About three point five years back, my wife and I reluctantly bought a Saturn Vue. Well, I was reluctant. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with the Vue. Its a nice car that gets decent mileage. I’m pleased.

But it wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted an honest-to-Betsy station wagon. Aside from the Ford Focus wagon (drove it, unimpressed with the quality of the interior) and a Volvo yuppie wagon (yeah, right, I’m spending what now?). The Subaru Outback is close, but I never saw the need for AWD for tooling around the borough. Besides, it is still more expensive as the Vue and, IIRC, comparable in terms of mpg. Dodge magnum? Um, no. That’s not a family car, unless you’re last name is Unser or something. I wanted something bigger than a hatchback (we were replacing a Civic sedan), but not an SUV.

So I was surprised when I saw a commercial last night for the Toyota Venza. I couldn’t believe my eyes, that’s a station wagon! They don’t make those anymore. Oh, of course not, they still don’t. Its a “crossover” vehicle now. I won’t buy it — I’m not impressed by this overview — but I’m hoping it paves the way.