Mercedes E63 AMG

It is encouraging to see cars like the 2014 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S-Model 4Matic Wagon make it to production. This is a car so excessive, so utterly unnecessary, so counter to the pervasive focus on fuel economy, that its mere existence is a surprise.

No one needs a station wagon that goes 186 miles per hour. People buy wagons to haul kids and sporting gear. Not to drag race. Yet here it is, and what a beauty.

The E63 AMG S-Model 4Matic Wagon, which Mercedes unveiled at the Detroit auto show, might have a clunky name only an automaker could love. But the car itself is the perfect antidote to millions of boring appliances rolling down the road, a reminder that life is to be enjoyed.

The E63 has always been a cornerstone in the Mercedes-Benz portfolio, and we have inside that segment an extremely loyal following for the people that want the wagon," Kallenius says, "because they have their hobbies, they play golf, they do sports, maybe they have horses, whatever, and they want to have a performance car without compromising the space."

But AMG is giving buyers who don't opt for the S-Model something extra too. The engine on the "regular" non-S-Model E63 AMG Sedan has also been enhanced. The hand-built, twin-turbo V8 engine's output is up 6 percent, to 550 horsepower. Torque increases by 3 percent, to 531 pound-feet.

Another big change for the E63 AMG is that all U.S. versions will only come with 4Matic, which is the label Mercedes uses for its all-wheel drive. Rear-wheel drive remains available in Europe. Kallenius says that U.S. buyers might be able to custom order an E63 AMG with rear-wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive.

Purists prefer rear-wheel drive because it lends a more balanced feel to the car and doesn't degrade steering response like front- or all-wheel-drive can. But in the case of the E63 AMG, all-wheel drive looks to make better use of all that power on tap.

Mercedes designed the system to send more power to the rear wheels than to the front ones when the road surface isn't slippery. This should retain some of the rear-wheel-drive feel that some drivers prefer.

The 2014 E63 AMG 4Matic is expected to have a price similar to that of the 2013 model, which starts at $89,800. The S-Model version is likely to cost significantly more, based on the price of previous performance packages.

Fuel efficiency has not been announced for the 2014 vehicles. It could be slightly lower than that of the 2013 models because all-wheel drive consumes more fuel. The 2013 E63 AMG Sedan, with rear-wheel drive, gets 19 miles per gallon overall, and the wagon gets 18 miles per gallon.