No annoucement yet from Ford or GM. I do want a Country Squire in maroon.
Official Statement: In December 2025, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the new fuel economy proposal would “actually allow you to bring back the 1970s station wagon”.
Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser!
Somewhere down my powerball list ar the Cutlass/Skylark wagons with the vista cruiser roofs. Downside, they rarely look good with the wood trim.
Agree. The wood trim is just a bit too much…
If you watch “High Potential “ she drives this Olds I had a 70 Cutlass Supreme convertible with the 350. Trouble free to 150K except the windshield washer, then a bad decision, traded for a Plymouth Scamp, slant six to get better MPG. Definitely a bad choice.
It would give the fans of those 90s Roadmaster or Vista Cruiser wagons a replacement. They’d need a platform to base it on though.
My wife has not-so-fond memories of learning to drive in a Ford Country Squire. And memories of vacations and trips across town being interrupted by the same broken-down Country Squire. At some point father-in-law “upgraded” to a Dodge Diplomat wagon. I don’t know if it’s just the different time period or my father-in-law’s questionable approach to auto maintenance, but car trouble was just part of a normal day when she was growing up. Sometimes she marvels that after 30+ years together she’s only been stuck with a broken down car one time–and that was a dead battery.
As for old wagons, I do have a soft spot for the Buick Sport Wagons, but I think my choice would be an early-70’s Chrysler Town and Country.
You B-sterd, how could you let her have a dead battery??? 
At least it hasn’t happened twice… 
Well, just being my usual cheap self. The car was getting old, and she was actively shopping for a new one. The battery had just turned 6 years old so I knew it was on borrowed time, but heck if I was going to spend money on battery for a car that would be traded off in a month or 2. So one Sunday she was out to brunch with friends and I get the call…
BTW, the battery tested OK just a few weeks prior, which supports my long-standing recommendation of replacing batteries at the 6 year mark no matter how they test. Batteries can fail with no prior warning.
Nope. I replaced the battery in her 2018 car back in 2024.
Yeah I sometimes envy people that have warning signs of a dying battery, they will say something like it slow cranked the last few mornings, or blah blah blah… Mine always start just fine, then the next time it flat out will not crank… 
My 67 Buick wagon was a vista cruiser. Finally sold it for &250.
I make i5 a habit to test the batteries at least 2-3 times a year. I also carry a booster pack if the car is on the road.
The 1977-1996 model year B-body sedans and wagons were based - loosely - on the same frame that under-pinned 1964 - 1977 model year A-bodies.
I say loosely because it wasn’t the actual frame, but a modified version.
So there’s the platform!
I see one in my driveway right now!
A good habit to have.
If I said I was doing the same thing, I would be branded as “OCD”, a “maintenance snob” and the whole nine yards.
But no, I encourage upkeep practices such as with your batteries, as with tires, air filters, and other ‘driveway’ items.
Author and csr journalist P.J. o’rourke gave the Flex high praise when he borrowed an early press car to take the family on a road trip. For what families really need it to do it was well designed and engineered. 2009 Ford Flex: The O'Rourkes do Utah's Lower Left
Of course my brother wanted a Mercedes E 4matuc wagon with the rear facing bench for a family car. Ended up with a Sequoia that can split the 3rd row leaving room for the dog. Just has to live with the size and mpg. His mechanic offered to look over the Mercedes if he’d found one. Dual German/Japanese specialist and if they won’t recommend a vehicle or work on it they won’t buy it. 25+yr relationshp. Suggested this Subaru in 06. It was the family wagon until kid#3 was born. Does fit 3 car seats bur not comfortably. Ran and drove Luke new when we took a drive recently.
I’d drive that era Subaru if I didn’t have a car already. It’s from the ‘optimal’ era of cars: sensible proportions and features, after the land barge era, and before the present age of weird (giant dashboard tablets, electric power steering that feels like vanilla pudding, wheels big enough to shoe commercial jets, “lane-keep-assist” that thinks it knows better than the driver where the center of a lane is, super-high beltlines and slits for windows, and bumper cams front and rear because you can’t see out the slits for windows!)
Wanted to give it to his 16yr old, but she can’t drive stick. Bought it new but with 300mi on it from the drive from the other dealer in Idaho. Last 5spd wagon in that trim in the region. Goes across the pass or up and down the steep hill between the neighborhood and work like nothing. There’s a 09 Gti 5dr that’s his driver the other half of the year. Nokia winter tires on the Subaru, became hooked working ski patrol at Mt Baker with a 86 Jetta. Now as an ICU nurse he doesn’t get snow days.
Arrggh… I can’t.
drive.
manual either!
I tried to learn it, a couple of outings with an old apartment neighbor in a large commuter lot that emptied out on Saturdays. The lessons ended after I nearly removed the transmission completely from my neighbor’s beloved 2002 Focus. 
(rest in peace George, I miss our many conversations together)
