I recently came across a now-concluded auction listing for this red 1990 Buick Estate Wagon, clad in so much DI-NOC woodgrain trim that you can barely tell what color it is. Yes, they still offered these old-fashioned B-body station wagons in 1990, catering to a shrinking market that still wanted traditional RWD perimeter frame family haulers.
Once upon a time, these downsized GM B-body RWD cars were everywhere, sold in substantial numbers for a surprisingly long time. Introduced in 1977, they had originally seemed like a breath of fresh air, with less bulk, tidier road manners, and greater efficiency than the behemoths they replaced. By the late ’80s, they had come to signify GM’s ambivalence about the future. Antiquated older models were allowed to linger for years alongside newer, more efficient designs that were supposed to replace them — selling just well enough to keep them alive, but not well enough to justify more than token updates.
Some traditionalists were no doubt pleased, but it made for a cluttered, confusing corporate lineup that seemed increasingly unsure whether it was coming or going.
After 1986, only the Chevrolet Caprice line still offered a sedan or coupe, and the appeal of their once-crisp “Sheer Look” styling had been diluted by over-familiarity (and the fact that they were now most often seen in cop car or taxicab livery). However, the full-size wagon soldiered on in Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick guises.
Oldsmobile and Pontiac sensibly treated the big wagons as separate model lines, called Custom Cruiser and Safari respectively, but from 1980 through 1989, Buick badged its full-size RWD station wagons as LeSabre and Electra, eventually selling them alongside the newer FWD Electra and LeSabre, which were mechanically unrelated, nearly 2 feet shorter, and a half-ton lighter.
The “LeSabre” and “Electra” names were finally dropped from the RWD wagon for 1990, leaving a single consolidated trim level simply called Estate Wagon.
By 1990, what had been considered “downsized” by the standards of the late ’70s now seemed positively colossal. Although their 115.9-inch wheelbase was shorter than some ’70s intermediates, the Estate Wagon and Olds Custom Cruiser — the Pontiac Safari had expired after 1989 — were a whopping 220.5 inches long, and their curb weights were well over 2 tons, much bigger than most contemporary family cars.
The factory base curb weight of a 1990 Buick Estate Wagon was 4,281 lb, and this one’s luxury package (which included various power accessories) pushed its total weight closer to 4,400 lb unladen.
If you believed in buying cars by the pound, the Estate Wagon was a bargain. Base price was a reasonable $17,940, which included standard air conditioning. This Light Maple Red example, with the SD luxury package, trailer towing package, limited-slip differential, and awful wire wheel covers, originally stickered for $21,203, including the $525 destination charge, a relative worth of about $55,600 in 2025 dollars.
For this price, you got nominal seating for eight (the rear-facing third seat could be omitted for a $215 credit) and a claimed 87.9 cubic feet of cargo capacity. The towing package added a 5,000 lb towing capacity, and its automatic load-leveling system was useful for those who hauled heavy loads, with or without a trailer.
All this load-lugging labor could be accomplished in color-keyed crushed velour comfort, with almost as much fake woodgrain inside as outside. (Leather/vinyl upholstery was optional for $450, for which price I assume it included far more vinyl than leather.)
Owners looking to tow might have been annoyed by the lack of real instrumentation: The gigantic fuel gauge offered only depressing reading (contemporary EPA ratings were 17/24, with an adjusted combined rating of 18 mpg), and the cutesy shift quadrant “gauge” occupied space that might have been better used for a coolant temperature gauge.
The Estate Wagon and Custom Cruiser had a plush ride and boat-like handling, combined with only adequate straight-line go. Both still used a 307-cid (5,033 cc) Oldsmobile engine, the last incarnation of the vaunted Olds Rocket V-8. GM had never gotten around to fitting the 307 with fuel injection, even the throttle body system offered on some other ’80s GM cars, so the carbureted engine mustered a meager 140 hp and 255 lb-ft of torque. A four-speed overdrive automatic was the sole transmission.
