Only just a few years ago, wagons gained a reputation as the uncool car of your grandparents. Now, either through nostalgia or as a breath of fresh air from cookie-cutter crossovers, wagons are “cool” again, but they’re still a relatively rare sight on the road, and the E63 AMG Wagon might be the most attractive modern wagon on the bunch. But, a 2012 E63 with the insane Renntech R1 performance package might end up being one of the most coveted wagons of all time.
An easy way to make any mundane, practical family car interesting is to give a mountain of power and performance upgrades. The 2012 E63 Wagon has, without, question more than enough of both those in its stock setup. However, this E63 is not stock. One of the previous owners didn’t think the 550 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque from the E63’s 5.5-Liter twin-turbo V8 was enough, so they got an authorized Mercedes dealer to install a Renntech R1 performance package and upped the power to 696 horsepower and 801 lb-ft of torque. If that’s not enough grunt to shake off the stigma of being a car for retirees, nothing is.
Creating all that power is a Renntech R1 performance package which includes an upgraded air filter, a larger intercooler pump, a sport exhaust and an ECU flash to recalibrate the engine. To keep it all in check, the E63 also comes with performance brakes, AMG-tuned suspension and super sticky Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.
Base-level wagons — generally, ones with less than 500 horsepower — can have a certain appeal. Their practicality and utility factor hasn’t changed over the decades, but their design proportions certainly evolved for the better, especially compared to an awkwardly sized modern crossover. Add in heaping amounts of tire torturing torque and 0-60mph times more suitable for a supercar, and you have a categorically rare type of car, but not because of limited production numbers. If form, function, impracticality and ostentatiousness all got drunk at a Bauhaus afterparty, the E63 AMG Wagon would be the result. There’s no other car on the road that quite like a performance wagon, chiefly a 696 hp E63 and as of this writing this particular one is going for under $40,000, but don’t expect that to last.