Unlike the typical four-door sedan design, a station wagon has five doors, because it does not have a rear trunk that is separate from the passenger compartment. Instead, the body of the car is one unified space, with room for cargo in the back that can be enlarged by folding down the back seats. The back of a station wagon can typically be accessed via a tailgate—a door that can be lowered to form a dock for easy loading. Station wagons were popularized as family cars after World War Two, and reached the peak of their popularity in the 1970s. Minivans, SUVS, and finally high-end hatchback crossovers replaced the station wagon, all of which replicate in some form it’s suburban family-on-the-go characteristics.
Often, station wagons are referred to colloquially as "wagons."