These wagons weren’t vehicles contemporary buff books generally appreciated, but a September 1988 Motor Trend wagon comparison clocked the Buick Estate Wagon at 13.09 seconds to 60 mph; the mechanically identical Olds Custom Cruiser and Pontiac Safari were a bit slower (probably due to production variations more than anything else), with the Safari needing 13.74 seconds to reach 60. The M/T specifications didn’t indicate whether the test wagons had the standard 2.73 axle or the 3.23 axle included with the towing package, which would make for somewhat snappier performance at a cost in fuel consumption.
One of the reasons some people still bought these wagons was the assumption that their size and weight made them safer. In some respects, that was true — they generally fared quite well in occupant protection and enjoyed lower insurance rates as a result — but neither airbags or antilock brakes were available, and GM dealt with the federal passive restraint rule with door-mounted passive seat belts.
Buyers in 1990 who wanted to combine load-lugging ability with comfort and luxury had an interesting array of options. I think the RWD Chevrolet Astro/GMC Safari and Ford Aerostar were probably too truckish for most people, but there were a number of other likely Estate Wagon alternatives, complete with fake wood:
The new Chrysler Town & Country was a flossier version of the popular T-115 Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager minivan, combining the virtues of the cheaper vans with woodgrain trim and body-side cladding intended to warm the hearts of upscale suburbanites. Offered only in extended-wheelbase form, the T&C was more wieldy than the Estate Wagon, and even roomier and more versatile despite being about 30 inches shorter overall. Chrysler claimed up to 150 cubic feet of cargo space, and its seven-passenger seating was more habitable for live human beings than the rear-facing rear seat of the Buick and Olds wagons.
A unit-body minivan didn’t have quite the hauling capability of the old perimeter frame station wagons, and it had taken a while for manufacturers to offer more powerful six-cylinder engines that wouldn’t groan and grumble with a bigger load. The 1990 T&C got the new 3.3-liter Chrysler V-6, which had 10 hp more than the elderly Olds V-8 and returned slightly better fuel economy, although its four-speed Ultradrive transmission proved troublesome.
The 1990 Town & Country was offered only in fully loaded form, with a list price of $25,000 (plus a $515 destination charge), so it was pricier than a loaded Estate Wagon. On the other hand, you could order most of the same features on a long-wheelbase Caravan or Voyager for less, so many buyers did that.
Another alternative was the Jeep Wagoneer, the fancy version of the XJ Cherokee. This was about as expensive as the T&C, starting at $24,695 (plus a $450 destination charge), but it had much to offer if you didn’t demand three-row seating, beginning with a 4.0-liter six that provided robust performance. Unfortunately, in these boxy trucks, it was even thirstier than the Olds V-8 — contemporary EPA ratings were just 16/20 (16 mpg adjusted combined rating).
Despite its upright stance, the Jeep XJ had a sporty feel the bulky full-size wagon and long-wheelbase minivan lacked, and it had a swanky lifestyle brand image that yuppies were finding increasingly hard to resist. The Limited also had Selec-Trac full-time 4WD that could be left engaged on dry pavement, and was available with four-wheel antilock brakes, which you couldn’t yet have on an Estate Wagon or Custom Cruiser for any price.
In this rarefied segment, the GM B-body wagons still held their own in 1990, but only barely: According to the Krause Standard Catalog series, Buick Estate Wagon production totaled 7,999 for 1990, with the Olds Custom Cruiser accounting for 3,890 units and the Caprice Classic wagon 12,305. Production of the Town & Country (which had been added in the final year of the first-generation Chrysler minivans) totaled 5,041 units, the Jeep XJ Wagoneer 4,117.
However, the writing was on the wall. The plush T&C and Wagoneer were really only the fanciest versions of very popular product lines: Combined XJ Cherokee/Wagoneer production for 1990 totaled more than 140,000, and 1990 Caravan/Voyager/T&C sales were around 370,000. The B-body wagons were the last holdouts of a dying breed.
