When my daughter's '86 was T'Boned and totalled several years ago, I hated to lose that well-maintained engine. So I bought a well-used '83 wagon at auction and did the engine swap.
It became the "first car" and taught several of my kids to drive, being used for long distance commuting and extensive vacation travel ... getting a few dents in the process. The odometer has turn over several times, I suspect it has near a million miles on the wagon body.
It went into semi-retirement in my back yard for about a year, with the junkyard in its future ... that is, until gas prices went up. Now I've done an engine/clutch overhaul and the "krappy waggon" is back on the road ... running sweet and getting excellent mileage. I intend to continue to make small restoration steps day by day ... who knows, maybe my wife will ride in it again some day!