10 FAMILY CARS Before SUVs

What did American families drive before SUVs became the default answer to almost everything? Long before crossovers and three-row SUVs filled American driveways, families still had the same basic needs: kids, luggage, groceries, camping gear, long vacations, and sometimes enough seats for grandparents or friends. They just solved those problems with very different vehicles. In this episode of Rolling Icons Stories, we follow that evolution through ten cars that show how the American family vehicle changed over time. The 1955 Chevrolet 210 Handyman was a six-passenger family wagon with only two doors, but a folding rear seat gave it serious cargo flexibility. The 1957 Ford Country Sedan shows just how mainstream station wagons had become. Ford built roughly 185,000 Country Sedans that year, with six- and nine-passenger versions available and almost nine feet of load space advertised for the six-passenger model. Then there's the 1958 Ford Del Rio Ranch Wagon — Ford's attempt to make the practical wagon feel sportier and more stylish. Its two-door design looked good, but families were increasingly choosing practicality. We also go back to the 1950 Plymouth Special DeLuxe Woodie, an eight-passenger wagon from the final days when Plymouth was still building station-wagon bodies with real wood. Steel was about to win. The 1965 Rambler Classic 770 Cross Country took a different approach: plenty of family utility without the enormous exterior dimensions of a full-size wagon. Eight-passenger seating was even available. The 1963 Chevrolet Chevy II Nova 400 Wagon pushed that idea further. It was compact by American standards, yet offered a cargo floor more than seven feet long — and roughly nine feet with the tailgate down. Volkswagen approached the family-space problem completely differently. The Type 3 Squareback hid its flat-four engine beneath the rear cargo floor, creating luggage space both front and rear. Then the Volkswagen Type 2 Bus abandoned the traditional wagon formula almost entirely. Multiple seating rows, a tall body and a sliding side door pointed toward the packaging ideas that would eventually define the minivan. Chevrolet's 1969 Sportvan 108 shows Detroit embracing the family van. Chevrolet actually marketed Sportvans for family chores and vacation travel, with room for up to eight occupants — although the engine still lived right between the front seats. Finally, the 1973 Ford LTD Country Squire shows the traditional American station wagon near its peak: enormous cargo capacity, available eight-passenger seating, clever rear-door engineering and even an available Recreation Table for long family trips. Put these vehicles together and the story becomes clear. American families didn't suddenly discover that they needed space when SUVs arrived. They had always wanted seats, cargo room, flexibility, comfort and a vehicle capable of handling a long family road trip. First the station wagon did the job. Then compact wagons tried to do it with less car. Vans reorganized the entire vehicle around interior space. And eventually SUVs and crossovers inherited the same family mission. The needs barely changed. The shape did. Which one of these would you choose for your family — and would you take it over a modern SUV? Tell us in the comments, subscribe to Rolling Icons for more automotive stories, and let's roll with Rolling Icons. CHAPTERS 01:00 — Two-Door Workhorse 03:06 — Family Wagon Cool 06:02 — Eight-Seat Woodie 07:01 — Wagon at Peak 09:02 — Minivan Before Minivans 11:07 — Smarter Family Space 13:03 — V8 Family Wagon 13:53 — Hidden Engine 16:45 — Engine Between Mom and Dad 19:03 — Family Favorite