The station wagon is alive and well: Driving the Buick Regal TourX

Enlarge / 2018 Buick Regal TourX. (credit: Buick)

Station wagons used to be everywhere. My best friend in high school drove some gigantic, late-'60s station wagon in that peculiar color I thought of as "station wagon green" with a healthy helping of faux wood paneling. Throw in a bit of rust, a few inches of fast food wrappers on the floor of the back seat, and a radio capable of cranking out the latest rock hits from KBPI (rocks the Rockies!) from the sole dashboard speaker, and you had... a common and unremarkable ride for the early 1980s.

How time (and tastes) have changed. Once ubiquitous, the station wagon is something of a rare sight on roads now populated by crossovers, SUVs, and minivans. Three decades ago, if you wanted something that could carry kids and a bunch of gear, your choice was either a station wagon or a van. And not the mini kind of van, either. Yet the station wagon is hanging in there-just about-even when there are so many other options. When given the chance to drive one, the Buick Regal TourX with Smart Driver tech, we jumped at the chance.

A sleeker wagon

Buick

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