The station wagon was the original All-American family vehicle up into the mid1980’s when it was finally drivin into automotive extinction by envirozealots.
With a hearty laugh and a stiff-middle-fingered wave right back at ‘em, though, Lee Iacocca replaced the old four-wheeled nemesis-of-all-things-living with a NEW All-American family vehicle — the minivan.
So, it was out of the frying pan, into the fire for the envirozealots.
Some All-Americans realized, however, that this passenger car/van fusion thing would be just that much better if it were more...more “truck-ish”; dare I say “Suburban-ite”. So the Bronco and Blazer sprouted another pair of doors, making the back sets truly usable, and donned new names, “Explorer” and “Tahoe”.
Still stinging from the irony of having brought the minivan to American life, the envirozealots were not idle. They needed something, though, a moniker, a label, some kind of new stereotype to be against so they could re-energize thier funding campaigns. In an odd confluence of events, automakers were, at the same time, in need of a category for things that were not cars, not trucks, not vans, and not minivans.
Sailing in to save the day came the automotive press with the term “Sport/Utility Vehicle”, and both Detroit and the envirzealots were, again, off to the races. And it’s just like those sentimental old times sparring over the station wagons. The envirozealots screeching about MPG, and Detroit responding with even MORE cubic inches of displacement and cargo volume.
So, what’s a station wagon? Your SUV might just call it “Grandpa”.
Your synopsis is almost perfect.
However, I would add to the genesis of the SUV, the popularity of small trucks in the ‘80s as well as mini-vans. They both boomed, and I’m betting by the time those kids driving the “cool” little trucks “grew up” and had to accomodate a family, they didn’t want the goony mini-van, but something more masculine.
Indeed, all vans are hard to work on. Regular trucks are easier with their standard “phallic” hoods rather than the engine/trans all crammed mostly underneath the dashboard, making things inaccessible.