It is Consumer Guide managing editor Rick Cotta who first began noting vehicles that are turning 25 years of age, and thus becoming “classic.”
In Illinois, home to Consumer Guide Automotive© and Collectible Automobile magazine, a car is officially an antique when it crosses the quarter-century line.
With the two-and-half-decade benchmark in mind, I present here 10 wagons that will soon qualify in some states for highly coveted antique or collector-car status.
Are these cars truly collectible? That’s for you and the old-car-buying public to decide. That said, given what seems to be renewed interest in Eighties-era big sedans and wagons, I wouldn’t count these long-roofs out.
5 (More-Expensive) Newly Classic Convertibles
5 Newly Classic Convertibles (1988 Edition)
The 5 Most-Expensive American Wagons of 1972
The 10 Cheapest Wagons of 1973
Mercedes-Benz 300TE
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $49,060*/$89,400
Standard engine: 177-horsepower 3.0-liter 6-cylinder
Standard transmission: 4-speed automatic
*Includes $600 Gas Guzzler tax
Audi 200 Quattro Wagon
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $37,265/$67,900
Standard engine: 162-horsepower 2.2-liter turbocharged 5-cylinder
Standard transmission: 5-speed manual
Volvo 760 GLE Turbo
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $34,315/$62,600
Standard engine: 162-horsepower 2.3-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder
Standard transmission: 4-speed automatic
Peugeot 505 Turbo SW8
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $26,500/$48,300
Standard engine: 180-horsepower 2.2-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder
Standard transmission: 5-speed manual
Mercury Grand Marquis Colony Park LS
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $19,425/$35,400
Standard engine: 150-horsepower 5.0-liter V8
Standard transmission: 4-speed automatic
Volvo 240 DL
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $19,290/$35,200
Standard engine: 114-horsepower 2.3-liter 4-cylinder
Standard transmission: 5-speed manual
Ford LTD Crown Victoria LX Country Squire
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $19,266/$35,100
Standard engine: 150-horsepower 5.0-liter V8
Standard transmission: 4-speed automatic
Pontiac 6000 S/E
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $18,959/$34,600
Standard engine: 140-horsepower 3.1-liter V6
Standard transmission: 3-speed automatic
Buick Estate Wagon
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $18,445/$33,600
Standard engine: 140-horsepower 5.0-liter V8
Standard transmission: 4-speed automatic
Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser
Base Price (1990/inflation adjusted): $18,100/$33,000
Standard engine: 140-horsepower 5.0-liter V8
Standard transmission: 4-speed automatic
Check out Consumer Guide’s used station-wagon reviews
