Editing Station wagon (section)

==== 1930s to 1950s ====
[[File:Hillman husky mark1.jpg|thumb|1954–1957 [[Hillman Husky]]]]

Early{{when|date=November 2018}} estate cars were after-market conversions, with the new bodywork using a wooden frame and either steel or wooden panels. These wooden-bodied cars, produced until the 1960s, were among the most expensive vehicles. Since the 1930s, the term [[shooting-brake]] (originally a term for hunting vehicles) has been an alternative, if now rarely used, to the term for estates in the UK.

Later, estates were produced by vehicle manufacturers and included the 1937 [[Commer]] (based on the [[Hillman Minx#Pre-WWII Minx|Hillman Minx Magnificent]]) designed for "operators requiring reliable light transport units" and the chassis for the Supervan "multipurpose utility vehicle, primarily designed for estate transport ... seating accommodation for five persons and the driver ... being quickly convertible to carry anything from hunting equipment to farm produce."<ref>{{cite web |title=Improved Commer 8-cwt. Van (archived 30 July 1937 article)|url= https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/30th-july-1937/35/improved-commer-8-cwt-van |website=commercialmotor.com |access-date=1 July 2024}}</ref> Others included the 1952 [[Morris Traveller|Morris Minor Traveller]], 1952 [[Morris Oxford MO#Traveller|Morris Oxford Traveller]], 1954 [[Hillman Husky#Original Hillman Husky ("Mark 1")|Hillman Husky]], 1954 [[Austin A30|Austin A30 Countryman]] and 1955 [[Ford Squire]]. Most of these models were two-door estates, and several models were built on the chassis of relatively small cars.

Manufacturers often chose a specific model name to apply to all their estate cars as a marketing exercise - for example, [[Austin Motor Company|Austin]] used the Countryman name, and Morris called it Traveller. Some estates were closely derived from existing commercial [[van]] models, such as the [[Austin A35|Austin A30/35 Countryman]] and the [[Hillman Husky]]. Others included the [[Austin Cambridge|Austin Cambridge Countryman]] and the [[Standard Ten|Standard Ten Companion]].

Rover and Austin produced 4×4 canvas-topped utility vehicles in the 1950s that were available in estate body styles sold as "Station Wagons". They incorporated better seating and trim than standard editions with options such as heaters. Early advertising for the Land Rover version took the name literally, showing the vehicle collecting people and goods from a [[railway station]].

Despite the popularity of station wagons in America, estate offerings in the U.K. from Ford and Vauxhall were limited to factory-approved aftermarket conversions of the [[Ford Consul]] and [[Vauxhall Cresta]] until the factory-built [[Vauxhall Victor#F Series Victor|Vauxhall Victor]] wagon was introduced in 1958.