Geneva Motor Show: 2017 Mercedes-AMG E63 S Estate revealed

It could have been a contender against the superb Audi RS6 Avant – but the latest Mercedes-AMG E63 S Estate has been officially ruled out for the Australian market.

If having between 640 and 1820 litres of luggage volume sitting above 295mm-wide, 20-inch tyres that spin furiously to the tune of a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 with 450kW and 850Nm sounds appealing, then best look away now.

Or chastise someone who bought an AMG GLE 63 coupe.

The E63 S Estate up front follows the lead of its E63 S sedan sibling, compared with a regular E-Class puffing up its front bonnet, bulging its front wheelarches by 27mm to accommodate the wider track and wheels, and dotting its front apron with ‘jet wing’ black flics and splitter.

Although the Estate wears a 4Matic badge as per the sedan, denoting standard all-wheel drive capability, it also gets Race mode that can drive torque through the nine-speed dual-clutch transmission to the rear boots only. And an RS6 Avant’s quattro system can’t do that.

The big-booty version of the E63 S is a tenth slower from standstill to 100km/h than the sedan, though its 3.5-second sprint time can still out-do that Audi by two tenths.

Otherwise the entirely AMG-redesigned rear axle carries over, with increased negative camber, extra bracing and even a tubular anti-roll bar pinched from the AMG GT R supercar. Tell that to your kids. If you hire one in Europe, that is.

“The new AMG E63 Estate combines our brand's hallmark driving dynamics with high everyday practicality,” spruiked Mercedes-AMG chairman of the board of management Tobias Moers in a statement. “It is not for nothing that the model has been a permanent fixture in the AMG portfolio for 40 years.”

However, Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific public relations senior manager David McCarthy told MOTOR that the affection shown for fast wagons in Europe and the UK was not reflected in the Australian market – and hence it has been ruled out.

"We just can't make the numbers work," said McCarthy. "There's not much of a market for quarter-million dollar estates out there. The last time we brought one in, we only did about 10 of them."

He remained noncommittal about the potential of a customer ordering one of their very own. "Show me the money!" he laughed.

Well-heeled families with a penchant for going fast should make it known to their local Mercedes-Benz dealership. Otherwise the Mercedes-AMG E63 S sedan – singularly, sadly – arrives there from mid this year.