Think estate cars are fuddy-duddy family wagons favoured only by antique dealers and dog walkers?
We’d forgive you for reaching the wrong conclusion – there are plenty of ungainly, uninspiring and downright ugly load-luggers out there. This little lot, however, are completely different – they’re fun, charismatic classic car charmers with a character all of their own on account of their boxier bodies.
What’s more, you could even lug things about in them. After all, that’s what they were made for…
Mercedes-Benz 280 TE
If it’s good enough to take on Africa – and plenty of W123-generation Mercedes models are plying their trade from Cairo to Cape Town – then it’s good enough for us.
The 280TE offered Stuttgart’s wonderfully smooth straight six in an estate car package able to offer vast amounts of Labrador-lugging space. This 1985 car has had £20,000 lavished on its restoration and is in showroom condition. With ABS, electric windows and sunroof, air con and four-speed auto to make the best of all that torque, it’s a rival for Mercedes’ modern estates!
BMW E30 Touring
Equally German – but not quite as ample in the luggage stakes – is BMW’s E30-generation 3-Series. As this car’s seller - quite rightly - points out these Eighties BMWs are a magnet for the drifting fraternity, making clean, standard-spec ones increasingly hard to come by. This 1993 318i Lux Touring model might not have the pretend-it’s-an-M3 factor of the two-door saloons or the class of the cabriolets, but it offers something much cooler – rear-drive BMW kicks in an unlikely package.
Morris Minor Traveller
You can’t fail to fall for the Minor’s Heartbeat charm – everything from its split-opening rear door, its (structurally integral) timber rear fame and its bulbous curves transport you back to a gentler motoring age. There are plenty of them available on CCfS, but we particularly like the backstory behind this 1971 car. Originally supplied to the RAF and used by one of its chaplains, it was then restored by the late Minor specialist Charles Ware, and has stashes of paperwork to back up its history.
Volvo 1800ES
No list of old estate cars would be complete without one of Gothenburg’s finest – but we reckon this curvaceous shooting brake is going to impress your mates far more than an 850 T5 would.
This 1973 1800ES could benefit from a little bit of TLC – in particular, it could benefit from a respray to remedy its fading paintwork – but it’s got an MoT until October, four new tyres and a recently fitted stainless steel exhaust. Best of all, it’s still got everything that made the 1800ES great – a usefully squared-off rump, a glass rear hatchback, and the sort of good looks it took Volvo decades to rediscover.
Mini Clubman Estate
Gone are the days when the Clubman was the Mini’s unwanted uglier sister – the classic world has long since woken up what a brilliant pocket rocket the 1275GT was and its surge in value has pulled other bluff-fronted Seventies models up with it. They’re also favourites with the modifying fraternity, which makes this 1981 Clubman Estate all the more compelling. It’s only covered 20,000 miles, it’s been put back on the road rather than restored after a long spell in storage, and it offers a quirkier, more practical take on the Mini’s instant cornering and livewire fun factor.
What’s your favourite classic estate? Let us know in the comment section below.