Nonetheless, GM decided there was still enough life in the old B-body wagon line to be worth one last revamp for 1991. Both the restyled Buick Estate Wagon (now badged Roadmaster) and Olds Custom Cruiser traded the Olds 307 for a Chevrolet 305 with throttle-body injection and 30 extra horsepower. A driver’s side airbag and ABS were now standard, and chassis changes made them feel less nautical on the road. The Buick and Olds wagons also got a fixed “vista roof” reminiscent of the Olds Vista Cruiser and Buick Sportwagon of yore.
Judging by the sales figures, it was too little, too late. In 1990, combined production of the three RWD wagons had totaled around 24,000 units; for 1991 and 1992, it was around 29,000 units per year, not a big increase.
One reason for the lackluster sales was that by 1991, the Roadmaster Estate Wagon and Custom Cruiser faced what would prove to be their deadliest foe: the five-door Ford Explorer.
Especially in plusher XLT or Eddie Bauer form, the Explorer zeroed in on the sweet spot between previous compact SUVs and big station wagons, and it quickly became a mega-hit.
The Olds Custom Cruiser, which hadn’t been a big seller to begin with, dropped out after 1992. The Roadmaster Estate Wagon and Caprice wagon stuck it out through 1996, seemingly as much out of defiance as commercial demand. Finally, GM concluded that their assembly plant capacity could be more profitably used for trucks.
For certain types of chores, the full-size wagons still had their appeal, and from 1994 to 1996, the addition of the muscular LT1 engine gave the Roadmaster Estate Wagon and Caprice wagon an amusing if arguably pointless new dimension. However, there just wasn’t that much demand anymore. For Baby Boomers, who were then the principal audience for vehicles like these, big station wagons were what they’d embraced minivans and SUVs to get away from. Many Boomers had grown up with full-size wagons, and buying one seemed like becoming their parents in a way a lot of people just couldn’t stomach. An Explorer or a Dodge Caravan was not always better in a practical sense, and they had basically the same connotations for Gen Xers and Millennials that big station wagons had for Boomers. However, for 30- or 40-something buyers in the early- to mid-1990s, their image was vastly more palatable than an old-fashioned big station wagon.
I’m sure some of the people reading this post will insist that GM should never have stopped building full-size body-on-frame station wagons, and that they’d rush out and buy a new Estate Wagon today if they could, carbureted 307 and all. However, there were a lot of valid reasons why these wagons became extinct: For hauling people and stuff, it’s really hard to beat an upright box, especially in an era of increasingly stringent child seat laws. While I have no love for the Explorer or other tipsy ’90s SUVs, they were more versatile, easier to maneuver, and far easier to park than a full-size wagon, and they weren’t really that much thirstier. (The adjusted EPA combined mileage for a 1991 Roadmaster Estate Wagon was 17 mpg, compared to 16 mpg for an Explorer automatic.)
Still, these old wagons have their fans. The red Buick Estate Wagon pictured in this post sold in 2022 for $12,250, almost 60 percent of its original sticker price — not bad for a three-decade-old beast of burden that was becoming a tough sell even when it was brand new.
Related Reading
Curbside Classic: 1990 Buick Estate Wagon – Well Aged Wood (by Paul N)
COAL: 1994 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon: Dynaride Comfort Leaves The Farm To A New World (by 0192700sALT)
Curbside Classic: 1986 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser – One Of GM’s Greatest Hits (by Tatra87)
Vintage Review: 1977 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser – Downsized Upscale Hauler (by GN)
Motor Trend “tested” all RWD wagons available stateside in Sep. 1988. (Wagon Train). They recorded 0-60 times between 13.09 and 13.74 seconds for the BOP wagons. The Panther wagons, both equipped with the 5.0 SO engines with dual exhaust, were two seconds quicker.
That 13ish second 0-60 seems about on par with my experience with these cars. The 307 powered cars were noticeably slower than the Ford 302 MPFI panther wagons, despite the only 10 hp difference. They were also noticeably more sluggish than the 305 Chevrolet powered wagons. The 307’s did seem to be the torquiest of the three engines in my experience. The Olds 307 did well with a the extra high gearing these cars had and could lug down at low RPM well, which was ok since downshifting only seemed to cause more noise rather than more thrust.
