5 Used Family Station Wagons That Give Corvettes A Run For Their Money

There's a whole lot to like about high-performance station wagons. Sure, driving a Corvette or another high-powered sports car can be incredibly fun, but if you need to bring more than one passenger along, you're basically out of luck. 

A high-horsepower wagon, on the other hand, offers room for the kids and all their gear while still being a lot of fun on a backroad or racetrack. The experience of driving a practical, under-the-radar station wagon with genuine sports car performance often unlocks a whole new type of fun that many car enthusiasts have fallen in love with. 

High-performance wagons aren't that common now, but they were once plentiful. Back in the '60s and '70s, for example, you could find family station wagons like the iconic Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser optioned with serious muscle car hardware under the hood. The high-performance wagon has evolved a lot since then, but you can still find relatively modern examples that can run with — or even beat — Corvettes of the same era at the drag strip. For this list, we've selected a handful of high-performance wagon options from the last 20 years or so, ranging from V8-powered muscle wagons to high-tech European plug-in hybrids — some of which can be had for surprisingly cheap.

When it comes to modern, high-performance wagons, the Mercedes E-Class AMG is probably the most established player on the market. Back in the 2000s, the E55 AMG station wagon took the sleeper family car concept to a new level, with a supercharged V8 that propelled it to low four-second 0-60 times and quarter-mile ETs in the mid-12s. With those numbers, this Mercedes Wagon could outrun the standard C5 Corvette of the era and even run right alongside the more powerful Corvette Z06. 

Mercedes has stuck with the fast wagon formula, while adding a lot more performance along the way. By the late 2010s, the highly potent AMG E63 S wagon made more than 600 hp, sent power to all four wheels, and could hit 60 mph in 3.0 seconds in Car and Driver's hands. It could also run a low eleven-second quarter-mile, putting it neck and neck with the outlet's numbers for the mid-engined C8 Corvette. 

While newer versions of this car don't come cheap, even on the used market, 2010s E63 wagons offer a lot of performance and regularly sell for under $90,000. If you're willing to go farther back, you can even find some E55 AMG wagons selling in the low $30,000s, about what you'll pay for the average family crossover SUV. The choice is yours.

Sure, taking down a Corvette in a high-performance European wagon is fun, but what if you want the Corvette's all-American V8 performance in a station wagon wrapper? This is where the Cadillac CTS-V station wagon of the early 2010s comes into the picture. The CTS-V wagon isn't just one of the most interesting models in Cadillac's long performance car history; it's also one of the coolest American station wagons ever made, full stop.

Debuting for the 2011 model year, the CTS-V station wagon made 556 hp from its supercharged V8, giving it 0-60 and quarter-mile times that rivaled the C6 Corvette Grand Sport of the same era. The performance numbers were great, but what made the CTS-V wagon even more special was its optional six-speed manual transmission, making it an absolute unicorn among modern performance wagons.

Cadillac only built the CTS-V wagon for a few years, and in low quantities, ensuring classic status almost from day one. Thus, it's not surprising that demand and sale prices for these cars have remained high. However, even if the CTS-V wagon is not quite the used-car bargain some might hope, you can still score a nice example — even one with the desirable six-speed manual — for less than the Corvette Sting Ray's current starting price. 

Audi is another European automaker known for building some very fast wagons over the years, and the modern RS6 Avant is one of the fastest production wagons on the road. Audi unleashed this super wagon onto the American market in 2020, with the car making 591 hp from its twin-turbocharged V8 and using its all-wheel-drive grip to hit 60 mph in the mid-three-second range. 

Newer versions are even more powerful, and our experience behind the wheel of the 2026 RS6 Avant found a machine that delivers supercar-level performance blended with the practicality of an SUV. When unleashed on a race track, the newer RS6's numbers sit firmly in C8 territory, with a 3.2-second 0-60 time and an 11.5-second quarter-mile ET, according to Car and Driver testing. This puts it just slightly behind the 'Vette,

Audi wrapped up RS6 Avant production after the 2026 model year, so if you want one of these wagons, you'll have to search the used market. More recent examples will still set you back well over six figures, but shop for older models and you'll find some selling for prices that aren't too far off what you'd pay for some variants of a modern Corvette.

Compared to the other cars built on the LX platform,  the Dodge Magnum station wagon wasn't around for long; Dodge only sold it between 2005 and 2008 before pulling the plug.  The Magnum made an impact, though, and the fastest and most desirable version of this long-discontinued wagon was the 2006-2008 Magnum SRT8.

The Magnum was essentially a station wagon version of the 2000s-era Dodge Charger SRT8 and used the same 6.1-liter HEMI V8 engine, rated at 425 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. At the drag strip, the Magnum SRT8 would hit 60 mph in the low fives and run the quarter-mile in the mid 13s. While these are fairly pedestrian numbers compared to some of the other super wagons on this list, they were still good enough to compete with an early 2000s C5 Corvette at the track, and they aren't too far behind a mid-2000s C6 Corvette.

Used prices for the Magnum SRT8 are surprisingly high, especially for an American-made car that wasn't terribly expensive when new. Nice examples typically sell in the low- to mid-$20,000s. While that may be pricier than you expect, it's still much lower than any other wagons on this list — and you're also getting a unique American muscle wagon that's quickly becoming a modern classic.

Volvo is a company deeply associated with the station wagon, likely more so than any other automaker. Most have focused on safety rather than performance, but the company has, at times, done exciting things with its station wagons — including racing them in the 1990s British Touring Car Championship. 

In the 2020s, it's the pricey but quick V60 Polestar Engineered plug-in hybrid that represents the modern take on Volvo's fast wagon formula. The V60 Polestar makes 455 hp from the combination of a turbocharged four-cylinder engine up front and a dedicated electric motor in the rear. At the drag strip, this hybrid wagon will hit 60 mph in just over four seconds and run through quarter-mile traps in the mid-12s. This puts its performance right in the same zone as a V8-powered C7 Corvette Z51.

Unfortunately, Volvo stopped selling the V60 in the American market in 2025, requiring would-be buyers to hunt for a used example instead. Volvo didn't sell a lot of these cars in the first place, so they aren't particularly easy to find. Fortunately, though, early 2020s examples have depreciated to the point where they're available for between $50,000 and $60,000, which is a solid buy for a modern station wagon that delivers this level of performance.