In the year 2000 BMW revealed a concept M3 Touring. Its fast estate never made it to production but in honour of the news that, 20 years later, BMW is finally going to build an M3 Touring, here are a few of our favourite fast estates of the last couple of decades. Some are truly great, others stand out for other reasons, and we’ve left off the really modern stuff as it’s just too obvious.


. Audi RS2 Avant
The godfather of fast estates and once the fastest estate car on earth. Audi took a standard 80, added a 311bhp 2.2-litre five-pot turbo, uprated running gear and Porsche brakes. Its 5.4-second sprint to 62mph is still quick today Photo: Audi

. Volvo 850 R
The first cool Volvo for decades, the 850 T5 started life with subtle styling and 222bhp but by the time it had become the 850R it had a bigger body kit, 247bhp, Porsche-tuned suspension and a 0-62mph time of under 7 seconds Photo: Volvo

. Nissan Stagea
Exclusive to Japan, the Stagea was a standard family wagon until tuning house Autech dropped the running gear from an R33 Skyline GT-R into it. With 276bhp and all-wheel-drive in an estate shell it was a grocery-getting Godzilla Photo: Nissan

1. Audi RS2 Avant
The godfather of fast estates and once the fastest estate car on earth. Audi took a standard 80, added a 311bhp 2.2-litre five-pot turbo, uprated running gear and Porsche brakes. Its 5.4-second sprint to 62mph is still quick today Photo: Audi

2. Volvo 850 R
The first cool Volvo for decades, the 850 T5 started life with subtle styling and 222bhp but by the time it had become the 850R it had a bigger body kit, 247bhp, Porsche-tuned suspension and a 0-62mph time of under 7 seconds Photo: Volvo

3. Nissan Stagea
Exclusive to Japan, the Stagea was a standard family wagon until tuning house Autech dropped the running gear from an R33 Skyline GT-R into it. With 276bhp and all-wheel-drive in an estate shell it was a grocery-getting Godzilla Photo: Nissan

4. Dodge Magnum SRT8
Handsome? No. Subtle? No? Big and fast? Yes. The Magnum SRT8 was essentially a rebadged Chrysler 300C but with some performance upgrades to help keep the 425bhp from its 5.7-litre V8 Hemi under control. It could hit 60 in 5.1secs Photo: Dodge