You don’t realise how few fast estates BMW has made until you try to count them. There’s never been an M3 Touring, and though there have been six generations of M5, including the current F10, only two have been officially Touring’d.

First there was the E34, which was excellent. Then there was this, the E61, which, when you think about it, was just outrageous.

This was a family estate with a naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V10, rear-wheel drive and a then cutting-edge seven-speed automated manual gearbox. It could do over 322kph, for heaven’s sakes, and had more computing power than some countries.

Buying one today might be tantamount to financial suicide, but we still would. There’s just no substitute for that noise. Which, thanks to the Touring’s vast loadbay, your dog will be able to enjoy too. Briefly, before the inevitable trip back to the dealer for the car’s sixth service in as many weeks.

Set to be remembered as an all-time great, no doubt.