When I was a kid, I wasn’t really into cars. All I knew about them was that some of them transformed into robots, and you could launch some of them across the room from orange and blue ramps. In high school, my friends were getting their drivers licenses and I was still taking the bus/train combo. I never begged my parents to buy me a car. The terms Evo, WRX, GT-R, or GTI were not part of my vocabulary. It was only after I saved up to buy my first car in my early 20s (that wasn’t even really long ago!) that my interest in cars grew. I had a lot to catch up on!
The weird thing is, I really started to get into cars when my wife and I were about to have our first child. Not just ‘get into’ – you could almost say obsess. Weirder still; I started to obsess about cars that were not only awesome but also practical.
But what kind of car could possibly satiate my lust for awesomeness and family practicality?
Enter the wagon.
No, not a Bruce Lee spin-off, but still packs a punch; Audi’s iconic B5 RS4 Avant.
Source: Flickr
Dads (and mums!), if you’re in the market for a car, I suggest looking at wagons. The popular makes and models usually have a wagon variant of their volume-selling sedans, which offer more versatility for cargo carrying. Even if you are a Tetris master, there are advantages to be had in terms of size and shape of the boot area. Got some Ikea furniture to transport home? Too easy. Ok, even trickier – a pre-assembled baby change table from eBay? Pop it straight in. How about a couple of toddler trikes? Lawnmower and garden trimmer? No worries. Now add more baby stuff to these. Does it all fit? Most of the time, without having to fold the entire back seat down (and take the baby seats out), mind you! Indeed, you can be free from the constraints of a boot lid. You’ll be laughing when you can fit two prams, a couple of nappy boxes, weekly groceries and maybe a musical instrument or two into your ride, without any hassles.
Before our second son was born, we traded in our old sedan (1999 Audi A4 B5 2.4L V6) and bought a small wagon (MY2012 Skoda Octavia 1.4TSI). It’s been a sigh of relief to have not only an increased cargo capacity, but also better fuel economy! How about that!
So what’s Wagon Wednesday? I think for now it’ll be an outlet for my obsession with wagons; some eye candy and inspiration / dream fodder. And validation that family wagons can also be are cool! 😛
On that note… the RS4.
Let’s talk quickly about that wagon above; the Audi B5 RS4 Avant. I’ve got a soft spot for our old B5 A4, which would have been more awesome in ‘Avant’ (wagon in Audi-speak) form. Add to the mix a couple of tablespoons of supercar and a large sprinkling of dream dust, and you’ve got a ridiculous(ly awesome!) family hauler. Ahh, a man can dream…
Nice one in red with B7 RS4 wheels.
Source: Flickr
The beauty is that they’re fairly inconspicuous. I spoke to the owner of a debadged RS4 that I came across in the carpark at work, a baby boomer dad (hence why he could afford one). You could be forgiven for thinking it was just a classy family car with big wheels. Admittedly, I had to ask him if it truly was an RS4.
He told me it was just a classy family car with big wheels.
Source: Flickr
You’d probably laugh if you were told it was a high-performance Euro station wagon – those words simply don’t sound normal together. However, if those words together sound like sweet buttermilk pancakes with extra syrup and whipped cream to your ears, and you have infinite monkeys picking infinite moneys from of your infinite money trees, you can pick one up for a cool 40-50K. Assuming you can find one for sale.
Adequate and useable boot space – a must for dads!
Source: Flickr
Still looks good with a roof box/pod, if you need extra space for that epic hot wheels ramp.
Source: Flickr
If you’re strange enough to be drawn to wagons like me, and don’t have a ludicrous amount of money to spend on an 11 year+ old car, you can find the lesser B5 A4 Avant models for sale. With a good detail session, a bit of diligent maintenance, and a decent set of rims, you’ve got yourself a nice-looking family car 🙂
Regular B5 A4 Avants; classy family cars with big wheels.
Source: Flickr