The original ones, built from about 1983 to 1986 or so, are considered by many to be one of the ultimate production fully loaded touring bikes. Designed by Neenan, and built in Japan by who-knows-who from what I understand was Specialized branded Tange tubing. My '83, shown below on my wind trainer, showns a level of caring beyond normal production bikes of the time (thinned lugs as an example). It is hard to believe that this was the most modestly priced Specialized bicycle at the time.
I have not put as many miles on this bike as my '84 Lotus Odyssey, and I will note that I prefer the Lotus' un-laden steering qualities over the Expo, but I have not really loaded the Expo down and headed off towards the hills to compare its loaded qualities. I do think they thought things through a little better than other offerings (Lotus, Trek, Schwinn, Centurion, maybe Miyata, others) for the 83-84 model years, but the others figured it out by 85 just in time to drop them all together.
A good one, in original conition, will sell for more than the original sticker price. Go figure.
