Station Wagon

If anecdotal evidence gleaned from trips through L.A.'s moneyed coastal enclaves like Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Manhattan Beach is any indication, there's a new automotive trend for the outdoorsy yuppie. It's a station wagon. Too culturally sensitive to be caught in an SUV, yet ever mindful of the curbside erratum that is the minivan, those with an active lifestyle or projection thereof clearly seem to be finding solace in the 2013 Audi Allroad. The car is essentially a more rugged yet equally sophisticated cousin of the A4 station wagon (nee Avant)

You're too cool for a station wagon and no fan of SUVs. But you still want your German luxury wrapped in a practical package, so what do you do? BMW hopes you'll consider its new 3-Series Gran Turismo. Answering a question no one seems to have asked, this four-door hatchback is an all-new model for BMW and mimics the company's larger 5-Series GT version. It's almost eight inches longer than the forthcoming 3-Series wagon and sits a little more than three inches higher. Photos: 2014 3 Series GT hatchback announced This gives rear passengers more legroom than the 3-Series sedan or wagon and expands the cargo area by a cubic foot.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The owner of an auto body shop near the home of the Boston bombing suspects said the younger brother appeared in his  store on Tuesday, nervous and demanding his car immediately. Two weeks ago, said 44-year-old Gilberto Junior, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had brought in a white Mercedes 1967 station wagon to have the damaged rear bumper repaired. He said it belonged to his girlfriend.  That was not unusual: Tsarnaev often brought in cars for wealthy friends from Boston University and MIT, Junior said, and always paid in cash.  What was strange was that the man showed up Tuesday wanting the car back early, clearly agitated.  "He was very nervous, biting his nails, agitated," Junior said.

Six people were killed when their station wagon exploded in flames Tuesday after a three-vehicle accident on Interstate 10, authorities said. A preliminary investigation indicated that the station wagon hit the back of a small trailer being pulled by another vehicle, then veered into the path of a truck.

The driver of a station wagon that struck and killed an Orange man was being sought by authorities Sunday. According to the California Highway Patrol, 50-year-old Thomas Mendoza Brito was hit about 10:50 p.m. Saturday as he attempted to run across the eastbound lanes of the Riverside Freeway, east of Imperial Highway. Brito was clipped by a car driven by Charles D. Miller, 46, of Perris and then struck by a white station wagon that did not stop, investigators said.

Two people injured in an automobile accident were listed in critical condition Tuesday. Seven people died in the Monday crash, which occured when a station wagon heading the wrong way on Interstate 40 collided with another car, police said.

A Pacoima man was killed and his wife seriously injured Friday when their station wagon collided head-on with a pickup truck on Sheldon Street near Roscoe Boulevard, police said. Eloy Martinez, 55, was driving his station wagon south on Sheldon when a white pickup driven by Matthew Murray, 28, of Palmdale, crossed the double yellow line, said Officer Gerald Madera of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Two of eight people suspected of being illegal aliens in a car being chased by the California Highway Patrol were thrown onto an Interstate 5 on-ramp and killed late Wednesday, authorities reported. Juan Manuel Cabrera, believed to be 25 and from Tijuana, died at 10:50 p.m. at UC San Diego Medical Center, Deputy Coroner Chuck Bolton said. The other victim, an unidentified man, died at 11:55 p.m. at Mercy Hospital, Bolton said.