Super Rare Eurosport VR Wagon

Wrong-wheel-drive and a lot of miles but I'm really digging this!

http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/2444072970.html - Texas car too so should have no rust.

 

The fact that it's a VR is what makes it so rare. I've never seen a VR wagon on the street, only a sedan. ​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfKyFkPC8Qs - Promo Video for VR​

http://www.eurosportvr.com/ - Dedicated Website​

 

Yeah!! I love those Eurosports. If that were closer, I'd be thinking real hard about it. I've never seen a VR before.

 

It's one of only 600 VR's made in 1988. There is not a breakdown for sedan, wagon, and coupe, but one of 600, and it's 23 years old.....that's pretty rare!​

 

I've seen maybe 2 or 3 running around in Southern California. There was a crappy red one about 2 miles from me in Orange.

The VR was nothing more than a 'trim' job, but at least it was a decent 'trim' job......

 

I like odd stuff, this qualifies....

 

Saved the pics for posterity

 

Well the VR has found a good home:



My buddy AJ in Houston is the new owner. AJ is the guy I got my '67 GTO from, and likes oddball stuff like me, so that wagon has a good home.

If I'd brought it home, Misty would have shot me.....BUT knowing AJ he'll make it really nice, get tired of it or find something he likes more, and then I'll end up with it. AJ ended up with the 4dr Citation X-11 clone I built about 8 years ago.....and still has it.

As for the car, it's got a good story to it. It was a one-owner car, and the man selling it was the son-in-law of the owner...who'd just recently passed away. He'd inherited the car. The seller is a nice guy, but to him it was just an old Chevy wagon. He's a pastor at a church there in Conroe.

SO anyway, despite the fact that the car has a ton of miles on it, it was garage kept and very clean, with a ton of service records dating back to new. It has been re-painted once, but they did re-decal it and it's a nice job. Rust-free Texas car.

It has the FI 2.8 V6 and HT440 automatic trans. By no means a rocket but good power, smooth, and the exhaust has a nice burble. Has the Eurosport options so heavy-duty sway bars, faster steering, and the mag wheels. Dash with full gauges, specific Eurosport steering wheel, loaded with all power options, and they all work. The inside is clean too, no rips, no cracks, just some carpet wear on the driver's side footwell. Even the headliner is still good.

Now here is where the deal gets interesting. The seller said the a/c didn't work, which was part of the reason he was asking so little for it. AJ reached under the hood, unplugged the pressure switch on the accumulator, plugged it back in, and the compressor kicked on, and the car started blowing ice cubes. Ha! The seller made a joke about raising the price...but didn't, thankfully.

So the car is at AJ's now. He actually cleaned out the other side of his garage so the VR would not have to be parked outside. First order of business is new shocks and struts followed by a good window tint job and some better speakers in the stock locations.

He's tickled with the car and I'm glad it found a good home. I'm sure to some people it's just an ugly old piece of junk, but to other's who like GM oddball cars it's a bit of a find.

Happy Father's Day all!

-Mike

 

B-utiful!

You know...............

There's some peoples around that are putting Caddy Northstar V-8's from FWD DeVilles into them........apparently not too difficult job. Mostly off-the-shelf parts used, little modification.

 

Mike - Tell AJ to be careful with the bumper covers. They're for the 'VR''s only - don't fit anything else - would be very hard to replace.

 

The car was for sale for $1300. Such a deal!

-Mike

 

Oh yeah, he knows that. They and the side trim are what make the VR. He better be careful or I'll shoot him! Ha!

 

Here's the latest update from my buddy AJ on the VR wagon. He's really liking it!

From AJ in Houston:

Hi there Mike,
I drove the Celebrity VR wagon 800 plus miles over the holiday weekend, from Houston to Dad's in Nacogdoches and over to Six Flags in Dallas then back to Dad's and finally back to Houston. Lots of road time!

AC Compressor makes rod knocking noise at low speeds then about 40 mph it tapers off to reasonable. Cools much better after I took a GALLON ziploc bag of leaves out of the AC housing. We added oil to the AC in hopes it would quiet down. It did not help much. But once going it cools GREAT! R134 Hhmmmnnnnn.

Car kept running about 220 degrees. Nobody could figure it out. Radiator looked BRAND NEW inside. Cleanest old radiator I have ever seen! Hhmmnn. Why so clean? Coolant feels really oily. 100% Antifreeze! Antifreeze is a crappy heat conductor. Flushed the system numerous times. Voila! car runs cool now. But fan does not come on accept when AC or defrost is on. Wires to sensor on block have been cut and capped with WIRE NUTS?!? (The retired guy probably got tired of the fan running all the time.) Get new wiring at Pick-N-Pull, splice it in fan comes on at 230. Problem solved!

GM AM/FM cassette player died when cup of coffee poured down it sometime in the last 23 years. Took dash apart. Fixed the lights on speedometer while out for radio repair. Replaced factory radio with Mopar AM/FM CD/Cassette which just barely fits. Back speakers don't work. Disassemble rear hatch. Check wiring, wires okay. Speakers are toast. Go to LKQ. Find one A body station wagon and pull gas cylinders for rear glass and both sides of hatch. Replace speakers with $10 set from yard with 100% larger magnets. Sounds SO much better! Install gas shocks/clean trunk/hatch popper. All works out back now.

It is a very neat little car, with lots of room for the kiddos. Great for trips to Six Flags with the family. Gets probably about 27/28. Not bad at all. Corners better than any wagon I have seen. This was a great find, thanks Mike!

AJ