A devastatingly quick estate car is just a very cool thing.

These musings weren't prompted by Audi's storming new 580bhp RS6 Avant, but by another Audi estate - something a bit less excessive, and a lot more cerebral.

I saw it a couple of weeks back, mooching along the AYE in evening traffic, minding its own business - an RS4 Avant, in blue, dechromed, with 19-inch option rims and smoked rear windows. But by gosh it looked lethal. Those subtly bulged arches, that stout stance, gave the stubby stationwagon more presence than any GT-winged, bedecalled Mitsubaru could ever hope to have. That, and the knowledge that with its bellowing 414bhp 4.2-litre V8, Porsche-scaring performance was an ankle-twitch away.

The fact that it was effectively an ultra-limited edition item just upped the cool factor immeasurably. Audi launched the RS4 near the end of the previous A4's lifespan, without much fanfare, and by the time the world had cottoned on that this was something very special and had started clamouring for it, Audi had pulled the plug on the car.

Years ago, Volvo ran its 850 estate in the BTCC race series as a sort of self-deprecating in-joke. No one took it seriously, of course, but Volvo had the last laugh when its unlikely-looking racecar started wiping the floor with its competitors.

Most jokes aren't funny anymore when they're repeated, but in this case, I'm so glad Audi shared Volvo's sense of humour.

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