So why would I bring it up? These are, in my opinion, the two best-looking wagons available just about anywhere, and to be

The Magnum is one of the best-looking wagons available just about anywhere. (Photo: Jonathan Yarkony, Canadian Auto Press)

able get into the Magnum at a fraction of the cost of an Avant means wagon madness for the masses.

The seats are your basic armchair expanse of padded foam with 8-way power adjustability (an optional Convenience Group feature), and they thankfully included an adjustable lumbar support, which comes even without the seat upgrade. I'm not a very big guy, so I kind of felt lost wobbling around in them during some of my more spirited maneuvers, but I have to say, the Magnum SE is not meant for much in the way of spirited driving.

And

The Magnum's true aim is to provide the means of relaxed and accommodating transportation to the guitar-and-amp-haulin' and ladder-toting-on-a-budget community. (Photo: Jonathan Yarkony, Canadian Auto Press)

that is where this Magnum, at least in base trim, fell short. In the objective category of bang-for-buck ratio, it came back at a somewhat anemic, "I could feel every pound of that wagon I was draggin'" measurement on the Yarkony scale of wahoo (taking into account the inverse proportion of haulage capacity to parallel parkability). It's a slug.

Of course, I'm being a little harsh on a car that's true aim is to provide the means of relaxed and accommodating transportation to the guitar-and-amp-haulin' and ladder-toting-on-a-budget community. But harsh is often funny, and I'll stop at nothing to be funny so I'll just carry on being a mean-spirited grouch.