The family wagon
The definition of a family car is a vehicle suitable to transport ones immediate family, belongings and pets. The criteria for a family car is varied and depends on many factors, seating room required, the ages of your brood and the budget you have available. Lower down on most requirements are how it looks and drives, for me, these are my top three along with resale value. Therefore, the choice for many is either an SUV or an Estate car.
With so many variants, acronyms available MPV’s, SUV’s, 4x4’s, Crossovers, Midsize compacts, the list goes on. The new segments for a family car are really just about marketing, selling us a life style. Twenty plus years ago these were not available, simply the estate version and a Land Rover. If you had a family with 2 or more children then it’s an estate. If you also lived rurally then it’s a Land Rover. Arguably, the Range Rover laid the foundations for the bridge between luxury estate car and off roader. It was an important car and early Mk1’s are a sort after classic with well-restored V8 examples commanding big money.
The Sport Utility Vehicle segment was born and fused with revolutionary cars like the 1984 Renault Espace people carrier. From the early 2000’s the SUV slowly became the popular choice for families. I recall working for BMW when the X5 was a completely new model for the manufacturer, not an SUV but a Sport Activity Vehicle, SAV. SUV or SAV, it showed how a heavier, taller motor vehicle could drive and handle it was the benchmark and a desirable one. Fast forward to now and the SUV is more popular than ever, being an important model in any brand’s line up. Even sports car manufacturers like Lamborghini and Porsche have SUV models that outsell their siblings. In fact, the Lamborghini Urus doubled Huracan sales in 2019. The Cayenne was the saviour of Porsche back in the early 2000 when the company was in financial difficulty. The “cash cow” model continues with new offerings this year from Aston Martin, with the DBX and Ferrari’s Purosangue (PUR-o-SAN-gue) for 2021/22.
What makes the SUV so popular? A commanding driving position and having more car body around you relives the occupants of feeling vulnerable. The extra space for carrying, utility ability are also factors that sit well with families across the UK. Sales figures for SUV’s last year was 28 million and has been steadily growing year on year. Despite this, I still champion the estate car as the ideal family wagon. Generally, they are lighter, better to drive, aerodynamic and drink less fuel. As a car enthusiast a family car for me was a fast estate, be it a Touring, Avant or Station Wagon. When I first had the keys to an Audi RS4 B5 in 1999, it was only available in Avant (Estate) body. With its chunky swollen arches and 375bhp from a bi-turbo V6, It was rapid. A cool looking, practical five-door body with Quattro all-wheel drive that looked the business. I wanted a family.
Audi had the performance estate market sewn up and later with the V8 bi-turbo RS6 from 2002 it kept its crown. You can pick up high mileage RS4 B7’s (2006 – 2008) with the atmospheric V8 from around £15k and early RS6’s from the same. Check out over 150 examples in the DesperateSeller.co.uk classifieds. Alternatively, Skoda Octavia vRS Estate, Focus ST estate or Golf R Estate could provide a similar solution. The boring old Volvo 850 estate immediately got kudos as the first and only estate car to enter the BTCC in 1994. Volvo launched the 850 T5 R in 1995 and it was a 5.8 sec to 60mph dog pod. Offered in black, Cream yellow or Olive green it combined stealthy performance and practicality to enable approval as a family car. Only 322 Estates were UK registered so finding a well-kept low mileage example won’t be easy, the later 850 R was sold in greater numbers and colours.
Unfortunately, the estate car is a dying bread as most new concepts and electrics follow the shape of an SUV. Concepts like the Aston Martin Lagonda SUV, Renault Morphoz and forthcoming new cars like the VW ID.4 or Skoda Enyaq IV are an example. Whist we can still choose our powertrain and have a bewildering variety of types, sizes and shapes of vehicle to carry our family, take some time to consider an Estate version. BMW are to launch the new M3 with a Touring body for the first time ever. Just saying.
