4wd Station wagons

I'm not talking about Billy Bob ( No offense if your name is Billy Bob) sticking a wagon body on a 4x4 truck frame. I'm talking about factory made vehicles. I know the first cars that come to mind are the AMC Eagle and Subarus and also AWD Volvos, but I'm curious if there are some I haven't seen before. I'm mostly talking about North America and mostly the US since I know there are probably some cool 4x4 wagons in other countries. I saw a 4wd Nissan Stanza today and have never saw or heard of one before. I've seen a few of the Toyota Tercel wagons, Colt Vistas and Honda Civic AWD.

Here's the Stanza I saw today. I was in remarkable shape except for a little damage to the left rear.
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Peugeot 4x4. Sort of an aftermarket conversion done by a group named Dangel. There are just a few of them in the USA I think.

 

The lady that used to live across the road from me had one of those Stanza wagons. Think it was an 85 or 86. Same color as the first pic, but with the rust of about 15 Michigan winters.

Audi has made a Quattro wagon at least back to 1990. But I seem to remember seeing one in the mid 80s every day in the elementary school parking lot.

They made the Pontiac 6000 in an AWD version from 1988 to 1990. But only the sedan. I really wish they would have made one as a wagon, it wouldn't have been that much work at all. If I had the money and facilities I'd put the AWD drivetrain into a wagon. I knew someone who swears he saw one at a junkyard, the wheels were off and he saw the spindles in the rear. Most likely someone else had done the swap.

 

Here are some that I come up with.

Bentley


Magnum RT AWD


Nissan Prairie(same as EF's Stanza above)


Alfa Romeo 164


Nissan AD Van


Pacifica


Eagle Summit(though could be argued its a VERY mini van)

 

scott the eagle summit was a rebadged colt vista so if the colt counts so does the eagle.

 

Actually, they are all rebadged Mitsubishi Mirage's. They are all Mitsubishi powered Jap cars. But isn't it kinda more of a van with the single passenger side sliding rear door? :banghead3:

 

A few more

Alfa Romero 33


FORD Sierra 2.0i CLX


Toyota Harrier acu30w


Lancia Dedra Station Wagon


FORD Tempra

 

This thread gives me a chance to ask what you folks think about the Ford Flex. It came in AWD, but is it a wagon? I love these things, and wish I could afford one. They spell 'quirky cool' to me. But is it a wagon? Or an SUV...

 

I forgot about the Audi and I knew about the Magnum but I didn't clarify that I meant with vehicles with some more ground clearance than their 2wd counterparts. Blackfoot thanks for posting those and there are some unique ones there, but I was curious about ones available in the US market. I know there are lift kits for 2wd Magnums to clear the big dub wheels, I wonder how an AWD one would look if it were made to look more like a Volvo XC. I like what IPD did with this Volvo concept a few years ago.

That has been debated here in the past. It's one of those vehicles, either you love it or you hate it. I personally don't like the styling, but it doesn't matter what it is classified as, if you like it, have the money and want it, buy it. I have a friend with one and he loves it. Nowadays it's tough to classify some vehicles because they are a mixture of different types of past vehicles.

 

With enough money, anything is available in the US, just ask our foreign family members who have shipped our American iron to their homelands. As for mass produced available AWD wagons, pickins are pretty slim and just about covered above unless you include the ugly new junk thats offered from Audi, Volvo, Merc, BMW etc....

As for the FLEX, cant stand it myself. I dont like the looks of too many new vehicles. Give me a carb, 4 vacuum lines, a mechanical fuel pump and a distributor any day over the NASA styled computer junk they overcharge us for at the dealership and the garages when they crap out, coz they all will eventually and usually do right after warranty has expired.

They say its for economy, horsehockey! I have a uncle with an all original 66 Stang with a 6 banger and 4 speed tranny, he averages almost 30mpg and he drives it daily until the snow flies. They do it to control us, so no shade tree mechanic can work on their own junk anymore and you need an electrical engineering degree just to change a sparkplug these days. I had bi-weekly certification training when I was a FORD mechanic for all the new junk they were adding to the cars.

