High-performance luxury cars are often described “businessman’s hot rods,” presumptively aimed at affluent middle-aged men who demand performance as well as panache. But what about affluent suburban soccer moms who want a luxuriously appointed chariot that offers ample space for 2.4 children and their assorted accessories, but can still lay a patch after dropping the kids off at school? Today, the answer would probably be a muscular crossover or an SUV the size of Guam. Back in 1969, well … could I interest you in a Buick Sportwagon 400, sharing its engine with the Buick GS400 muscle car?
Okay, at about this point, you’ve probably taken a closer look at the lead image above and noticed the hood scoops. No, Buick would not sell you a Sportwagon with GS emblems and cold air hood, at least not as a factory option.
The Sportwagon 400 had the GS400 engine, but not its emblems or cold air hood / Connors Motorcar Company
Front end of a different Sportwagon 400 with the standard hood and grille badge / autoevolution
However, you COULD order a stock 1969 Sportwagon with the $348.16 Sportwagon 400 package, which gave you the same 400 cu. in. (6,554 cc) V-8 used in the GS400, boasting a healthy 340 gross horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque, plus the Super Turbine 400 automatic and Sportwagon 400 identification.
Unlike the GS hood and identification found elsewhere on this wagon, the “Sport Wagon 400” fender badges are original / Connors Motorcar Company
For $42.13, you could combine the engine and transmission with the same 3.42 axle Positraction axle used on GS cars, and an extra $94.79 would give you a set of Buick’s signature chrome-plated wheels. The Sportwagon used the GS400’s finned aluminum front drums, and actually had about 10 percent more brake swept area than the GS — fortunate given that the chrome wheels couldn’t be ordered with front disc brakes.
14x6JJ chromed wheels were optional on the 1969 Sportwagon, but couldn’t be combined with front discs / Mecum Auctions
Of course, there were various GS performance options Buick didn’t offer on the Sportwagon: The H6 Rallye Ride Control Package wasn’t available on wagons (although you could get a heavy-duty trailering suspension for $3.69 or automatic level control for $78.99), and you couldn’t combine the Sportwagon 400 with the $199.05 Stage 1 package, which included dual exhaust, new heads with bigger valves, and a much hotter camshaft, as well as a higher-stall torque converter and modified governor for the automatic transmission. However, adding the GS cold air intake kit would have been a straightforward dealer installation, providing around 5 percent more power that your insurance agent didn’t need to know anything about. (For this kind of duty, under-bumper scoops like the Oldsmobile Force-Air Induction system might have been more suitable, if only because they wouldn’t draw as many strange looks at PTA meetings.) The suspension pieces were also an uncomplicated retrofit — the Trumpet Gold wagon shown above has been fitted with the boxed rear lower control arms and rear anti-roll bar of the Rallye Ride Control suspension.
Standard Sportwagon 400 engine, without the GS400 cold air intake system fitted to the green and gold cars / Barn Finds
If the name doesn’t ring a bell, the Sportwagon was Buick’s version of the better-known Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser: a midsize wagon on a stretched, long-wheelbase A-body intermediate platform, featuring a raised “Skyroof” with tinted glass panels. Not only was it stylish and airy, it provided enough rear headroom to allow the three-row nine-passenger version to have a forward-facing rear seat. It was unfortunately sometimes also prone to leak. (For more about the evolution of the Skyroof, see this post by JJ Powers.)
Skyroof was 3.4 inches higher than the flat-roof Special Deluxe wagon and provided a brighter, airier interior / Connors Motorcar Company
Buick had much more difficulty selling the raised-roof wagon than Oldsmobile did. Sportwagon sales lagged behind the Vista Cruiser by over 30 percent, even though Buick had tried to broaden its appeal by offering it in basic and fancier Custom trim levels. For 1969, Buick dropped the cheaper sub-series, leaving a single very fancy trim level in two- or three-row forms, priced at $3,448 and $3,604. Sales dipped about 10 percent, to 20,670 units, over half of those (11,513) the three-row version. The Vista Cruiser wasn’t meaningfully cheaper (in 1969, it listed for $3,440 in two-row form and $3,583 with a third-row seat), so it seems that the problem was marketing more than anything else, probably not helped by Buick’s rather generic “Sportwagon” name. “Vista Cruiser” was far more descriptive and arguably more evocative.
