How Opel pioneered – and continues to perfect – the station wagon

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Long live the station wagon!

Quote:Rüsselsheim. The coming premiere of Opel’s new compact wagon, the Astra Sports Tourer, is a good opportunity to remember the sensation Opel created in Europe when it launched the Olympia Rekord Caravan in 1953 – a popular station wagon that allowed owners the flexibility to combine professional and private use in one vehicle.

For nearly six decades, Opel has made station wagons successful in Europe, especially in the compact segment, where the Kadett and Astra Caravan have consistently been top sellers throughout the continent .

From the start of automobile history, there was a clear distinction between delivery vans, which hauled goods and bulky loads, and automobiles, which transported people with maximum space and comfort. Most of the daily uses which make a wagon so relevant nowadays simply did not exist back then: There was no need to load a week’s worth of groceries into a car; no surfboards to slide into the back for a weekend by the sea. Before the mid-1930s, travelers’ luggage did not even cohabit with passengers in the cabin of the car; generally, the stuff was packed in solid boxes that were attached to racks affixed to the rear or on the footboards.

It all started in America

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