If you were the best wagon of the 90s which one would you be?

jere wrote: I am thinking rt4wd civic wagon, what does everyone else think?

Corolla All-Trac wagon???

A set of Bilsteins, and she handles quite nicely

Klayfish wrote: I had a '96 Volvo 850 wagon as my daily until a few months ago. Loved the car, and it was very reliable for me. They're great. But I think mine was a bit unusual in being so reliable, I know they can be pretty troublesome. Otherwise, it'd be at the top of my list. If cheap to care for and feed are top priority, the Accord wagon is tough to beat. And IMHO, the '94-'97 platform wasn't boring to drive, especially in 5spd form.

My 850 sedan has not had a single failure in the almost 6 months I have owned it so far. If anything, it is better than when I bought it as now all the dash lights work again

mtn wrote: My instant response is a B-Body GM, but upon realization that you're looking for something that has decent handling I'm going to change that answer to a Subaru Legacy with various suspension bits.

the proper answer is still "B Body GM" with a few choice suspension bits... cop car/Impala SS steering box, Impala SS wheels, readily available and dirt cheap aftermarket springs and sway bars. you also need some better exhaust just because a V8 should sound like a proper V8- and that stuff is also out there and dirt cheap, too...figure right around $1000 on top of the purchase price of the car if you buy all the stuff brand new, half of that if you search junkyards and teh internets for good used parts..

It pains me to say it as it involves the evil T word, but what about keeping what you have? You didn’t mention a budget, and as the Camry was free I assume you’d not talking about spending $10k on this thing. GRM has the project Camry, there was another Camry budget build on here last year. What about springs, shocks, wheels and tires for this?

Wow this is going to be a hard choice to make when it comes down to decision time. I am starting to realize I like wagons way more than I could have imagined.

The German wagons are definitely growing on me as are the thought of the Subarus. The Civic wagons are either rusted junk, FWD, or have the Honda boy ricer tax on them. That said JohnRW1621 the one you posted might be a little too nice especially because my wife would most likely back it into trashcans and shopping carts. It is also in the same range as some 2005 Subarus and is corrupting the whole idea of this post

I don't think the Roadmaster will fit in the garage but if a nice one comes up I might not care any more.... decisions decisions...

Mainly for fuel mileage (50 mpg isn't hard), but a B4 Passat TDI wagon with some suspension and power upgrades will do what you want. Tons of interior room.

My heart say BMW... my wallet says Passat TDI (but I have 10 years of experience wrenching on a TDI)... my brain says Honda Accord - which probably stradles the difference...

Adrian_Thompson wrote: It pains me to say it as it involves the evil T word, but what about keeping what you have? You didn’t mention a budget, and as the Camry was free I assume you’d not talking about spending $10k on this thing. GRM has the project Camry, there was another Camry budget build on here last year. What about springs, shocks, wheels and tires for this?

This all might be a pipe dream, and I might run out of enthusiasm and just keep the Camry, but it still needs money and time for maintenance and upgrades. Why not put that same time and money into something with a better ... insert whatever? That thought is what I keep coming back to.

For example is it really worth making new rocker panels from scratch and patching other rust in a Camry that will only be worth it's weight in scrap ten years from now? Now what if I spent that same time money on some uncommon AWD turbo wagon or something a little more timeless?

Corollla All-Trac Wagon can accept parts from the Rally-dominating All-Trac Celica!

The Dodge Colt/Eagle Summit AWD Wagons had the basic motor and drivetrain from early EVOs! Kinda.

Throw me in with the B-body crowd. I'll be looking for another when I need back seats again (hopefully this time I'll find one in much better condition and LT1 powered).

For my $$$, a 300TE-24 4Matic, W124 chassis, with a turbocharger kit.

JohnyHachi6 wrote: I've always had a soft spot for the Cressida wagon (maybe with a 7mgte + 5 spd swap, which drops right in!): Also, pushing it a little but in '99 you could get an is300 wagon - pretty cool: And, best for last, if you lived anywhere else in the world you could get a sweet WRX wagon through the late 90's:

I like how you think.
I own a mystic blue version of the Suby and a sedan version of the Lexus. Lexus didn't bring the wagon to NA until 2002. I think they will become moderately desirable classics some day. Cressida's were cool, but weren't they an 80's car?

pinchvalve wrote: For my $$$, a 300TE-24 4Matic, W124 chassis, with a turbocharger kit.

Tell me more?

pinchvalve wrote: Corollla All-Trac Wagon can accept parts from the Rally-dominating All-Trac celica!

No... not really.

