Dan Neil’s ‘clunker as classic’ (cont.)

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The mail is coming in, fast and furious, from readers responding to my story today on clunkers that could be potential classics. Some disagree on the choices, others want to nominate some beloved hunk of junk. It’s hard to boil down 25 years of automotive history to just five worthies. In the interests of completeness, I’m offering another five cars that I believe will emerge as collectibles.

Early 1990s-era Jaguar XJS – The collectible mentality would prefer the first year-of-issue for a particular model, but the ravishing XJS Coupe, which debuted in 1975, got many improvements in subsequent years that made the cars more driveable. This car, broad and low and ineffably British, with its distinctive flying buttresses (thanks to Jag penman Geoff Lawson), packs a visual wallop on the road today that can’t be denied. As for the convertible, just say no. There were a few six-cylinder, five-speed cars imported in the early 1990s – cars I loved – but I expect that those have by now drawn the attention of serious Jag collectors.

1988 Buick Reatta – Another easy call. A tidy and elegant two-seat sport tourer (1988-1991), the Reatta was unloved in its day – GM’s management couldn’t figure out how to market the car to traditional Buick customers – but it was, on balance, about the best thing GM produced in those years: virtually hand-built, with cutting-edge electronics and instruments on board. The waffling over a decent engine meant the car never clicked with enthusiasts, however, and the techy displays alienated the core clientele. I saw one last month and was astonished again at how lost and disoriented the company was then.

1997 Volvo 850 R Wagon – Ridiculously fast, hugely versatile and as safe as a bomb shelter, the 850 R wagon is one of the unappreciated treasures of 1990s car-building. Based on the highly advanced 850 sedan, the car had side-impact airbags as standard equipment when those were practically unheard of. With all-wheel drive and a 240 horsepower light-turbo five-cylinder engine, low-profile tires and stiff, racy suspension (with passive rear-steer) the 850 R is in many ways the perfect and ultimate Volvo. Boxy, with attitude.

1992 Subaru SVX – Subaru was soul-searching with this car (1992-1997), and discovered in the fullness of time its soul resided elsewhere than the Italian-designed luxury GT market. Even so, the artifact of the SVX is a tremendous automobile. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro’s ItalDesign studio, the car featured the distinctive greenhouse with the power window fitted into the glass canopy. The glass-on-glass still turns heads today. Under the hood was a heavily breathed-on 3.3-liter flat six (230 hp) buttoned to Subaru’s proprietary all-wheel drive system. The car suffered a bit because of the high price and the lack of a manual transmission, but connoisseurs love this car.

Late 1980s Saab 900 SPG Convertible – These are among the most collectible of Saabs – a short list, admittedly – and so you might have to search a bit to find one under the $4,500 clunker threshold. But you can’t find a more charismatic, distinctive open-top car for twice the money. It would be nice to find an example with the less problematic Mitsubishi turbochargers (replacing the Garretts). A beautiful car that only gets lovelier with age.

-- Dan Neil

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