The American manufacturers are making small and mid-size wagons. (Ford Escort and Taurus, Saturn) Several Japanese and European sedans have wagon versions: VW Passat, Toyota Camry, several Volvos, Audi, Mercedes even, plus more.

But you're right that there aren't any of the "Family Truckster" variety like the Caprice Classic/Buick Roadmaster: V8 and 7-passenger plus towing capacity.

I had been looking at minivans because I've got a dog, two cats and a toddler. If we're going anywhere for a weekend we have to at least drop the animals off somewhere first, so we need to fit everyone in the vehicle at once. I started looking at wagons when I saw a really clean Volvo 850 Turbo on a used car lot.