The Wagon of Cadillacs

EURO HAULER The first regular-production wagon Cadillac has sold in the United States, the CTS Sport Wagon flaunts the division's rakish knife-edge styling.

FOR most of us, the classic American station wagon — with its acres of fake woodgrain siding, sticky vinyl bench seats and lazy-revving V-8 engine — is a fixture of our collective automotive consciousness. It is also extinct. The gas crises of the ’70s hobbled it, the minivans of the ’80s dealt a knockout blow and the S.U.V.’s that followed stomped on its grave.

Could the new Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon — the only American-brand station wagon now available in this country — be a green shoot that portends a revival of this American archetype?

Not a chance. Instead, this car’s inspiration comes from Europe.

On the Continent, station wagons never were the wallowing land arks we knew, so today’s European car buyers aren’t scarred by that memory. And with Europe’s sky-high gas prices and narrow streets, S.U.V.’s make even less sense there than they do here, so Europeans who are engaged in all those much-talked-about “active lifestyle” pursuits — or who just need to carry a lot of stuff — often drive station wagons.

They drive so many of them, in fact, that it’s not unusual for station wagons to outsell their sedan counterparts. That explains why European carmakers haven’t dropped the body style — their home market loves it. Thus, most of the wagons sold here are European makes: Volvo, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Cadillac ardently wants to be thought of as a legitimate competitor to those makes, and it would also like to increase its tiny business in Europe. “For us, with aspirations in Europe, it made sense to do a wagon,” said Steve Shannon, the Cadillac marketing director. “It’s a relatively inexpensive vehicle to do once you have the sedan. And we think that over time there will be some European-ization of the U.S. market as vehicles get smaller, with smaller-displacement engines. A greater interest in wagons may also be a result.”

Even if you knew nothing about European wagons, one look at the CTS Sport Wagon would dispel any notion that this is the second coming of the Country Squire. There’s nothing retro to it. Even more so than the CTS sedan, the wagon is a showcase for Cadillac’s faceted, angular design.

Fun while it lasted: Porsche Panamera Turbo reportedly tops Cadillac CTS-V's 'Ring record

2010 Porsche Panamera – Click above for high-res image gallery

It's been just over a year since Cadillac captured the title of fastest production four-door car when John Heinricy circulated the Nürburgring's north loop with a CTS-V in under eight minutes. Considering the pace of leap-frogging between the Nissan GT-R, Corvette ZR1 and Viper ACR it's a bit surprising that it took this long for someone to top the super-Caddy. What's not surprising is that it was a Porsche that finally outran the CTS-V.

Now that the four-door Porsche Panamera has been thrust upon the world, it was only a matter of time before one the test drivers from Weissach brought the crown back to the fatherland. The 500-horsepower Panamera Turbo lapped the Nordschleife in 7 minutes, 56 seconds, 3 seconds faster than the Cadillac.

When Heinricy set his 7:59 time last year, it was done in an automatic CTS-V in a single hot lap at the end of a test session. With any luck, we'll see Heinricy or perhaps one of the Corvette C6.R drivers like Johnny O'Connell head back to the Eiffel mountains for another go.

Cadillac and Gadling partner for "Perfect Road Trip" Contest

2010 Cadillac SRX – Click above for high-res image gallery

If we could take a trip anywhere in the Continental U.S., we'd have to make a b-line for the mountains of Nevada. Or, we could hit Yosemite for some incredible scenery and all the sightseeing we could handle. There's plenty to do and see in these United States, and Cadillac and our sibling travel site Gadling are ready to take you there.

Gadling and Cadillac are partnering up to send you and a friend on the road trip of your dreams, and Cadillac is providing a spanking new SRX crossover to hit the road running. To enter the contest, all you need to do is head over to the Gadling contest post, write up your own dream vacation in the comments section by July 22 at 5 pm ET, and wait. Gadling will pick the five best travel ideas, and then give its readers the opportunity to vote for the best one. The winner will receive the SRX for two days, a pair of plane tickets to the destination of your choice (within the continental U.S.) plus money for hotels, food and other expenses. So far there aren't many that have filled in a comment, so the chances of victory are pretty darn good, especially if you have a killer idea for a road trip. Sounds like a very fun weekend.