I like things that are different, especially when it comes to cars. I think that’s why I’ve always been attracted to fast wagons. They’re an unusual choice in the States and I like feeling like I belong to a special club. Back in the early 2000s, the Germans were just starting to test the waters with SUVs. Little did they know that within a matter of years they would become their bread and butter. Wagons were slowly pushed out of the American market and those that stayed sold in very limited numbers until they were lifted and given body cladding. As a lover of long roofs I shouldn’t be a fan of vehicles like the X5 but of all the German SUVs, it has always been the one I had a soft spot for, even though BMW tried to coin the term “Sports Activity Vehicle” when it debuted. Perhaps it’s the fact that they offered it in oddball colors like this Grey-Green Metallic which screams Euro country cruiser or maybe it’s that they offered it with a 5-speed manual. The idea of a German SUV with a 3 pedals being sold in this country is laughable these days but from 2001 to 2006, it was no joke.
