Cars We Can’t Have: Honda Civic Tourer first photos

What is it: The wagon version of the Honda Civic compact car, recently shown in photos ahead of its official debut at Frankfurt. The car carries the sleek design of the Civic but the added space of a wagon. Luggage space is 624 liters with the seats up, 1668 liters with seats down and cargo up to the roof.

Key styling element: a glass-covered D-pillar that gives the impression of a floating roof line, a la Mini Cooper.

Since it’s a European market car, it will be powered by a 1.6 liter iDTEC diesel and 1.8 iVTEC gasoline, with manual or automatic. An adaptive damper system with Comfort, Normal and Dynamic allows adjustment of the suspension firmness. Honda says it’s the first rear adaptive damper fitted to a production car.

With a center fuel tank, the Tourer has a flat rear floor and features the Magic Seat system that allows versatility in cargo loading. Two full-size mountain bikes or three large Samsonite cases will fit in the trunk with the tonneau cover pulled over.

Why we can’t have it: It’s built only for the European market, where wagons are a mainstream alternative to sedans and crossovers.