The wagon is a very sadly endangered species in the automotive landscape anymore. We’ve watched over the years as the venerable wagon has been dislodged from its place as a practical family hauler by battleship sized massive SUVs and the contemptible and mostly crummy wave of little crossover utility vehicles which people cannot seem to get enough of. Well, there are a couple of wagon options left and the Volvo V60 Cross Country B5 AWD is one of them. While the number of wagons may be limited, the ones remaining are all pretty danged good and that’s exactly the case with this V60 Cross Country B5 AWD. It cannot reconcile the idea that anyone with any semblance enthusiasm for driving would test drive a milquetoast CUV, then test drive this, and pick the first option, especially if the money were equivalent or close to it.

For starters, let’s just talk visual appeal for a second here. The V60 Cross Country B5 AWD is a goo looking car. It does not look like an egg-shaped compact car that has been raised up three inches and deemed a “utility vehicle”. This thing is nicely contoured, has a low roofline that’s even a little racy depending on wha angle you are looking at it from and rolling on the optional 20″ wheels with lower profile rubber, the wagon draws eyeballs. Ironically people look at this car for the the reason they don’t look at CUVs anymore and the same reason they stopped looking at wagons in the 1980s. They are everywhere! All of a sudden, the V60 is the unique look in the parking lot, the unique look on the highways and byways and that’s pretty cool in our book.

This wagon as fitted with the B5 powertrain which means a turbocharged 2.0L inline four cylinder engine that makes 247hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. It is also enhanced with a hybrid system that provides 13hp when called upon and all of this is hooked to an eight speed automatic transmission. This adds up to a car that can run 0-60 in just shy of eight seconds and the quarter mile in just shy of 16-seconds. That’s snappy performance around town, especially with the short gearing of the eight speed transmission through the first four cogs. It makes for a responsive package that won’t necessarily put you in the drag racing hall of fame, but can wax the floor with just about any CUV or base model tank-sized SUV sitting next to you at an intersection. Believe that.

As this car is equipped with the Ultimate package, the upgraded interior is top shelf and to me, this is where a wagon really puts itself in a different experiential class of vehicle beyond the more common CUV. Everything from the driving position, the seats, the layout, and the legroom is better in a wagon than it is in even a well appointed CUV. We put a load of miles on this car and in doing so, got to come to appreciate a few specific elements of the V60 Cross Country. The rear seating and leg room are very good, the front seats are still, as they have been for about a decade, among the best of any manufacturer in any segment in the world.

The driver’s area and front passenger area are uncluttered, simple in their elegance and as you can see here there are some neat features like the clear “crystal” shifter, the really nicely sized and integrated info-tainment screen, the three spoke wheel, and the simple but nicely laid out digital dash behind the wheel.

This car has distilled a few things down to their basic essence and we like that when dealing with interiors that all seem to be trending toward being more and more flashy and filled with gadgets to distract from a driving experience that isn’t the best. This car, the whole car is not meant to highlight just a few flash bang elements but rather present a balanced package of styling, performance, and practicality and do so in an un-intrusive way. It is a Volvo, after all.

This interior is very well done and one that will age well, won’t look gaudy or lame in 10 years, and by all indication will hold up to the normal rigors of everyday life as your commuter, family hauler, etc.

By all means, find a CUV offering this much of a gaping maw of a stowage area without the seats down. I’ll wait. From the larger cargo space, the lower loading height, and even the fact that the width side to side is larger than you will get in a typically narrower CUV, the “usefulness” of the wagon is still supreme when it comes to the things you need it for in day to day life. Groceries. sports equipment, small stuff from the hardware or home store, etc. It’s all in there and none of it will be causing you to re-engineer the seating arrangements.

So let’s get down to the brass tacks. What does it all cost? The base price of this V60 Cross Country B5 AWD is $54,100. That’s with the 2.0L turbocharged engine, the all wheel drive system, the hybrid system, and all the mechanicals we have already talked about. The price, as tested, of this car was $63,585. The extra money came in the form of the $750 Ultimate package which upgraded the seats to multi facet powered Nappa leather units, four zone climate control, upgraded dash, Pilot assist, side park assist, and other features like the tailored dashboard. A $750 climate package added headlamp cleaners, heated rear seats, and a heated steering wheel. There was a $200 powered rear tailgate, and a $345 luggage cover as well. Finally the $3200 Bowers and Wilkins premium sound package bumped the price along with the $3,200 20″ 7-spoke wheels wrapped in all season rubber.

I came away from a week with this car and truly enjoyed the experience. If you are currently shopping for an SUV of moderate size and you don’t drive a V60 you are cheating yourself big time. Wagons may not be as popular as they once were, but they’re still great and this one is proof of that statement.