Thanks, I put that in the text.
These wagons, which seemed so fresh and new when they were first introduced, seemed to linger on for half my lifetime becoming less relevant each year. Of course they’re now ironically hip amongst younger people who didn’t grow up with long, low, wide V8 perimeter-frame wagons, especially the later LT1-powered ones.
When they were new in 1977, each of the four B body wagons still had their own engines and interiors. I recall the Buicks having unique front fenders to incorporate the ventiports but they were essentially dropped in the 1980 redesign, living on only as etching in the trimpieces before disappearing entirely. By 1982 the B wagons all had the same engine (Chevy 305 or Olds 307 depending on year). There was little to distinguish them beyond the front clip. Insides were similar except for Olds and Buick retaining their own dashboards. I like Buick’s dash, although I like it better in the late ’70s when it had more realistic woodgrain, silver dials, and a big round analog clock on the passenger side. Anyway, the few updates these got after 1981 looked awkwardly tacked on (CHMSL, “passive” belts, that big silver thing on the C pillars) and they were clearly abandoned by GM.
The big RWD platforms got virtually zero in the way of updates for 10 to 15 years, were grossly underpowered, and were not wide enough to handle 3-abreast child safety seats, and everyone wonders why nobody but old traditionalists bought them. By the time of the 1991 updates, enough other options had come around that the market was to small to bother with. All of the Estate Wagons I ever saw seemed to be owned by upper-middle-class older people.
I would argue that you missed the elephant in the room – the Chevy Suburban. The Cherokee and Explorer were popular, but they were not in the same class. Those things were just small inside, and any family with 3 kids crossed these off the list pretty quickly. The Suburban provided everything our parents ever looked for in a big wagon – lots of stretch-out room, plenty of power, and the ability to tote bulky stuff. The Suburban did these things far better than any B body wagon ever made after 1976.
Are you certain the wagons couldn’t accommodate three seats across the back? They were wider than their sedan and coupe counterparts. In fact, the rear doors are not interchangeable with those of the four-door sedans precisely because the wagons taper out wider at the rear. Regardless, during that era, children typically weren’t in car seats long enough to require fitting three across. Our wagon served as a family hauler, and we never had any trouble fitting a family of six comfortably across the two front rows.
While it’s true that these wagons were underpowered, they were not “grossly underpowered” for their time. With 25 years of experience driving and maintaining these cars, I can say that although I wished for more power, they performed fine in real-world use. They kept up with traffic, towed trailers without complaint, and outperformed many contemporary vehicles of the 1980s. Compared to the large-displacement engines of the 1970s, they might have been inadequate, but within the context of the era, their performance was (barely) adequate.
I’ve also owned a Suburban, and while it was superior in some respects, it wasn’t necessarily a better overall vehicle. Despite having the availability of the larger 350 engines, its real-world performance was barely better than that of a 5.0L wagon. It wasn’t until the Vortec engines of 1996 were introduced that the Suburban had good performance. And though the Suburban was roughly the same overall length, it was far more cumbersome to maneuver. The wagons, with their shorter wheelbase and excellent visibility, were exceptionally easy to handle in tight spaces. My mother could maneuver these big wagons with ease through an urban environment, and could proudly parallel park one faster than most people could manage with a compact car. She used to say that it was a very easy car to drive, and I agreed with her assessment.
I will confess that my B body experience was in sedans and not in wagons, so perhaps you could get 3 kids in child/booster seats across the back (unlike in the sedans I had). But I don’t think I ever saw one among the families in our circle when our kids were in their school years.
In terms of power, the two 307-powered B/D body cars I owned were quite unsatisfying. As one who had spent a bunch of time driving 60’s American iron with small to mid-range V8s, I was very underwhelmed by the 307s in my cars. I attribute a lot of that to the silly-tall gearing that the manufacturers saddled them with, but when you mash the go-pedal on a highway entrance ramp and your initial mental reaction is “come on, come on” instead of “oh yeahhhhh”, the car is underpowered. In contrast to the GM cars, the 5.8 in my Ford van was a breath of fresh air, that pushed the 5000 pound van smartly ahead. Again part of that was the axle ratio (in addition to the extra cubic inches), but then we had CAFE to thank for the need to put that kind of restriction on passenger cars but not on trucks.
