S has a rear hatch and can accommodate two people sitting in the rear. Calling it a “sedan” as opposed to a wagon is kind of cheating, especially since tons of wagons now have very raked rears. Modern sedans and wagons are basically concerging on the liftback design die to aero, it’s just a matter of how small the rear opening is.
I don’t care if it’s a sedan or a wagon, as long as it has a wide bench seat in the front for three people, and the shifter mechanism on the column. That’s the hill I’ll die on.
Rest In Peace.
I really depends on what the goal is. For my family road tripper, the Sedan is great with the ability to hide luggage from prying eyes and hitting the breaks doesn’t turn them into projectiles.
For my Daily, I have a wagon as I can do dump runs, pick up longer objects, etc. Even a Crosstrek with the seats folded down have quite of bit of room to play with.
I’d been a truck and SUV guy for a long time and still have an SUV, but earlier this year I went back to a sedan for a daily for a number of reasons:
1. Got my work laptop stolen from my truck in a smash and grab late last year. I’m on the road for work a lot and don’t want to have to worry about that.
2. Because of being on the road a lot, mileage is important, but so is comfort and performance.
3. I just wanted to go fast again and a Raptor or TRX wasn’t in the budget
Just curious about number 1. How would a Sedan prevent a smash and grab. Is it because you could store it in the trunk? Your other two points make perfect sense.
Yes.
Your argument is essentially that Sedans are cool because they’re anti-cool. Wagons are still more anti-cool, which makes them cooler (as far as your logic seems to function for this post). The Taycan cross-turismo is perhaps the coolest car on sale today.
The Taycan cross-turismo is actually very cool.
They really work for me, unlike the Panamera.
I’m with you until you got to the sedan bit. The sedan was always the wrong choice. It only was ever popular as an exercise in excess and ostentatious luxury. The 5 door is and always has been the true form for the car. It may take on different shapes over the years, but 2 box is superior to 3 box.
I agree with your take that wagons are superior, and also note that there is no such thing anymore as a classic “3 box” sedan. All sedans now are weird blobby shapes with undefined sections that flow into a trunk. Trucks are now the only 3 box design out there.
And incidentally, the Tesla Model S is a 5 door. It’s a big hatchback, not a true sedan.
Good. Maybe the now ex-cool wagons will come down in price a bit.
Yes, but hopefully not until I sell my e39 touring…
Are sedans slipperier than wagons? Sure. Will that bring them back? Most definitely.
That’s not important, though.
Will it keep them back? Hell no. We’re going to go through another phase of car evolution again.
Sedans are currently the leader because they haul people and they don’t have as much resistance. This is important for a couple reasons: uber, lack of charging infrastructure, family size, etc etc.
Its that second one that is going to bring the wagon back to us.
Right now manufacturers are eking out every erg of juice from the EV system because they have to. Aero losses, drivetrain losses, battery pack loses, temperature losses and so on: all conspire to keep you from reaching that next charging port. We don’t have the luxury of a wagon that might not glide through the air as effortlessly as a sedan.
But we will.
The goal is to open another 500,000 charging stations in the near future. We will be able to afford to stop caring about those losses that are dragging at us, we’ll be able to be less slick, less smooth, and as a result we’ll end up so much more slick and so much more smooth. The wagon will return.
We will be able to carry our stuff. We’ll be able to bring the whole family and the dog. We’ll be able to load up surfboards, skis, kayaks, and all manner of long cumbersome recreational toys.
Sedans are big right now because they fit the time. Because they fit the time it is possible that there will always be a place for them. That’s how the U.S. works. If something stick around long enough it becomes a staple even if it was horrible at the time, even if there is a much better option later on. Don’t believe me? Well Chitlins are still quite popular in the south.
Sedans are Chitlins.
Wagons are steak.
Both may be classics, but one is undeniably better than the other to the majority.
Owned nothing but wagons for 20 years, currently have a V50 850R and a V70 just hauled a bunch of 8 foot long boards in the V50 with the tailgate closed
Though I’ve never, ever owned a wagon, I’ve driven tons of ’em, liked most, and will agree with you up to some unspecified date (in the ’80s or ’90s, I suspect) when boxy utility was abandoned almost totally for designs that can’t carry much more stuff than a largish hatchback.
700-series Volvos were wonderful. You could pack darn near everything in them, and have space left over. Naturally, that applies to older ones as well. Not so swoopy outside, but who cared? Certainly not me. No pain in driving one, either.
Even though it’s not as utilitarian as the Volvo, I’m still jonesing for an Audi RS2 Avant. Could get my groceries in it, and that’s about all I need these days. Beyond that rorty turbo-five and a go-faster chassis, that is.
So, yeah, gotta give you points for being pretty much correct here. You should get a ’55 Ford Ranch Wagon as your Staff Car.
I fully agree. I tried wagons with the last generation A4 Avant, but due to the sloped back roof, it actually was less usable than my 2010 GTI – I could fit a road bike in the back of my GTI with the rear seats folded down without removing the front wheel, but couldn’t do that in the A4 avant. The performance of sedans (lighter weight, stiffer structure & usually more performance options) with the practicality of an OEM roof rack and fold down rear seats well outweigh any style points or *possible* practicality advantages of a wagon.
Should have went with a golf sportwagen.
