[Abhi5868]

I always had a soft corner for these Station Wagons. I think the Tiguan Allspace can be considered a Station Wagon, owing to its body style.

[double]

I always have a lust on the Station Wagon's,Still remembering, in 1990's on the way to my school, there used to be one SW parked at road side, Atleast, I used to spend five min, looking at it, in and out, then will continue my walking to school. There are occasions, I got late because of that, and got the punishment as well.

I wanted to have one, But when I purchased my first Car in 2006, Marino was available, But as it was our first car, my wifie did not allow to take chance.

But, Still, I am waiting for one.

I always feel that, luggage carrying capacity is quite useful in SW, as our drives are 90% on highways only covering about 400 to 500KM's.
Also, I don't know, why I love it much, is it because of shape, or usability, or something else. But I feel, SW's are close to my heart always

[sushantr5]

I am fan of Station Wagons. I will definitely miss the form when I shift back to India. It is so popular here in Europe and I fail to understand why we do not have it in India.

I currently drive Ford Focus Kombi ST line, and absolutely love it.

[pathik@2020]

Great thread!! I have fond memories of some station-wagons on Indian roads. Tata Estate was a pretty big car in the days of its launch and attracted onlookers in Delhi, I remember a neighbour parking his Tata Estate in the street and people coming to take a look for the first few months... Corsa Swing was the first comfortable option and it was a shame when it was discontinued. A colleague had it as a company car and he was so fond of it that when he was eligible for an upgrade - he gladly bought the Swing from company at depreciated value and continued to drive it For some time, Indigo Marina was becoming popular with the Delhi tourist taxi folks and I got many a ride on my work travels out of Delhi.

[OctYFAN]

I am absolutely in love with station wagons and I would love to get one. There is this Baleno Altura on a street which we were previously living at and it was there before we moved there 15 years age and is still there. The owner takes meticulous care of it and has applied paint protection all over it. As we have moved a few kms from there, I don't see it much often. Still I see the owner clinging on to it and driving it. I think it was bought new by him (I moved there in 2005).

I would love to own one these days, particularly the Octavia Combi VRs. One thing that is still deterring me from it is parking space as we don't have much of it here in our current residence. The Octy I am owning currently itself is really hard to park. Problems of city dwellers, eh?

[Bsimhan]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Estate cars or station-wagons are versatile vehicles that can be used to transport a large amount of luggage as well as carry 4 or 5 people in comfort.

How about the Standard 2000 sir? I used to see a few in Bangalore during my school days.

[PrasannaDhana]

We owned the Tata Estate in late 90s. It used to be my school ride. I loved the ultra comfortable ride and space. The seats were literal sofas and the car was BIG!

Unfortunately it was very poor in reliability.

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by Bsimhan

How about the Standard 2000 sir? I used to see a few in Bangalore during my school days.

That's a fastback, not an estate.

[tharian]

My favorite of them all sold in India was the Altura. Still turns head when I see one.

This one was parked in front of my house recently and loved the long, low slung look.

[Thermodynamics]

Nice thread, makes one wonder that how many station wagons have been launched in our market and none really picked up.

Generally, in Europe, people upgrade to station wagons when they plan for a kid because of the extra luggage and stroller they need to carry. I guess in our culture we don't have those needs perse. On a lighter note, we better know how to squeeze every cubic inch of that boot, legroom and what not that even an 800 becomes an 8 seater when the need arises.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Tata Estate
The first serious attempt at building an estate car was made by Tata Motors. This car was conceived and built as an estate only. It was not based on a sedan or hatchback. As a result, it looked a lot better than what had been dished out in the earlier years by Premier and Hindustan. In fact, it had a luxurious feel to it. Features like power steering and power windows enhanced its appeal. However, it was a heavy car and used a 1.9L diesel engine that put out just 68 BHP. This made it quite sluggish. Its reliability was not a strong point either.

Great Thread. The Tata Estate always interested me as a child and it looked like an E Class Mercedes to me (many were modified to look like one also with a three pointed star and grill).

In 2006 during a Summer Internship with GM, Halol, Gujarat I was talking with the head of Product Development and I mentioned the Tata Estate looked like an E Class. He had worked at Tata Motors earlier and confirmed that the design cues were taken from the chairmans car( E Class Mercedes), not able to remember if it was a sedan or Estate.

[srishiva]

Used to own a A4 wagon with Quattro 1.8T while in Denver. It was late 90s and cross overs were not much of a thing. Used it to run to mountains in snow and carried bicycles everywhere. Really flexible in how could jump and get things in trunk without walking out in Cold

[Emvi]

I am not a big fan of station wagons.
But we were lucky enough to use Willy's station wagon for a brief period. It was gifted by my uncle who was then the first and original owner of the vehicle. We were not using the vehicle much. When one of our family members showed interest in the vehicle we passed the vehicle to him. My uncle who was the original owner never wanted to sell the vehicle, he wished it ramained within our family. So it is.
The wagon is in very good hands now and being pampered quite a lot

[Turbohead]

Although, I'm not a big fan of the looks, I'd rather have a wagon than an SUV!

For all the owners out there- how is the ride and handling of the wagon compared to the sedan/ hatch equivalent?

[ashenoy]

I owned a Tata Indigo Marina (pre DICOR version) for about 3 years. Purchased it just when my son was born and the utility value of the car was amazing. We did a lot of highway running in that car and it never let us down on the highway.

However, in the city it was hell on wheels. Trouble with the clutch, 3 full clutch replacements that left me with a permanently busted left knee. Trouble with the starter that had me push starting the car at traffic lights multiple times. Finally got fed up and sold the car at a significant loss.

I always wanted the Octavia Combi as a replacement, but could never afford it. I have stuck with large hatchbacks since. I find the rear hatch far more versatile than the boot on a sedan.