The 2012 Paris motor show was when we first clapped eyes on what would eventually become the Panamera Sport Turismo. Porsche's concept highlighted not just how a potential Porsche wagon could look, but the new design direction for the second-generation Panamera.

That sport saloon, as Porsche refers to it, has been around for a year or so now, and it's finally a car that’s comfortable with the German company's family look. Following it to market is this promised Sport Turismo 'estate' variant, which you might think adds practicality to the mix, but the reality is a little bit different.

Think shooting brake rather than proper estate car, as this is a car defined more by its styling than any real concessions to practicality. The boot is only marginally larger, at 20 litres with the seats up, though access to it is better.

The real boost is to rear headroom, or at least the impression of it, the cabin feeling airier back there than in the conventional Panamera. There’s also a third seat in the back, which even Porsche somewhat apologetically refers to as a '+1'. It really is little more than an additional three-pointed seatbelt over the leather-covered hump that separates the two outside seats proper. 

First impressions

The Panamera has always cut its own swathe in the luxury saloon marketplace, and the Sport Turismo ...