Sunroof and Interior of a Station Wagon, New York International Auto Show, 1959

Station wagons were low-production specialty vehicles until the 1950s, when parents embraced them as ideal vehicles for transporting growing families. This highly stylized station wagon at a 1959 auto show illustrates their rise from utility vehicles to fashion-forward, family-friendly haulers. Until the 1980s (with the introduction of minivans) packed station wagons were the very symbol of the family car.