A Station Wagon for an SUV Era

Short men are intimidated by tall SUVs. We can't touch their tops without standing tiptoe, or standing on a foot ladder. They make us feel smaller than we really are. We like being able to touch the tops of vehicles without standing tiptoe. They make us feel like men.

I pointed out that I did not have to fold the CX-9's two side-view mirrors to make the vehicle fit between the garage's support pillars, spaced about eight feet apart. And I showed him that the ground clearance of the CX-9 was not much higher than that of a Lexus sedan parked nearby.

The attendant relented -- sort of. He told me to "wait a minute" while he checked a list on the garage's office window. He came back smiling. "Okay," he said. "You park for regular price." He did not have immediate access to http://www.edmunds.com, an online vehicle rating and pricing service. Thank goodness! Edmunds lists the CX-9 as a "large SUV," which is wrong, because the CX-9, a work of unitized steel construction, is built on a car-like platform.

People familiar with Mazda's latest product offerings might regard the CX-9 as just a stretched version of the Mazda CX-7, a smaller crossover utility vehicle. They'd be wrong, too. The door panels and underpinnings of the CX-9 are quite different from those of the CX-7. The CX-9, in fact, shares much of the architecture and many of the components of the Ford Edge -- another tall wagon masquerading as a sport-utility model.

The truth is that all three are family haulers, vehicles that would be regarded as station wagons in another age. The Edge, as its name implies, is for families that want more sport-utility attitude and intimidation factor without the bother and expense of owning and operating a real full-size SUV.

The CX-7 is for small families who need a small wagon or minivan but who would rather have a sports car. The CX-7 gives them both.

And the CX-9, especially the tested all-wheel-drive Grand Touring version, is for families who seriously have considered purchasing a full-size SUV, but who would like to park for $10 less in New York, or be treated as worthy guests by valet parking attendants at the Helmsley Park Lane hotel overlooking Central Park -- but who also want to maintain their good standing in the Sierra Club.

Thus, the CX-9 is both a triumph of automotive compromise and a perfect example of the craziness that reigns throughout the North American automobile industry, where companies are scrambling to give consumers all the space and power they want without running afoul of the image of environmental correctness, or undermining consumer sensibilities about personal status.

It is no wonder my garage attendant was confused.