I own and drive a 1993 Chevy Caprice 5.7L wagon. I bought it with 73k miles and it now has 106k. It works great for my family (everyone wants to ride in the rear facing seat!!) Part of me wants to fix the two small rust spots behind the rear wheels and part of me wants to SELL IT!!! If I did sell, I think I'd want to buy a 71-76 Custom Cruiser, but I'm not too sure if I'd want to make a daily driver out of something of that age...thoughts?
Welcome to the wagon clan. I'd fix up the '93 just to keep it's resell value up. Those are fine cars, that coming from a Ford guy. Considering you're still in a bit of a roadsalt state (not as bad as our snow-bound country) I would still rustproof the heck out of a classy Cruiser, and NOT use it during the winter road season, or near a Green-weenie protest. I like saving money on fuel, and keeping my wagon well-tuned to clean up after myself, but I'm not crazy about the green psychos.
daily driving (1) the major consideration will be,,,how much of a gasoline budget do you have?.. A mid-70's wagon is only going to go half as far,on a gallon of gas,as your 93... If that's not a problem,a 73 will work just as good as a 93...If it IS a problem,an 80's wagon will be better...The styling isn't as nice,but the interiours are cushier and the mpg's are up there near the 93 levels... (2) the next consideration is,,,parts...I know,parts is parts...But 70's parts can be different and rare.You can end up going to dismantler yards,for even the most mundane of things.Like the little Y shaped spring that goes in the distributor(that might be a Dodge Aspen thing). )) hope this helps,even just a little bit.For the most part,full size wagons really didn't change that much over the years.I'm not familiar with the mid-90's GM wagons,but other than superficial things like McPhearson struts,I don't see them being all that different than the Nova sized Malibu wagons of the early 80's. idea if you're up to a transplant...A newer high mpg drivetrain in an older wagon platform might foot the bill too...But that's a lot of work...
tublakahn Being a VERY proud owner of both a 92 and 93 Roadmaster Wagons, I am biased and say to keep it and fix it. Or if you insist on selling it, I would e interested if it is a reasonable price. These are easily 250k cars if regular upkeep is performed. I have 145k on the 93, though I just got it and the 92 has 167k and I have had zero issues with is in the 7 months I have had it. The ride is unmatched in any car that I have driven and being a former mechanic and body man, I have driven alot of different makes and models. @ Taranau. The Roadmaster, Caprice and Custom Cruisers share the drivetrain, brakes and rotors as well as alot of other chassis parts with a 1/2 ton GM pickup truck or Astro Van. They use shocks and coil springs, not struts. So you could buy a parts pickup to rebuild alot of the chassis parts on a Roadmaster/Caprice, be it a sedan or the wagon.
Good stuff to know,if I ever get one...Being not familiar with that era of the wagons,I had no idea.Was surprised to find out that the rear suspension on my 86 Colony Park wasn't leafsprings,like my 77 Aspen wagon and 68 Colony Park had on them...
to the family! I'm really glad you posted your daily driver question. Mine is currently a Volvo sedan and while I really like it, I'd LOVE a classic as my daily driver. My '75 Caprice Estate is just too special to me to put through rush hour traffic every day here in L.A. I'm thinking of either an early '70's Caprice sedan or an '80's era Caprice Estate. (Don't get me wrong, I'd care about these cars too; I'm just emotionally attached to my wagon...the whole childhood memories of my parents thing). Points raised herein about mpg's are very good ones....Anyone know when computers came on the scene in GM cars? I'd prefer avoiding those..!
