USA in Homesteads: celebrating the traditional wagon with an Audi RS6

For most of the ensuing century, the station wagon did its duty. Part tool, part family pet, it obediently transported you, your significant other, your kids and whatever else they needed from point A to point B and back. The trunk expanded and contracted. Doors and seats were added or removed. But the versatile genius of the wagon, the Swiss knife of the auto industry, never diminished. Not here, anyway.

In America, where the SUV gold rush began, the station wagon has been under siege since the early nineties. It used to be that every manufacturer from AMC to Oldsmobile, Plymouth and Pontiac made station wagons. Nowadays, none of those brands exist anymore. And did you know,'''how many station wagon models do the joint efforts of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, Dodge and Lincoln offer now, in 2023? Not a single one. Not a single one. The station wagon has reached its limit. If you are an enthusiast of station wagons in the United States, you are an eccentric. Even the mockery of soccer moms has stopped, and the mockery of the Volvo XC90 and Chrysler's lively minivan has begun. If you crave the station wagons we take for granted in Europe, you're just a weirdo.

Dream of speed

I like weird automotive subcultures where adherents swim against the tide of indifference. And after hearing that Audi intends to launch a faster RS6 Avant variant in San Francisco, I hatched a plan to invite a few of the West Coast's most anxious station wagon fans to''a safe place. It turned out to be the back of a parking lot near Oakland, the widely known local capital of auto theft in America. But not for me. Open your eyes.

This idea started when the current RS6 was introduced in the fall of 2019. Audi moved away from standards and announced that its new 592-hp twin-turbocharged monster would be available in North America-the first RS6 Avant to be shipped to the U.S. in two decades. I offered to deliver the first car from the US and organize some sort of meeting. Anyway, COVID happened and the RS6 parade didn't happen. Fast-forward to the summer of 2023, and I'm rushing across the Golden Gate Bridge in a black RS6 Performance. Late, but better late than never.

Power and performance

This is the replacement for the regular RS6,'''so naturally the Performance has more power. The larger turbos fitted to the 4.0-liter V8 have higher boost pressure, boosting power to 621 hp and reducing the 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time by two-tenths of a second to an incredible 3.4 seconds. Lovely 22-inch diameter wheels with narrow spokes help save 5 kg of weight-bearing mass, so ride comfort is improved, and 8 kg of soundproofing material has been removed from the front bulkhead so that more of the V8 sound can be heard in the cabin. Enjoy it while you can - the next RS6 will probably be electric.

Performance without frills

"Performance" doesn't announce its newness or superiority. There are no badges or plaques. The seats remain somewhat insufficient''framed, and it's only at light load when you hit the brakes and pull off the 101 that you notice a little more V8 gurgle. You don't understand why the price has jumped £15,000 to £110,000? I didn't understand either. The answer came the next day when we drove out of town on wider roads leading into the hills of Napa County. This RS6 has its own dark side of appeal. Finally, Audi has conquered its caution with the active rear differential and infused the RS6 with a dose of nonchalance. It's no crazy hooligan M3 Touring, but it's no ubiquitous cornering telegraph either. We finally have an RS6 that can do it all.

A meeting of station wagon fans

I set the RS6 to its most comfortable setting to take the scenic route through San Francisco.''Tangled and strange Lombard Street is "America's crookedest street".

Love Volvo

This is what brought me to Fantasy Junction. While scouring the internet for a friendly place to entertain station wagon fans, I came across an ad for a Volvo V70R for sale among the Italian aristocracy. It turned out to be owned by Spencer, one of the dealership's employees, and he happily agreed to let his parking lot host a few associates. Here I owe a huge thanks to Adam Kramer of Avants.com, whom I found on Instagram as the organizer of the annual''s Pacific Northwest Wagonfest event among car enthusiasts. He went through his notebook of station wagon fan contacts and rounded up four, maybe five owners willing to give up a Thursday afternoon to meet a complete stranger near the scene of the theft and robbery. Ten of them showed up. Enthusiasts? More like fanatics.

Pensioner Henry is busy laying out an article about his beloved Chevy Bel-Air. He's a regular at car shows. "I go to events almost every weekend," he smiles. "I just follow the young people. They lead the way and say, 'Follow us so you don't get lost'." I'm too shyly British to ask his age, but one of his friends later chimed in that Henry was born before his Chevy left the factory in 1956''Waiting patiently while mom and dad discuss passionately. "I used to follow this car when I first started in this environment," Koa explains. - "It's a well-known car in all of America because it's a modified wide body. I don't really like modified cars, but something about the California evening light (and an owner stylish enough to do it) makes me change my mind. And I like the careless, nonchalant way in which Koa describes the car's modifications. "Rides on BBS LM rims, nothing fancy, just upgraded RS6 turbos. It's a cruiser." His wife prefers a more understated family car, despite the mustard coloring. Melissa's S4 car has a smoother downshift with a front flow box. "First. 'It was for my son, but I just took it because I really liked it'." Mom knows best.

The original Audi Superwagon is presented by Avant RS2. Kirk, a light beer enthusiast, describes it as his dream: a car he wanted to own so badly he bought it without seeing it and drove it through three snow-covered states. "It's not surprising because Kirk is a little, wonderfully crazy. He drove 14 hours from Seattle to be here today, but asked his friend to bring the RS2. Kirk was too busy leading Quattromog. "I really like silly projects, and I had a vision before I had kids to have a lifted Audi," he explains. "Now I have three kids and it's just crazy. But it's such a pleasure.".

WE HAVE HAPPENED TO HAVE A MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH''EXCELLENCE OF PER