The Camry is way closer to that statememt but it's also not the easiest thing in the world.

Here is shot of my pretty unique 95 E320 wagon. The car has a C36 AMG motor and 500e spec suspension. I have a 5 speed manual that is yet to be installed into the car.

caprice/roadmaster.

preferably a 91-93 TBI car. simple to fix in the rare event it ever needs it, parts cheap, 26-27mpg highway, fit the entire family, pets, luggage, and pull a boat or car trailer doing it.

/discussion. anything else is a subcompact by comparison.

S6 Avant. Or 200 20V Avant if you can find one.

They're not that expensive to keep up, really.

Loved my 850 Turbo Volvo in the short time I had it.

14lbs of boost in a 300,000 mile engine killed it in short order though..

Very fast car while I had it.

Shawn

I would like to see an All Trac Corllla Wagon with a 3S-GTE (i think thats the motor the all trac had?)

Had the big GM wagon. That was anything but fun. It was big, that's all. Massive in fact. And it drove live a breaching whale. Horrible to drive. Horrible to work on. Mostly because the engine was many feet away from the fenders, and also because of the wildly sloppy GM assembly practices. That said, I have seen them when well hotrodded. Very entertaining.

Have had a number of Volvo wagons now. 740, V70 and XC70. For normal "fun", the 740 would take it. Pretty easy to tweak. I guess this picture, from Volvo, says it all:

Things like the various Honda/Toyota/Subaru wagons are usually pretty dull, but they are small, which makes them more nimble inherently. But once you get down into that size, it starts becoming hard to really call them a station wagon, at least in the classic sense of station wagon that would include the likes of a Road Master.

I love the B-body wagons, ie the Roadmaster, but they do not fit the bill here. They're "fun" to drive in a straight line and they're comfy, but they're nailed together like a Soviet era truck and handle just about as well. A new set of shocks and stiffer springs would help, but you're still piloting around 4,700 pounds of loosely connected steel. Granted, with 260hp on tap and RWD it's still fun, but curvy mountain roads are not its forte.

Bobzilla wrote: But he said "fun". I don't think Honda even knew what that word meant when they created the Accord wagon.

I know you're joking, but the Accord wagon was actually a heck of a car. It's barely heavier than the sedan and the H22 and 5-speed from a Prelude drop right in. You can get 200hp and 33 mpg pretty easily. It's probably beyond the purview of this thread but they're neat cars. A stock one is not un-entertaining to drive if you're okay with FWD, and a lightly modified one can be a blast.

Jere, the last thing I would worry about is resale value. Even an "uncommon AWD turbo wagon" is going to eat up any future gains in current costs. You'll never make money on a car, especially a project. Between purchase cost and maintenance you'll be way in the negative compared to modding what you've got, but I don't consider those things when deciding what car to get. Just get what you want and can afford and enjoy it!

dculberson wrote: I love the B-body wagons, ie the Roadmaster, but they do not fit the bill here. They're "fun" to drive in a straight line and they're comfy, but they're nailed together like a Soviet era truck and handle just about as well. A new set of shocks and stiffer springs would help, but you're still piloting around 4,700 pounds of loosely connected steel. Granted, with 260hp on tap and RWD it's still fun, but curvy mountain roads are not its forte.

I disagree. See point A.) http://bangshift.com/blog/category/project-cars/bangshiftprojects/buford

After owning a couple B-body 9C1's, I can say they are not all that great in a straight line, but much better when you have to use the round thing in front of the driver.

Bobzilla wrote:

dculberson wrote: I love the B-body wagons, ie the Roadmaster, but they do not fit the bill here. They're "fun" to drive in a straight line and they're comfy, but they're nailed together like a Soviet era truck and handle just about as well. A new set of shocks and stiffer springs would help, but you're still piloting around 4,700 pounds of loosely connected steel. Granted, with 260hp on tap and RWD it's still fun, but curvy mountain roads are not its forte.

I disagree. See point A.) http://bangshift.com/blog/category/project-cars/bangshiftprojects/buford After owning a couple B-body 9C1's, I can say they are not all that great in a straight line, but much better when you have to use the round thing in front of the driver.

Weird, so if you significantly modify the suspension of a car, it can perform better?

Swank Force One wrote: Weird, so if you significantly modify the suspension of a car, it can perform better?

You've obviously never owned a Mustang if you think replacing springs and shocks qualifies as significantly modifying the suspension.

Well, you might find an AMG version:

Which are AWESOME, but not exactly on every street corner. Turbochargers (and superchargers IIRC) are available from Mosselman among others.