Estate cars are often seen as a sign that you’ve given up on lifes little excitements. The days of boozing and carousing are things of the past. You’ve bought an estate and you’re now up to your elbows in nappies. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be this way. Responsibility and practicality don’t have to be dull. Here are our choices of the best family wagons no matter your budget.
Volvo Duett
No car maker is more synonymous with estate cars than Volvo. The Swedes are often wrongly derided for being the dull choice. The car of choice for people who like to dress entirely in different shades of beige. We see it differently. It’s the original, iconic estate. The kind of car that you drive if you’re totally comfortable with yourself. Equally at home taking you and your family on a European roadtrip as it is nipping down to the local shops. We love it.
Aston Martin DBS Shooting Brake
When you’re dropping a couple of hundred thousand on a car it can never merely be an ‘estate’. No, it has to be a shooting brake. This is a car that will never see the inside of a Sainsbury’s car park. This is a car that will transport your shotguns and Fortnum and Mason hamper during grouse hunting season. If Bond owned an estate it would probably be this.
Citroën DS Familiale
Some might say that the Citroën DS was plenty big enough. Not Citroën though, they thought the very thing they needed was an estate version. These were the days before focus groups and approval by committee. So they pressed on against all logic and produced one of the most handsome estate cars in history.
Mercedes-Benz W123 Station Wagon
Before 1977, if you wanted a Mercedes Station Wagon you’d have to take your W114 to a coach-builder and have it converted. It didn’t take long for the team in Stuttgart to realise they were missing a trick. As a result the Mercedes Benz W123 was born. It is bolted together like a tank, will go around the clock and is essentially the kind of car that will outlast several owners. Not a looker but we admire the hell out of it.
Jeep Station Wagon
We all love the Willys Jeep at the club. It’s the original rugged off-roader. Not that practical for a growing family or a trip to Ikea though. The good news is they produced a little remembered station wagon version. Ideal for the lumberjack parent. Better looking than you’d imagine and rare as hens teeth. We’d have one in a heartbeat (just don’t ask us to chop down a tree).
The Mini Clubman
The Clubman proves that not all estates need to be huge tanks. Small, practical and with bags of charm. The kind of car that you can imagine Iris Apfal travelling around Manhattan in.
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