An Estate/wagon renaissance?

[kmchow]

PLEASSE DON'T MOOOVEEEE MEEEE!!!

In recent years, at least in NA, the Estate/wagon seems to have undergone a renaissance. How about in Europe?

I may be a little biased, but could it have anything to do with Volvo's debut of the 850 Estate in the BTCC? Did people's opinions of Estates/wagons change after Volvo's involvement. Also, there are mentions that Volvo teased the motorsport press with hints of a wagon touring car, so what promotions did they exactly do?

I recall watching the faces and impressions of the BTCC drivers when the 850 Estate was finally revealed. I recall Tim Harvey was half shocked and half trying to keep himself from bursting out laughing and rolling on the floor!! How did you fans react to the Estate? Sadly, the car raced for just one year in the BTCC and one in the ASTC. So how did it do in the ASTC?

I recall after Volvo's estate touring car debut, a privateer team built a Subaru Impreza wagon for the JTCC. Then in '00, didn't some dutch team build a Suzuki Esteem/Baleno wagon to race in the Dutch Touring Car Championship? I haven't heard about the Subaru and Suzuki teams for a while? Anyone know what happened to them?