I will defend the chassis on these cars, though. They were not as nautical as the article implies, but were fairly well buttoned down on curvy roads. The kinds of engines on offer in the 1977-79 versions would have made my cars so much more pleasant.
I agree that in comparison to earlier cars these were definitely not satisfying, but like I said, they got the job done. I just thought your comment implied that were so underpowered they were unsafe, which isn’t true. Lots of 80’s cars were significantly worse performers, such as the GM diesels, the V6 powered V6 G-bodies or many 4-cylinder econoboxes. That said, the 305s (and 302 Fords) did have a bit better on-ramp performance than the 307 which I found the most sluggish of the bunch. When I had my Custom Cruiser I was always wanting for more power which is why I had bought a 403 to swap in place of the 307. Unfortunately the car was destroyed before I got to that project. Had GM offered the L05 TBI 350 in these wagons, like they did in the 1990-92 Cadillac Broughams, they would have been good performers. They could have been offered from 1987 on and likely would have had the same fuel economy as the 307 Olds. Nevertheless, GM invested as little as possible into these cars. If I ever buy another one of these wagons, which I could see if I came across the right one, I would without hesitation drop in a 350 or larger engine.
The sales figures indicate that this point, the Suburban had not yet caught on in a big way among mainstream family buyers. In 1990, combined Chevrolet/GMC Suburban production was 53,434, where the Chrysler minivans were at about 370K and the XJ Cherokee about 140K.
Seeing the interior of the Estate Wagon — which I know was not actually made of the finest quality materials — is a sad reminder of how far interiors have fallen.
By the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, these cars were clearly an anachronism, and on the surface, it made little sense for GM to continue producing them. However, I contend that much of the chaos in GM’s lineup during this period stemmed from efforts to maintain short-term profitability—and these cars contributed to that goal. The new front-wheel-drive (FWD) platforms were expensive to develop and not yet profitable, while the older rear-wheel-drive (RWD) platforms were long since paid for and continued to generate steady returns.
The RWD G-body platform made little sense after 1982 from a technological or market standpoint, yet GM earned a solid profit on each unit sold, and sales remained decent. Likewise, Chevrolet’s B-body models sold strongly throughout the 1980s. Unlike the Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac divisions, which transitioned to the front-wheel-drive H-body, Chevrolet chose to retain the RWD B-body layout. Because the Chevrolet wagon remained in production, it was cost-effective for GM to keep the BOP wagons running alongside it, as they shared nearly all mechanical components and all body panels from the firewall back.
By the mid to late 1980s, these wagons were no longer serious competitors in the family-hauling market. Few consumers cross-shopped them against the emerging minivans or SUVs. Their styling was dated, and the station wagon image had become distinctly uncool. Those who did buy them as family vehicles were often traditionalists or older buyers. The marketing reflected this— I recall the Buick brochures featuring an older man with an Estate Wagon hitched to a horse trailer or an Airstream, underscoring their appeal to a more mature demographic.
Still, I would argue that while these cars were deeply out of fashion, they were actually excellent machines—capable, comfortable, and exceptionally practical family haulers. After my father had a terrible experience with a Ford Fairmont, he purchased a B-body wagon as our family car in the mid-1980s. I vividly recall going to the Dodge dealer to test-driving Chrysler’s new “Magic Wagons” with him, but he didn’t want to gamble on something unproven. He chose what he knew was proven: a solid, reliable, full-size GM car.
I take issue with Aaron’s characterization of these cars as barge-like behemoths that were cumbersome and impractical; I would guess he has not had much time behind the wheel of one. Having driven and maintained GM B-body wagons for over 25 years—between my parents’ car and my own—I can attest that they were among the most practical vehicles of their era. Despite their size, they offered enormous cargo capacity, were surprisingly maneuverable and easy to park, proved highly reliable, simple to maintain, and consistently achieved excellent fuel economy. Highway mileage in the mid-20s (U.S. MPG) was common and I still have the old logs that show this.