 

I've always thought about putting a Lark Wagon on a Subaru frame/drivetrain. Making an AWD Old School Wagon

 

A bit off topic, but I completely disagree. The perceived increased complexity yields higher output per volume of gas along with much reduced emissions. Put your uncle's '66 6 cylinder Mustang up against a late model GM LSx powered vehicle and compare mileage, performance, and emissions.

I work on late model vehicles quite often and find that I am able to diagnose and repair them just the same as an older vehicle. If something does fail you actually can get direction in regards to what to fix or where to look. I don't have an electrical engineering degree. I've often felt that repair shops sometimes try to scare people into being afraid of what's under the hood of their car. I recall even going back to the late 80's and early 90's ads talking about how complex and scary new cars were. Give me a break. Under the wires and vacuum lines is still an internal combustion engine that runs on the same principle that they did 60 years ago.

As for the Flex, I think they are nice cars. A little big for what I need, but if you need the room I think they are a good option to look at.

 

Interesting.. I've been thinking about putting a Classic wagon body on something like an S10 4wd frame.. But not shooting the dang thing up in the air like you see many guys do, but put it at correct drive height so you don't even know it's a 4x4. Doing it up all real nice like it was built that way and then drive it like an SUV. Would be an awesome winter driver!

Anybody ever done one? :confused: That looked good that is.. lol.

 

Off topic again, I also agree to disagree.

Being I was a Certified FORD Mechanic for 6 years (1996-2002) I also woked on a couple late model computerized vehicles as well as fixed the factory recalls that were on 90% of the brand new off the car carrier models. I also did more then my fair share of pre-lot inspections on brand new to the public cars, like the computerized nightmare of a headache the 2002 T-Bird. So I am no rookie when it comes to the new junk on the roads, which leads me to my new point, how often does anything go wrong with a carb fed car with no computer crap? Where the new ones have more sensors, wires and vaccum lines then a space shuttle. AND if anything goes wrong, it throws a check engine light(like a loose gas cap), which in most states will fail inspection. Sure a newer car will run more efficient, until something goes wrong with a sensor and then it can do more harm to the engine then it would ever do without one, belching out raw gas, sputtering, misfiring, all because the computer cannot tell the timing or fuel mixture to increase or decrease. Where my uncles stang will run fine with a turn of a mixture screw or a turn of the distributor to adjust timing, but how many people are able to honesty diagnose when something goes wrong with the new junk? 1 in 100, maybe, at best and most are still making a guess at the true issue and are as often wrong as they are right. The rest have to pay a weeks salary just to have them plugged into a diagnostic machine at a garage. Where, if his Stang wont fire, its only one of 3 things, no air, no fuel or no spark. Not one of 30 sensors or one of the several computers that has bit the sh*t. AND in 20 years, what is that late model GM gonna be worth, EXACTLY what the cost of scrap is per hundred lbs on that day(maybe $300 at best), not the several grand the Stang will be.

And comparing a 200 I6 against a LS motor is like comparing a Yugo to a Corvette. Lets be more realistic. Lets compare a GM's oldschool King of the hill, THE Legendary LS6 454 Carb fed motor against a LS motor, lets say GM's new BIG Nasty, the 6.0 and see who puts out more power and torque across the board. HANDS DOWN, no comparison. Sure mileage goes to the 6.0, but with the LS6's 450 hp(under rated for ins reasons, actually put out over 500hp) and 510lbs per ft of torque, who the hell cares about mileage? What is cheaper to maintain?, cheaper to rebuild? and which is worth more? AGAIN, HANDS DOWN to the carb'd motor.

You have your opinion and entitled to it as do I and my opinion is, I hate the way cars are built these days and even more, how butt ugly they all have become. Why do we need a crumple zone or an airbags, it isn't to make us safer, it because the new cars need them because they are made from recycled coke cans and bottles. Everytime you shut that door and strap up your belt on a newer car, you are nailing the lid to your own coffin!

And remember.... A wise man once said and I quote.
"Injection is nice, but I would rather be blown!"

 

Something like an old classic Nova wagon perhaps? No sure how the wheelbase would compare....I'll go check.
.............................................
Regular cab Chevy Colorado 4wd wheelbase - 111.2"
'65/'66 Chevy Nova wagon wheelbase -------- 110.0"
- Maybe close enough....