Station wagons surely are designed to be functional rather than masculine, but some will definitely give even the odd sports coupe a run for its money.
Audi Avants are, style-wise, in a league of their own, and even BMW's own 3 Series Touring is appealing. Unfortunately, none of these are as masculine or as imposing as the BMW M5 Touring - at least until the Audi RS6 Avant arrives in South Africa.
And "masculine" is arguably also the correct adjective to use as this "station wagon's" athletic appearance, quad tailpipes and M5 badging signal cruel intentions.
An extension of the M5 model range, which fired all the petrolheads' cylinders when the sedan was launched in 2005 with a five-litre V10 engine, the Touring is a bit of an oddity in the local market in that it is the only 5 Series Touring offered here.
And it comes at a princely price tag of R1 050 000...
But bear in mind that the M5 has all the credentials of being an outstanding executive super car.
Features
Like the sedan there's nothing subtle about the M5 Touring - it's a bruiser.
And all that cash affords its owners the pleasure of piloting a serious sports car, with a serious amount of space.
Yes, this really is a practical sports car, with space for five and all the luggage they would ever need to lug about. The load space extends from an already handy 500 litres to a voluminous 1650 litres.
Upgrades over the "regular" 5 Series include attention to the suspension, steering and stability control systems while electronic damper control and a variable M differential lock also enhance the handling characteristics of this Touring.