ToyotaVenza

The Chrysler Pacifica lasted all of four years before it was unceremoniously dumped from the Pentastar's lineup. The Ford Freestyle endured a name change after three model years, then lasted two more as the Taurus X before being sent out to pasture. The Cadillac SRX lasted six years as a tall wagon before being completely redone as a more traditional front-drive -based crossover for 2010. Mercedes-Benz's R-Class, essentially a lux'd out minivan without sliding doors, has been gathering moss since it rolled into U.S. dealers for 2006.

The wagons we all know, love and grew up with gradually fell out of favor as the minivan took hold in the '80s. Led by Chrysler's practical little boxes, the van became the king of Mt. People Mover, only to be usurped by the SUV, which took the wagon formula and added a heaping dose of machismo. The wagons have all but vanished, and today, both SUVs and minivans resemble Hollywood stars whose salad days are clearly behind them.

To borrow a phrase: Great Googly Moogly. Looking something like a Apple-branded lunar rover, Nissan has released its first images of its Qazana concept, an "intelligent, all-wheel drive crossover which is masculine, agile, lean, and designed for the tough city streets."

Toyota gave a sneak peak of its two tuned Venzas ahead of their unveiling at SEMA, and the first, designed and executed by Five Axis, is an attempt to portrait the jacked-up wagon as the go-to vehicle for active lifestyle types.

The Venza AS V (Active Sports Versatility) features a custom body kit, Five Axis-designed AD R6:F_SPEC 20x10.5-inch deep dish wheels wrapped in Yokohama Advan ST tires (305/45s all around), TRD big brakes with six-piston calipers gripping 15-inch discs up front and four-piston calipers clamping 13.6-inch rotors in the rear, along with a custom rear cargo unit and a Magna Car Top cargo lifter mounted on the rear bumper.

All the details are in the press release below the fold and expect more live images to follow in a few weeks.

Click either image for a high-res gallery of the Subaru Exiga.

We received word from a little birdie last week that Subaru was gearing up to release its brand-new Exiga into journalist's hands in Japan. Coincidentally (or not), a teaser shot of Subaru's new pseudo-CUV popped up on the NASIOC forum over the weekend and it's clear from the darkened profile that many of the elements from the show car have migrated over to the production model.