A forward-facing rear seat was one of the selling points of these wagons, but the relatively narrow load area betrayed the Sportwagon’s intermediate underpinnings / Connors Motorcar Company
Neither sold as well as the segment-leading Ford Country Sedan and Country Squire, which were comparably priced. The Sportwagon and Vista Cruiser actually rode the same 121-inch wheelbase as the Ford wagons and were only slightly shorter overall, but they were over 5 inches narrower. As you can see from the above photo, the rear wheelhouses impinged quite a bit on the usable width of the cargo area. These wagons were stylish and more pleasant for rear passengers, but they weren’t as versatile as load-haulers.
At 214.1 inches overall on a 121-inch wheelbase, the 1969 Sportwagon was almost as long as some popular full-size wagons, but it was significantly narrower / Mecum Auctions
1969 would be the last year for the Skyroof. The Sportwagon name continued through 1972, but the 1970 and later cars had flat roofs and no particular distinction. The better-selling Vista Cruiser continued in raised-roof form through 1972, and Oldsmobile adopted a simplified version for the redesigned 1973 intermediate line.
The Sportwagon 400 instrument panel had few instruments, but the same was true of the 1969 GS / Mecum Auctions
I don’t have any data on how many Sportwagons had the 400 package; I’m guessing it wasn’t very many. These wagons were already fairly pricey, and the standard 350 cu. in. (5,724 cc) V-8 didn’t require premium fuel.
Obviously, a Sportwagon 400 wasn’t going to keep up with a GS400: Even in two-row form, the wagon weighed 668 lb more than a GS400 hardtop, and three-row wagons were an addition 125 lb heavier. If there were any period road tests of the Sportwagon 400, I’ve never seen them, although given the weight, I’d expect a quarter mile ET in the mid-16s with a 3.42 axle — not Supercar times unless you added some Stage 1 pieces.
I think the Sportwagon was the best-looking of the 1969 Buick A-body line, rare for a station wagon / Mecum Auctions
If you could wait for the 1970 models, you could order a Vista Cruiser with the Olds 455 and 365 gross horsepower. (The 1969 Vista Cruiser offered the Rocket 400 — not the same engine as the Buick 400 — as a $121.12 option, but it had only 325 hp.) However, if you were buying a new car in 1969 and were determined to combine style, speed, and seating for nine, the Sportwagon 400 was your best choice — a wagon that even car-conscious kids might not cringe at being seen in.
Related Reading
Vintage Motor Trend Review: 1964 Buick Skylark Sport Wagon (And Olds Vista Cruiser) – GM Builds A Better Station Wagon (by Paul N)
Curbside Classic: 1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser – The Kiddie Wagon (by Paul N)
COAL: 1965 Buick Sportwagon • My First Car (by Steve Crutchfield)
COAL: 1967 Buick Sport Wagon – Forty Years of Sky Roofs (by JJPowers)
Curbside Classic: 1969 Buick Special DeLuxe Wagon – Not So Very Special In 1969 (by Paul N)
Curbside Classic: 1969 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser – GM’s Greatest Hit No. 8 (by Paul N)
Why, yes you could interest me in a Sportswagon! Always good to see Buicks here.
I’ve long been attracted to these GM wagons with the skyroof, and a Sportwagon of this vintage (and engine) is on my fantasy list. It’s odd that most of the ones I see for sale nowadays (I’ve probably not seen one on the road since the mid-1970s) are green. It must have been a popular color. Thanks for featuring this one!
Both the Sport Wagon and the Vista Cruiser were appealing to me as a kid when new, but the attraction was not the sky roof, but rather the luxurious interiors, which underscored just how plain our Dart wagons were inside. Still, if given the choice, I probably would have gone for a fully equipped Country Squire, if only for the additional space.
That green one above is particularly fetching, as I’m finding these vintage greens from the late ’60s and early ’70s to be far more appealing today than the gold shades. It looks especially attractive with the Buick road wheels, which probably were fitted to only 0.1% of Sport Wagons at the factory.
I had a 66 “Sportswagon”. Tan on tan, pretty much a Sally Rand. It did have a 340 4 barrel. Not the nailhead 401 with the assumed name like the featured car.
I can set timing by ear, but it seemed hard to find the sweet spot.
It also got 15 MPG highway.
I sold it in Dayton and flew home.
A few weeks later the buyer called me, totally pissed off. I think it jumped time, which was why it never liked where I put the distributor and why it got lousy gas mileage.
If I was a Buick design decision-maker, I would not have committed the Sweep Spear into the sheetmetal stampings, for the Skylark lineup. Exterior styling is generally less polarizing, and cleaner, without it. The Sweep Spear could have been integrated exclusively by use of trim, on higher level models. If they wanted to offer this traditional Buick styling element.
Remains enough styling distinction with other GM intermediates, without committing in sheet metal, to the Sweep Spear. Almost detracts from an otherwise fundamentally clean exterior.
