If you ever find yourself thinking of the theme song to National Lampoon’s “Vacation” (“Holiday Road” by Lindsey Buckingham), you’re not alone. And if you’re an American of a certain age, the Family Truckster – a heavily modified 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire with lovely faux wood trim – was the quintessential station wagon. Sitting in the back and facing the rear window without a seatbelt was better than sitting in the front passenger seat, which was an easy way to get diesel truck drivers to honk their horns or make drivers fidget while making faces at them.

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The first station wagon appeared around 1915 and was actually a wooden-bodied version of the Ford Model T. Originally called the “Depot Hack,” it was primarily used to transport people and their luggage to and from train stations. According to the Staten Island chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America, the first vehicle built and sold as a true “station wagon” was built in 1918.

After World War II, an all-steel version emerged as a multi-purpose family utility vehicle; its popularity continued until the 1970s gas crisis and the introduction of the minivan. From the 1971 “Brady Bunch” Plymouth Satellite Wagon to the Family Truckster in National Lampoon’s “The Four Seasons” (neither of which were cool), the station wagon left an indelible mark on American automotive history. Here are five of the best.

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Most station wagons aren’t exactly cool. Real station wagons, by design, looked like pregnant whales, a stretched and lowered version of a minivan, if you will. But there are some exceptions to the rule of cool, and the 1953 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon (model 79R0) was one such beast.

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Buick made two versions of its Estate Wagon, the Roadmaster and the Super (Model 59). The easiest way to tell them apart was by the number of chrome VentiPorts on each front fender. Three identified it as a Super, which had a smaller engine, while four vents made it the larger, more expensive and rarer Roadmaster, of which only 679 were produced.

Made of steel and wood and adorned with plenty of chrome, it cost $4,030 and was the final year of the “Woody.” It featured Buick’s 322 cubic-inch Fireball V8 (the first Nailhead engine) that produced 188 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of peak torque. It was mated to a Dynaflow automatic transmission and had both power steering and power brakes. The two-tone interior had room for “six big people” and all their luggage, as the rear cargo area covered an area six feet long and nearly five feet wide with the back seat folded down.

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(Featured image by Rex Gray via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 2.0)

The 1955 Chevy Nomad is so cool that it’s one of 10 discontinued wagons we’re trying to revive. Now Chevy has produced the 210 Wagon, which looks similar to the Nomad in most ways. However, there are some key differences between them, not least of which is the amount of chrome (more on the Nomad).

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The 210 has straight B-pillars that run up and down, while the Nomad’s slope forward. The 210 has a smooth roof, while the Nomad has nine ribs running widthwise across its length. The tailgates are also different: the 210 has a smooth rear and a T-handle, while the Nomad has seven vertical chrome ribs and a knuckle handle. The Nomad is adorned with a lot more flourishes and chrome, adding to its appeal.

The Nomad was available as a shooting brake (two doors and a rear cargo area), but looked very similar to other iconic 1957 Chevys. A total of 22,375 sporty 2-door models were produced over a three-year period (1955 to 1957), with only 6,103 in 1957. It cost $2,857, was powered by a 283 cubic-inch overhead-valve V8 with a cast-iron block and heads, and produced 220 horsepower.

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Ironically, the Nomad name was retained and offered as a 4-door model from 1958 onwards, which ended up selling much better than the 2-door version. Nevertheless, the 2-door model is the more sought-after collector model today.

When Dodge released the Magnum SRT8 in 2006, car nuts everywhere reconsidered their stance on the old Family Truckster. This was certainly not your father’s station wagon. Low-slung, sleek and sexy, that was for sure, but it was the engine under the hood that got people drooling even more.

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The rear-wheel drive, 5-seat, 5-door station wagon was equipped with a 5-speed automatic transmission with manumatic shift (also known as a 5-speed automatic transmission with manual shift function). Much like the gun it was named after, the Magnum shot down the road like a bullet because it was equipped with a 425-horsepower pushrod 16-valve V8 Hemi.

The 6.1-liter engine had an iron block and aluminum heads, port fuel injection, a forged crankshaft, a billet camshaft, and hollow intake/exhaust valve stems that gave it 6400 rpm and 420 lb-ft of torque (at 4800 rpm). It accelerated from 0-60 in a blistering 5.1 seconds and raced through the quarter mile (at 106 mph) in just 13.6 seconds.

Keep in mind that this was a station wagon with a curb weight of 4,379 pounds and 27 cubic feet of cargo space in the rear. The Magnum was only produced between 2005 and 2008, but because its chassis was based on the same as the Charger, Challenger and Chrysler 300, there was plenty of aftermarket support.

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When you hear “Chevelle,” you probably think of the iconic Chevy two-door hardtop muscle car of the 1960s and 1970s. However, Chevrolet produced the Chevelle in several body styles, including the famous coupe, sedans, convertibles, and, yes, station wagons.

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One year and one model in particular stands out from the rest: the 1973 Super Sport Estate Wagon. As Han Solo said of the Millennium Falcon, it may not look like much, but it packs a punch. It’s certainly not the coolest of the bunch, but what it had under the hood made it cool. Only 1,432 of the 1973 SS station wagons were built, making it “super” rare. It had a black grille, special instrument cluster, and rear stabilizer bar. SS emblems were added to the fenders, door panels, steering wheel, and tailgate. It was also available with contrast paint on the lower half of the body. Air conditioning, power windows, locks, tailgate release, and a rear-facing third row of seats completed the glamour.

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This station wagon came standard with a 350 CI V8, but there was the option to upgrade to a 454. Both engines were paired with a Turbo Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission. According to one source, only 71 of these 454s were made (other sources say fewer than 200).

(Featured image by Vegavairbob via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0)

Only 514 Cadillac CTS-Vs were built between 2011 and 2014, making this wagon another extremely rare and cool model. This particular five-door, five-seater has 58 cubic feet of cargo space, which isn’t too bad for a family truckster that can do 185 miles per hour.

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The rear-wheel drive CTS-V featured a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine with pushrods and aluminum engine block and cylinder heads that produced an astonishing 556 horsepower and 690 Nm of torque. When it was first introduced, it was the most powerful vehicle Cadillac had ever built.

It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4 seconds (in 2014, the last year of production, the speed was reduced to 3.9 seconds) – making the Cadillac CTS-V one of the fastest station wagons ever built. It races down the quarter mile in 12.3 seconds, with the speedometer showing around 190 km/h. All of this was coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission, but you could also get the six-speed manual for a small additional charge.

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Inside, passengers sat in eight-way electrically adjustable leather Recaro sports seats, while the driver wrapped his fingers around a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Carbon fiber-style trim, a Bose premium sound system and a rearview camera completed the luxurious ensemble.

(Featured image by Thesupermat via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0)