I learned to drive in a '77 Buick LeSabre station wagon. Because my legs are really short, and even cars with power seats back then weren’t adjustable enough, my dad got a family friend who owned a metal shop to make these clip-on pedal extensions so I could drive it. Not long before I took my driving test, my parent’s bought me a then brand new '87 Pontiac Sunbird. Parallel parking that after practicing in the land yacht was ridiculously easy, so I’m grateful for that. I can’t parallel park today to save my life, because I just never have to. Anyway, I kinda miss that station wagon. Many years later, I owned a 2006 Volvo station wagon. Honestly, I kind of like station wagons. Maybe I’ll get another one.
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I don’t think No. 2 counts
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Grated that it’s not a wagon, but what would you call that rear opening hatch on a Mini Cooper if not a fold-down tailgate?
In the comment I was replying to you said “hatchback” not “wagon.”
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Yes I did, because I am an idiot who can’t use words correctly.
Sorry about that, it should have been station wagon, I don’t know what I was thinking.
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To the contrary, I think lots of different types of vehicles should offer fold-down tailgates! 
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Nope, @G_r_ld_z_n_r has a pic down below. My aunt and uncle had one for a while, and us three kids (my 2 cousins and I) hated sitting in those back seats. Starting and stopping sucked. The Ford was replaced with a Chrysler that was much smaller. We missed the Ford after the first trip we all got crammed into the new wagon.
@subextraordinaire: A friend in high school had a '76 LTD, we fit 5 kids in the trunk!
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I wasn’t asking for fold-down tailgates. I need rear seats that when they are folded down provide a flat and level load surface, and a tailgate that is vertical, not with a dog leg angle halfway up it.
I meant tailgates that go up vertically - not with the aforementioned dog-leg angle. Frankly I’m less bothered whether they open like split vertical doors or like a top-hinged hatchback.
ETA I have had several Volvo V70s - all of which had a genuinely level load area when rear seats folded and a mostly upright (no dog leg) tailgate.
This was their replacement - V90 - and the rear seats folded down to an approx 10 degree angle - not level. Second pic shows seats folded but the perspective may be misleading. Anything placed on the folded seats will drift - or roll - towards the rear.
Whereas this was the V70
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Speaking of wagons and tailgate designs, I really wish that something equivalent to this were available today:
Apparently there were challenges with the seals on the roof panel, but that seems solvable. I’d much rather have one of these for day to day hauling of family and large objects than a truck.
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Hence my edit. As I said there are currently no consumer models I’m aware of, though slightly older ones are available second hand. There’s also a huge amount of professional vehicles that offer just that.
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Having grown up in LDS country (Eastern WA state) I can assure you that, in general, Mormons do NOT drive like stereotypical little old ladies.
I guess you missed my 
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Sorry about that!
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My wife’s parents had one of these when we were dating. 1979 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser. The thing was awesome, every option known to man.
Took a lot of road trips in it with her parents. Also a great car for car dates and drive in movies. I miss that car and her parents.
I, on the other hand, had a 1974 Vega wagon at the same time. It had genuine imitation wood grain panels. The thing had a leaky oil sending unit that would catch on fire. Also a great car date vehicle but a lot more cramped.
Five people and a keg in that Vega. Two in the front, three in the back, we were a lot smaller back then.
Memories…
Not. A. Problem.
station wagons!
We spent several weeks researching and tracking down a Toyota Prius V wagon in 2019 for dive trips because it’s Mary Poppins’ bag on the inside! Like a big brother to a Honda Fit, it has a deeper space behind the rear seats, plus those seats can be slid forward and/or reclined back. They lay down almost flat (wish that was fully flat). The rear hatch window does tuck inward a bit, bit not dramatically. Depth of the cargo space alone is over a yard.
Bonus: if you scoot the front seats forward and pop off the headrests, the seats recline flat right to the rear seat edges, for a monstrously large sleep zone, couch zone, or cargo pass-through. We lurv and gush about this car, but Toyota stopped making them in 2017 so they’re tougher to find now.
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Wow hit a nerve of America, this story does!
Dad gave me his. It’d been souped up by the local high school auto shop class. It would whip your neck back, never saw another like it. But the pipes went and $1000 to replace. I did straight pipe no cat for free. Got dinged by inspection. Left it at mom’s in country. She didn’t like so she gave it to fire dept to practice ocean water rescue! The day they were out, our neighbour, the premier of our province fell off cliff and would’ve died but they just happened to be nearby to rescue him. My car for a life.
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