Skinner Butte, named after Eugene Skinner, overlooks the town he gave his name to. It’s a popular place for folks to just hang out and let their cars enjoy the view. It’s a common turn-around spot for us on our urban hikes and I’ve shot lots of cars up here over the years. This slightly battered Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon was a worthy addition to all the others.
Was its hood open due to some issue or was the owner just letting the powerful LT1 V8 have a look too? The clouds were mighty dramatic this early December afternoon.
I walked over a bit to get a full profile of the mighty Roadmaster Estate Wagon, the last of its kind. After the Arlington, TX factory that built all these RWD GM cars and wagons was shut down in 1996 to build SUVs, there would be no more…Family Trucksters. The once ubiquitous big American wagon was extinct. Who could have seen that coming in fifties, when the station wagon was the hot new body style? Nothing lasts forever.
I’m not exactly sure what the owner was checking here, but it gives us a chance to glimpse into the maw of this whale. It’s sporting an aftermarket K&N air filter, or something similar to that. The 260 hp 5.7 LT1 was a hotl engine in its day; this was sort of the equivalent of a ’57 Chevy wagon with the hot new fuel injected 283 V8. I wonder if any any ’57 Chevy wagons were ever built that way?
I couldn’t find any evidence of the regular wagons with FI, but there’s several Nomads to be found online that came that way. Makes sense, as the Nomad was pricey as was the optional fuel injection. But I had to weed out a couple of them, as they had the fuel injection added later. Cheaters! But this one is believed to have come with the high output 283 hp 283 from the factory, based on the engine codes. There was also a milder 250 hp version available.
I asked the owner permission to shoot some photos, with him too, if he liked. He did. He appears to be a happy owner of a dwindling species of car.
The sun had set and the remnants of its light was making for quite a show through the clouds. Time for us to head home; we still had a couple of miles to go.
Lots more Roadmaster reading at CC here:
Curbside Classic: 1995 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon – Round Round Get Around by T87
CC Capsule: 1993 Buick Roadmaster Estate – The Real Ken Kesey-mobile by me
Curbside Classic: 1996 Buick Roadmaster Collector’s Edition – “B” There ‘Til The End by B. Saur
CC Capsule: Buick Roadmeister Estate Wagen — In Berlin By Christmas by R. Kim
I have the Chevrolet version of this car sans the wood grain. Mine came from an old couple who kept it garaged. Interior is like new and the paint is too. 118K miles and slowly counting.
I have two boxy Olds versions (’82 and ’89) and a ’66 Biscayne wagon too. Love them wagons!
Great shots with the sunset and this Roadmaster in its sunset years. It’s definitely lived a full life and appears to still be loved.
The analogy of the 90s wagon and the 50s wagon, both with the hottest V8 at the time is a good one. The biggest difference, of course, that the LT1 was standard for the 94+ wagons. That FI 57 Nomad is seriously sweet.
Minor point: LT-1 with a hyphen is the early 70s solid lifter 350. LT1 no hyphen is the gen II 5.7.
Yes, good point about the hyphen. It’s gone now.
Is the big station wagon really gone? It seems to me all the SUVs/CUV running around are basically tall station wagons.
Another really strange thing to me is how Americans at one time eschewed hatchback cars. Said SUVs/CUVs have back hatches and they are now the biggest segment of the market.
I’d say he was checking the oil.
Every time I see a big Buick Roadmaster Estate wagon I have fond memories of my Uncle Paul. Paul & Gwen, his wife, were my all time favorite relatives and they were a Buick family buying only Buicks since the late 1950s. Paul was a big, tall, strong man, and needed a big station wagon to tow his fishing boat as his two passions in life was fishing and golfing. They had a beautiful lakeside weekend vacation home, just for fishing that I could use well into the mid-2000s. Paul only bought Buick wagons and Gwen stuck with Riviera’s for decades. Paul was a retired train engineer so I guess he was comfortable driving ‘big’. As a child I once road in the train engine cab with Paul for a full day and OMG what a childhood memory. His last car was his 1995 Buick Estate Wagon, white w/blue interior (I think blue). I only road in it once, the week of my Dad’s funeral in 1995. It must have had every option and what a sweet, comfortable car and very handsome in white. Unfortunately Paul had a stroke a week after Dad’s funeral and died a few weeks later. Gwen kept his almost new Buick in their garage for a few years until I talked her into selling it on a visit in 1997 to help her buy a 1998 Riviera. It was difficult for Gwen to let the car go but I convinced her Paul wouldn’t want the car to sit un-used. I think she gave the car away to one of Paul’s friends.
On a side note, Paul and Gwen were one of the families chosen to test drive the Chrysler Turbine car. I remember Paul driving, Dad riding shotgun, me in the backseat. Paul said this car was no good to tow his fishing boat, and Dad retorted his station wagons were a waste of space. Dad & Paul always had a friendly back-n-forth discussion when it came to cars. I only have a mental picture of that Chrysler Turbine and our then new 1963 T-Bird parked next to each other in Paul & Gwen’s driveway. If I only had my Instamatic camera at that time.
Another whale survivor, nice .
My family had station wagons, suburbans and IHC travelalls over the decades, I love wagons but cannot seem to resist filling them up with crap so no more .
-Nate
I wanted one back in 2011to replace my Buick Regal but they were too $$$$. “Ya know its got a corvette motor”. I got a grand marquis instead which was a great car.
I wanted a Fleetwood years ago, but after 15 minutes looking online my dream was squashed- even for the years without the LT1. That, not the Catera, was the Caddy that zigs.
Every time I see one of these, usually here on CC, I want one. Fortunately, that desire passes quickly, but wow. Yeah. It does have the Corvette engine….
I wonder what he carries back there on that rack. It’s definitely taken a toll on the rear gate/bumper.
And I also notice that he’s got the hood ornament oriented for maximum aerodynamics. I’m sure every little bit helps. 🙂
Looks somewhat of a twin to mine. A little worse for wear and mine is a 96. I have had for a little over 20 years and still have my other whales as well. The Impala since new almost 30 years now and the Fleetwood since 2003. Here is a link to a write up I did almost 14 years ago on them
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/my-curbside-classic/my-curbside-classics-1996-impala-ss-1996-buick-roadmaster-woody-1995-cadillac-fleetwood-brougham-the-lt1-holy-trinity/
I don’t use them as much as i used to, generally get driven around 1000 miles per year. Here is picture of my wagon in its sweet spot.
I saw one a month or two ago in traffic. I was driving a Rav4 at the time and noticed that I absolutely TOWERED over the low and impossibly long/wide Roadmaster wagon. It was such an alien shape among all the tall/stubby crossovers and big pickup trucks, to be that big and that low to the ground.
As for personal experience, I used to own a 1995 Fleetwood, red on tan leather, no vinyl top. Blacked out the windows, put a set of 18″ boyd coddington blades on it. Amazing how much better that car looked with a bigger wheel with the right offset and no fussy vinyl top. The LT1 V8 was a hoot, instant tire frying torque, enough power that it was just loafing along at 100mph on that trip thru west Texas and New Mexico
I love my wagons. Two HQ Holdens, on my second Commodore wagon now. At 65, it (hopefully) won’t be my last car, but given the wagon is all but extinct, it will probably be my last wagon.