To be honest, that means the A4 Avant is a shitty wagon. Perhaps it’s even just a short crossover, then. Because my e39 touring lets me happily stuff a couple of CX bikes in without removing a wheel, or an upright bass and a full band worth of PA gear, or 1,500 square feet of wood flooring.
IMHO, a proper wagon doesn’t succumb to the usual “sloped back” bull that makes most crossovers awkward and no better than a sedan. And let’s be honest, haul an upright bass in any sedan and you’ll quickly realize that they suck from a flexibility standpoint. Wagons are life for a reason. Even just hatchbacks, honestly. I can haul more in my 1987 944 Turbo than I can in most modern sedans.
I’m not going to dispute this. In fact, I might catch some heat for this, but I believe the SAAB C900 sedan was more…um, SAAB-y, more quirky, unique, and attractive in its own idiom than the C900 hatch.
I was a hatchback person for a long time and then I got a sedan and it was revelatory. Trunks are so convenient. When I put stuff in there it’s hidden away. Also, the back seats are comfortable. And it’s a good looking car with proper proportions. Sedans are the shit.
Clearly a “to each their own” situation. My wife moved from hatchback to sedan, and it’s her only real complaint about the new car.
This is the correct reply. Wait for me to get back from the land of down under to deliver a prize of some kind to you. (your friend, DT)
I like wagons because I like wagons. I didn’t care that they weren’t cool back when they weren’t cool, or when they were, or now that aren’t cool anymore (assuming that’s true). Sedans are… fine? The last one I owned that I really liked was a 1966 250S. That one was gone by 1982. I miss it.
I disagree with the premise that popular opinions of coolness really matters to car nerds. The car nerds I am familiar with will tell you what they think is cool, but they don’t expect their opinions to be popular (or even accepted; I am looking directly at you, Torchinsky).
Ditto.
Unless you’re taking something to auction, there’s no reason to care what other people think of your car choices.
As a child of the 50s and 60s etc. grew up in these wagons. Would have bought one and wanted to do so since age 18 or so. Yes I agree 100% with you. We buy what we like, for a 18 year old and now? I still want a cool 1960s era US Wagon, another 1971 Toyota 2 door wagon. But finding one that seems suitable for my needs and wants for a reasonable price seems impossible. Wagons rule cause they can do anything and somehow look innocent while doing various types of things that society/authorities/Republicans consider wrong. Makes me want one even more thinking this over a bit now…Good. Coolness is or should never be a factor in the decision for a car. But yeah, wagons are/were/always will be cool to me.
YMMV.
So basically whatever the moms are driving becomes uncool to their kids leaving a cool car void that some other car has to fill. Yeah I can’t really prove you wrong on this one.
You know which of the car is my mom drove during my lifetime that I would love to have the most right now? 1974 Buick Lesabre.
I’m with you. Sedans and wagons both exist as flip sides of the mean between the on-road extremes of race car and cargo truck.
Sedans are detuned race cars with roofs, more seating/doors, while wagons cross that point and then focus on utilitarian space which pushes them toward cargo truck.
If you accept race cars are cooler than cargo trucks (I know, an open question/people will fight me on that), sedans are indeed cooler as they’re closer.
Wagons became seen as cool for most for their embodiment of an automotive counterculture stance.
“If you accept race cars are cooler than cargo trucks…”
The people of Lind, WA, and I both refuse to acknowledge that there’s a distinction to be made here.
http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000nYJRYQ_lnQk/s/650/650/angier-1106-truck-race-6505.jpg
Too bad most new sedans have stubby-ass trunks that might as well be hatchbacks and have a rear wiper too
My Jetta GLI’s trunk is positively cavernous.
Same with my Elantra. I have filled it up with gear for 5 people to spend the day in the mountains meditating and hiking and a change of clothes and no one had to carry anything in their laps. Rear leg room? Well that’s a different story but the trunk is huge.
What’s the opening like? That seams to be forever shrinking on modern sedans. The space is all not that useful if you can’t get larger items in.
It’s a gaping maw. The trunk opens fully. Unlike on the Elantra. That trunk’s opening is quite small which is actually one of the reasons why I went for the GLI over an Elantra N-Line. I just moved and I’ve used the Jetta to carry all sorts of shit like big Ikea furniture, bins of crap, and rugs. It’s no truck, but it’s quite practical.
“In 15 years a manual 2019 Honda Accord Sport FWD will be something enthusiasts get excited about”
I think whatever the last year of the V6/manual is already has this status, so I’ll go one further.
Just wait until Kia Tellurides are the Tri-5 Chevys of 2050 (Standout styling for a reasonably affordable vehicle in the most popular bodystyle). A bunch of 70 year old car enthusiasts will be absolutely RAGING on the internet.
As for the question, sedans have always been cooler than wagons. Next.
Nah, the Accord 2.0T 6M is way cooler than the V6 6M that preceeded it, and comes with more doors.
But pillarless hardtop sedans are cooler than either, and we’ll never see those come back.
Yes, but pillarless droptop sedans with rear suicide doors are the coolest. Prove me wrong!!!
You’re right. But it’s a hierarchy, like that scene in Zoolander where he’s at a party with cool people, then goes into a smaller room with more exclusive cool people, then an even smaller room that’s even more exclusive, then in the last room it’s just Winona Ryder.
This. So, so much this. Gimme my 65 Continental!
That is getting me on a tangential thought. What IS the last true pillarless hardtop sedan, apart from definitely something from Japan? Mazda Persona maybe?