An Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake crossed the block in Monterey in 2019 and blew past its high estimate by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet it was a station wagon. That’s the part collectors love to repeat, because wagons had a reputation as the sensible choice, not the auction-night surprise.
Most family haulers lived hard lives. Kids, dogs, roof racks and road trips used them up, and few people saved one on purpose. However, the survivors now turn up at sales where nobody expects a wagon to steal the show. Every so often, one does.
These are our picks: six wagons whose sale prices left the experts behind. The verdict on which ones stand out is our opinion. The prices, estimates and records, though, come straight from the auction houses, their releases and Hagerty’s market reports. Note that several of these cars carry modifications or restorations, and we say so where it matters.
1. 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake by Radford
David Brown asked for a wagon version of the DB5, so the coachbuilder Harold Radford turned the coupe into one. According to RM Sotheby’s lot record, the factory and Radford turned out just 12 DB5 shooting brakes. Only four had left-hand drive for export, and chassis DB5/2273/L is one of them.
Its history reads like a car its owner actually drove. It left the factory on December 1, 1965, for Rainer Heumann of Switzerland. Then he drove it daily for about 30 years. Later owners restored it, and by the time of the sale it carried a 4.7-liter engine and Silver Birch paint.
RM Sotheby’s sold it as Lot 108 at Monterey in 2019 for $1,765,000. According to Hagerty’s report on the sale, the car eclipsed its $1.4 million high estimate. Hagerty also valued a DB5 Shooting Brake in #3+ condition at $933,000, so the result landed 89 percent above that. In fact, Hagerty said it was the highest price for an Aston Martin with no James Bond connection. Our take: a hand-built wagon with a single long-term first owner is about as good as a provenance story gets.
2. 1973 Volvo 1800 ES
The 1800 ES was Volvo’s sport wagon, and for years it was a cult car with a small following. Then a 1973 example went to Bonhams at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance in Connecticut in June 2014. It had about 13,000 miles and three owners, and it had spent its whole life in Keene, New Hampshire. In fact, the first owner kept it for 27 years.
Bonhams estimated it at $30,000 to $40,000. Instead, it sold for $92,400, more than double the top of that range, to a bidder from overseas. According to Volvo Car Canada’s release on the sale, a Bonhams representative called it a new world record for a classic Volvo, as far as the house knew. Bonhams specialist Eric Minoff described the car as “well preserved and totally original.”
The gap looks even wider next to the price guides. Hagerty’s look at the sale put the average 1973 1800 ES at $12,000, with a high around $27,000. In our view, this is the clearest case on the list. The car itself was ordinary on paper. Instead, its originality and low miles pushed bidders far past the estimate. If you own an untouched one, keep it that way.
3. 2012 Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon six-speed manual
The CTS-V wagon is a modern car, yet it already has a collector following. Under the hood sat a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 rated at 556 hp and 551 lb-ft. Some buyers paired it with a six-speed manual, and those are the cars enthusiasts hunt.
In late 2020, a 2012 manual wagon in Opulent Blue Metallic sold on Bring a Trailer. It also had about 11,768 miles. The winning bid was $89,500, and the final price with fees came to $93,975. According to Hagerty’s report on the sale, that set a new record for the model.
Here’s why it counts as a surprise. Hagerty said similar wagons in #1 condition averaged about $51,000, so this one brought 56 percent more. It also sold for more than its original $71,220 window sticker. Hagerty’s Greg Ingold called it a very surprising sale, even for a car with a cult following. He also cautioned that one sale doesn’t make a trend. Our take: the manual V-wagon is the rare modern car that already gets classic-car treatment. For more on the sedan side of the family, read why the Cadillac CTS-V is a four-door felony.
4. 1953 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon
Gooding & Company called this car an exceptional example of “America’s Last Wood-Bodied Wagon.” It was also scarce when new. According to Gooding’s lot record, Buick built only 679 of them.
The hardware matched Buick’s top line. Power came from a 322-cubic-inch overhead-valve V8 with a four-barrel carburetor, rated at 188 bhp at 4,000 rpm. A Twin-Turbine Dynaflow automatic handled the shifting. Gooding’s listing also notes power-assisted drum brakes on all four wheels and coil springs front and rear. This example also wore Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels. Its restorers brought it to concours condition, kept the original wood and fitted new rear posts.
Gooding offered it as Lot 13 at its Scottsdale sale in 2012, with an estimate of $75,000 to $95,000. Then it sold for $137,500. In other words, the result cleared the top of the estimate by more than 40 percent. In our view, the wood is the whole story here. Original timber on a 70-year-old wagon is hard to find, and bidders clearly paid for it. If you’re looking at one, ask how much of the timber is original, since that drives the value.
5. 1958 Edsel Bermuda
The Edsel name usually comes up as a punchline. However, this Bermuda wagon came from the personal collection of Edsel B. Ford II, the grandson of the man the brand honored. He also autographed it. In 2016, Roush modified and restored the car, swapping its column-shift manual for an automatic.
According to Hagerty’s preview of the sale, the Bermuda was the top Edsel wagon, offered for a single model year. This one ran a 361-cubic-inch E-400 V8 with a four-barrel carburetor. Hagerty listed it at 303 horsepower and 400 lb-ft. Barrett-Jackson offered it at no reserve at Scottsdale in March 2021, as Lot 1341.1.
In the end, the car sold for $165,000. According to Barrett-Jackson’s own roundup of record-breakers, that was three times the previous high sale for any year of the model. Our take: the Ford family connection did a lot of the work. Even so, the result shows how far a well-told story can carry a car the market once laughed at. If the Edsel story interests you, we covered the strange reason the 1958 Edsel failed despite huge expectations.
6. 1947 Ford Super Deluxe station wagon
The second Edsel B. Ford II wagon at that sale was a 1947 Super Deluxe woody, Lot 1341. Like the Edsel, it came from his personal collection. Roush modified it in 2014 and 2015 while keeping its original look.
Underneath, it’s a different car. According to the Barrett-Jackson lot listing, it runs a modern 302-cubic-inch V8 with a Ford AOD automatic and power steering. Hagerty adds a Ford 9-inch rear end with 3.75 gears, a 12-volt system and four-wheel power disc brakes. Electric wipers replaced the old vacuum units too.
Before the sale, Hagerty valuation editor Andrew Newton said the restomod work “should push it to big money. The only question is how big.” The answer was $209,000, according to Motorious’ report on the result, which said both Ford family wagons exceeded expectations. Since the car sold at no reserve, it had no published estimate to beat. Our take: this is a restomod, so it isn’t a pure woody price. Still, it’s the top result on this list among American wagons, and the woody body made it look like 1947 the whole time.
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