Anyone over the age of about 35 certainly remembers a time when station wagons were a dime a dozen throughout the suburbs and grocery store parking lots of America. There’s a good chance your mother even owned one or six. Truth is, like minivans, they were pretty utilitarian and handy for their time, but few considered them desirable, “hip” automobiles — especially those old enough to have been handed the keys to the old family hand-me-down in high school. But as the 1990s reached their mid-point and SUV’s came into favor, the wagons quickly vanished, and then…only then…did we realize that we had taken them for granted. Now, with the world — even the automotive world — in a nostalgic renaissance, wagons have finally gotten their well-deserved street-cred…even if a couple decades too late.
Or maybe it’s not too late…
Among the few automakers in the world still producing a legit wagon in the 21st century was Australia’s Holden Special Vehicles, an offshoot of General Motors, which even produced a 6.2-liter supercharged LSA variant in recent years, before the brand’s demise in 2019. That LSA option made it, by our quick count, the third most powerful wagon ever produced (essentially tied with the supercharged 6.2-liter Cadillac CTS-V). But that option pales in comparison to what may be the most extreme HSV wagon on the planet, a one-off build that you can actually buy right now (an even easier acquisition if you’re an Aussie reading this).
An Australian gearhead built up this 2009 model Clubsport Wagon R8 Tourer E-Series with a 2,000 horsepower 427 cubic-inch twin-turbo LS that certainly has 8-second potential, if not more. And they used all kinds of go-fast goodies: a Dart block, Callies crankshaft, Oliver rods, JE pistons, Precision PT8884 turbos a pair, a Haltech Nexus R5 ECU, a Turbo 400 built on a Reid case, and even converted it to a 4-link, mini-tubbed to accommodate 325 drag radials. In all, over $300,000 is claimed to have been invested in this bad-boy, which is listed for $189,990. This is undoubtedly one of the baddest wagons on the planet, and we need it.
Oh, and yes, it will still fit a child-seat and stroller with ease, as the photos will confirm.
You can view the listing and all of the detailed specs HERE.