I personally, much prefer it gone. Just needed to straighten the Ventiports, in the Photoshoped version.
I honestly think the Sportwagon is the only model where it works. On the hardtop and sedan, it looks incredibly fussy, but it gives the wagon character that it would otherwise lack.
I agree 100%. Buick could easily have integrated the Sweep Spear, via added trim pieces. Making the look more exclusive to upper trim models, like the Sportwagon.
It looks a little too abrupt and stubby on the 2-doors.
In this application, the sweep spear looks like it came loose and is falling at the rear end…
In addition to styling, the sweep spear probably added rigidity to the sheet meal.
Agreed.
Someone I knew as a kid had a parent who drove one of these, and I vaguely recall it was a creamy yellow color and I rode in the second row but don’t remember a third row of seats. Not sure if I remember the glassy roof; do remember the flat-centered steering wheel, a style that made a comeback in late-70s to ’80s Buicks.
Was there some technical reason front disk brakes couldn’t be combined with the styled chrome wheels, or was it just one of those mysterious things GM wouldn’t let you do but nonetheless work together fine if you swap in one or the other?
I believe it was a clearance issue. The styled wheels look to have a very flat center section, right up against the drum face, which probably wouldn’t have cleared the caliper. I assume it was revised for the big cars with discs, but not yet for the A-Body cars at this time.
I’d forgotten that these could be had in 400 trim.
The Sportwagon and Vista Cruiser were always a bit of an enigma. I really liked them as a kid, but I’ve always wondered just why GM decided to go this route. Even though they were almost as long as full-size wagons, it was of course obvious to all that they were A-Body based, and as such there were going to be folks who were adamant about having a “full-size” wagon, although the load width issue was really going to only be an issue with those dads that hauled sheet goods.
The big advantage of these was that there was still a usable luggage area behind the third seat, unlike those wagons with rear facing third seats and Ford’s side-facing seats. That was a real boon; when we went on vacation in our Coronet wagon, almost everything had to be in the roof top carrier.
The full-size LeSabre wagon continued through 1964, after the Sportwagon and Vista Cruiser arrived, but there was a shakeup in 1964 with Ionia Manufacturing, which had been making the bodies for big Buick and Oldsmobile wagons — the head of the company died, and a lot of their holdings were either reorganized or sold off. If not for that, I think the full-size wagons might have continued for longer, but I guess Buick and Olds decided the volume didn’t justify the hassle of shifting production elsewhere or bringing it in-house, leaving the skyroof wagons to fill the gap. They did sell better than the big wagons even if they weren’t a huge volume item.
I’m familiar with that history, and the solution was fairly pragmatic, but it just seems a bit surprising. More like something Chrysler or AMC would do, not GM.
I considered it the best wagon of its time, as the lack of excess width and weight are a positive in my book.
I imagine that the discontinued Sportwagon for 1970 was tied to the odd decision to bring back a full sized B body wagon at Buick for that last year of the B body cycle.
To me, the green car is simply screaming for Di-Noc to fill that molding-surrounded area.
There was a woodgrain option for $147.45, filling out the space above the side sweep:
This is the one I remember seeing on the road. Not really in big, numbers though.
Some were without the roof racks too.
Imagine what if Buick have kept the Sportwagon for 1970 until the end of the body cycle like Oldsmobile did with the Vista-Cruiser? Imagine a Sportwagon GS-455? 😉
I had a 1972 oldsmobile vista cruiser. bought it used in ’78, all rusty and beat up, tailgate just hanging on but I sure liked them windows! took it on a road trip in 1980? and drove it from moab to canyonlands up the schaefer trail, you know 4 wheel drive high clearance only over the slickrock and through the washes. boy that was a ride.
You could replace this car after 4 years with a 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle SS *wagon*. A 454 was available.
That “73”, model is (and would be) a real rarity.
I never knew the GS400 Sportwagon existed, I have always been fascinated by the Sportwagon concept. I imagine the number of these built were quite small, this is the first one I have ever seen. If Buick built something like this today I would be definitely interested, it certainly beats their current lineup.
Car Life magazine tested a Buick Sportwagon in ’69, but I don’t remember if it was the 400. Comparison test with a Coronet 500 wagon, an Impala, and I think an AMC. Road test is at home, and I’m at work.
I grew up in new Buicks, which I didn’t appreciate as much as I should have, but Sport Wagons and those skylights were always a favorite. I don’t know what is going on here or why the scene was photographed (perhaps it’s some semi-Masonic secret dealership ritual) but on the right is my GM Daddy, who was a distribution manager for Buick, 1965.