TWO years ago, Saturn's first utility wagon made its debut to polite but hardly deafening applause.

It offers an optional third-row seat, which is becoming the price of admission even among the compact utility wagons once known as cute utes.

Analysts said they expected Ford to rebound later this year, when it plans to introduce a number of vehicles, including a utility wagon called the Edge.

The company also produced a utility wagon in the form of an automobile which could be converted for use in business and pleasure.

The construction of the utility wagon did not differ significantly from other Chase products.

While automakers showed several new utility wagons, they tended to be gentler and less massive.

Glass areas were unusually large, endowing the interior with an airy, open feel quite unlike any previous utility wagon.

The Rendezvous, a minivan-based utility wagon, will be freshened for 2004 and will get a larger V-6.

Since the car-based utility wagon made its debut as a 2001 model, it has been one of Ford's few recent success stories.

Dusk was settling over the desert when Monte Jackson again saw the utility wagon.