In short, while these wagons were relics of another era, they were also among the most honest, capable, and user-friendly vehicles GM ever built—practicality wrapped in nostalgia. Today, the collector market has spoken, these cars are finally getting fair recognition, unlike the early minivans and Explorers..
Say what you want, but I do miss the deep red velour interiors of the past.
Way more comfortable than the ubiquitous black plastic thread interiors of today.
I’ll second that!!
As with Ford’s Panther chassis, I think the GM B-body cars were continued on for long after their prime because of fleet sales. “Hey, as long as Law Enforcement keeps buying these, I guess we oughta keep making civilian versions, right?” Ford kept building BOF sedans for longer than GM because they also had a ton of taxi and “town car” (along with actual Town Car) sales in higher volumes than GM had.
Starting my sales career in 1988 with a Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Honda dealership, I sold these new. They had a very loyal following and people loved them. I’d take a “modern” one of these today over any SUV sold today.
As for the 307 vs. the 305 V8 used: What we were told by Buick is that they used the 307 because it was more reliable than Chevy’s 305 even though it wasn’t quite as much HP. True or not, that’s up for you to decide. But it’s what they told us. Although the new Roadmaster wagon was much improved in many ways, I’d still pick the Estate wagon over the RM wagon.
It was my understanding that the 307 was used in the B body wagons because of EPA certification costs. During the summer of ’85 when ’86 production was starting, a few failures of the HT4100 in brand new RWD Fleetwood Broughams caused GM to specify the 307 Olds V8 instead going forward. (one of those failures was the north east zone representatives new ’86) It turns out that the B body wagons and the RWD Fleetwood were in the same weight class for EPA certification. As Fleetwood sales were good, it made sense to reduce certification costs by using the 307 in the wagons too.
I was hauling new GM cars to dealers in the 80’s and I remember delivering a new ’86 Fleetwood to a dealer in the late summer of ’85. Under the hood was one of the first 307 Olds installed in that car line. The dealer representative explained to me why and back along his fence were two or three 86’s with the HT4100 with a stop sale order. He said that GM was sending them everything to convert them to the 307 before they could be sold.
They probably should have exited before the 1991 remodeling. The ’91+ models, whether Buick, Olds or Chevy, were IMO a hideous design.
The Hankook H724 tires on this car were some of the last mainstream tires available with whitewalls. They seem to have been discontinued though. Except for narrow white stripe tires in the size that fits Lincoln Town Cars, most current whitewalls are the “classic” lines available from Michelin and such based on their older designs and sold at high prices, or specialty (mostly) wide whites from Vogue, Diamondback, and Coker
Yes, tried to get Hankook H724 Whitewalls for my classic Buick Park Avenue, but the various websites always show “out of stock” or perhaps just discontinued. I was able to find “Sailin” brand “Atrezzo Touring” whitewalls at budget prices and am happy with this set. Another budget priced brand I see in local classic car shows around here is the “Ironman” brand of whitewall. I know that those “Coker” and other specialty brands are priced super high.
My childhood neighbors had three of the “beached whales” later model wagons – an Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, and Buick. Last time I was there a couple of years ago they still had the Buick wagon. It looked pitiful being probably twenty five years old at that point but they wouldn’t let it go.
Having grown up with wagons, and driving them in my youth, they will always hold a warm spot in my memories. As long as no more than six passenger space was needed, they were great. Though they were better with just five.Hauling long items and stuff like 4×8 sheet goods was also easy in the big wagons. I found that my early Mopar minivan’s were better for carrying passengers, compared to an SUV, even a big one, because third seat passengers didn’t have to squeeze behind a folded seat. They could walk around the short second row. SUVs are really just wagons, with third row accommodations mostly suited to kids. But big SUVs are great family vehicles for towing. Now I find sedans to be the most useless of vehicle configurations. Crossovers are more useful and appealing to me. I’ve still got a Mustang, and it still serves a limited purpose for me as an empty nester, though we crammed out two kids in the back seat for years.