Can’t remember the make or model but someone we new had a big station wagon with no power steering. It may have been a base trim model for all I know. The mom always cursed that thing. Another station wagon mom had a Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser , a mammoth of a vehicle. It did have power steering.
During my days we walked to school but on rainy days the “station wagon moms” came to the rescue.
Smaller vehicles here also seemed to struggle without power steering. Must have been poorly set up ratios and tyres