The World's First 4x4 Performance Wagon Beat The Audi RS6 By Decades

The article revisits a little-known “performance wagon” history, arguing that a British concept using four-wheel drive and a 2.5-liter inline-six with a manual gearbox appeared decades before the era of famed models. It recalls that in the 1980s, high-powered station wagons were mostly associated with Swedish brand Volvo, with less widespread attention to turbocharged performance. Later, the 1990s brought icons like the Audi RS2 Avant, described as a first true performance wagon with Porsche-tuned 315 hp and Audi Quattro all-wheel drive, plus sub-5-second acceleration from 0 to 60 mph. Still, the piece contends that Detroit sold extremely powerful wagons earlier in the 1960s, citing several muscle-era models and their outputs, though these typically sent power to the rear wheels, risking wheelspin under load. It then credits a lesser-known British manufacturer with addressing that traction problem. The excerpt ends before naming the specific solution in full.