If the automobile business in the United States is indeed a cyclical affair, the station wagon is due for a renaissance.

Just don’t hold your breath.

The station wagon — known also, depending on the culture, as an estate, an avant, a woodie, kombi or caravan — was a key family hauler for much of the 20th century . Wagons shuttled goods to market, picked up arriving guests at the train station (a station wagon!), ferried the children to soccer and served as sleep-in digs for broke surfers.

But these long-roofed, two-box conveyances became victims of the gas crisis of the 1970s. Sales and demand eroded further in the ’80s with the emergence of Chrysler’s minivan. The big-time blow was struck in the ’90s; it was called the sport utility vehicle.

For American wagon devotees seeking a new ride, the list is short and getting shorter. Wagons are a small fraction of the domestic car market. The survivors can be counted on one hand, give or take a couple of fingers. Wagons from Ford, Saturn and Chevrolet are history. The BMW 3 series and the Honda Accord wagons are taillights.