WHILE most of the western world has adopted the SUV as the family vehicle of choice, Europeans still love a station wagon, or estate as they are known in some territories.

Given their relatively low sales volumes in markets such as Australia and the United States, it’s a fair point to wonder why companies including Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes keep building them – a point which is firmly addressed the second you land in any major European city and note that every third or fourth car is a wagon.

The performance wagon is a niche within a niche, but if you cast an eye around, there are a number of contenders in the mix. Audi offers the RS4 and RS6 in a wagon (or Avant) style, VW Group sells the Skoda Octavia RS and VW Golf R as dog haulers.

Mercedes-Benz, too, is a fan of the go-faster wagon and, like Audi, it makes one of its best available for Aussie buyers.

The Mercedes-AMG C63 been hotly anticipated here, and GoAuto was among a small group to be the first to test the car on local roads (as opposed to on a race track). There’s just one problem – we had to give it back.



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