Performance Wagons

Volvo 850 T5

Volvo was one of the first to create the idea of a high performance station wagon. In 1994 it introduced a 2.5 litre turbo engine as a way of producing a halo model that would lift the rather boring image Volvo had been saddled with, so it slotted this 223 horsepower engine into its 850 model, giving a 0-60 time of 7.7 seconds and a top speed of 149 mph.

At the same time introduced a range of bright colour schemes for it such as the banana yellow seen here and bright red, along with an aggressive (for the time) body kit and big alloy wheels. It even entered the car into the British touring car championship in a joint venture with Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), which really helped raise awareness and brand image.

Subaru Impreza Sports Wagon front

Another Mad Japanese turbo special, the Subaru Impreza was offered for several years in a wagon variant alongside the traditional sedan. The car had the standard 2.0 turbo boxer flat-four cylinder engine developing a restricted 276 horsepower, but could easily be boosted to more. It also had all the clever electronics that the sedan had, with active 4 wheel drive, and a 0-60 time of under 5 seconds, along with fantastic wet weather performance.

Subaru Impreza Sports Wagon rear

Mitsubishi Evo Wagon

Mitsubishi dont usually get too involved in large capacity high performance cars, but decided in 2006 to go a little crazy and offer their fantastic Lancer Evo IX in the form of a station wagon.

It was a full blown Evo model in every detail – Same turbocharged engine developing supposedly 276 horsepower from a 2.0 turbo engine, but realistically it is reported to be putting out more like 315 horsepower, and giving a 0-60 time of just 4.8 seconds.

It also carried over Mitsubishi’s clever active centre differential, and the massively powerful Brembo brakes. The manufacturer only offered 2500 of these beauties for sale, and decided not to produce a Wagon version of its successor, the Evo X.

Mitsubishi Evo Wagon Rear