This Buick Century wagon could be the automotive embodiment of my late grandfather. Like the FWD A-Body Century that lasted a whopping fifteen model years from between 1982 and ’96, my grandpa also endured, living well into his 80s. Also, like this Century, Grandpa would always be dressed to the nines for church on Sunday morning. Grandma was also beautifully dressed, often with matching accessories, jewelry, and the finest perfume and cosmetics that Avon had to offer. My grandparents, their farmstead, and their church were in a very small, rural farm community in northwestern Ohio, and it always impressed me that it wasn’t just us “city folks” (i.e. back home in Flint, Michigan) who got polished up for the right occasions.
My grandfather would wear a hat, suspenders, and often a pocket square, if I recall correctly. His manner of Sunday attire was very old school and “correct”, as his age demographic probably lent itself to. (He would have been close to a century old in present day.) By the mid-’90s, wood applique on station wagons was nothing if not a throwback. (Can the readership verify the very last year, make and model of passenger car that offered the wood-tone effect on their sides? I’m aware of the Chrysler minivans and Jeeps that featured this.) Grandpa’s hat could be likened to this Century’s roof-rack, and his suspenders to the vinyl wood. I also seem to recall that Grandpa also had more than a few suits in the neutral, beige-y color of this car’s paint.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an example of one of these Century wagons, which feels somewhat odd, given that this generation of Century lasted in production for what seemed like a century. The only other car from this era that seemed to have been manufactured as long (and with as many periodic facelifts) is the third-generation Ford Mustang – a car I had previously written about having grown up with. I’m guessing as to the model year of our featured car, as changes were far apart and few between toward the end of their run – through which the wagon body style lasted, after having been belatedly introduced for ’84.
A respectable 6,800 Century wagons were sold for end-of-the-line ’96, in addition to another 86,000 sedans. By ’96, my grandparents had moved on to Ford Panthers (with which they would stick until they both passed away), but this Century wagon was a pleasant reminder of a time when it was okay (expected) to look nice in certain places. Amen.
Wrigleyville, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, February 5, 2012.
Note: a rerun of an older post.
Related Reading
Curbside Classic: 1986 Buick Century Limited Two-Door Sedan – Even If Buick Insists It’s A Coupe (by Paul N)
Curbside Classic: 1989-96 Buick Century & Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera – Sheer Frustration (by William Stopford)
Curbside Classic: 1991 Buick Century Coupe – If We Make It Forever It Will Be Good (by Paul N)
I think these GM A-bodies and the bigger, fresher B wagons were it for woodgrain-sided cars, in 1996, at least as far as woodgrain exterior paneling as a regular-production factory option goes. Standard equipment, in fact, on the Roadmaster Estate Wagon.
I’m a bit fuzzy on PT Cruisers – I know for certain woodgrain could be had as an aftermarket accessory for them and was installed on far more of them than any of the other ’00s cars the aftermarket offered it for (Focus wagon, Scion xB, etc) possibly combined. I’m reasonably sure it was something some if not all Chrysler dealers would put on a PT for you. I’m less sure there was an official Mopar-approved woodgrain kit for them, or whether it was ever advertised as part of a regional or seasonal special package.
The Chrysler PT Cruiser was available as a “Woodie” from the factory. There have been and still are aftermarket woodgrain applique kits for it but as far as I have seen they do not exactly duplicate the factory version. I do not know whether there was a Mopar accessory fir DIY.
I looked these Buick Century models. I remember visiting my sister in Charlotte once and going to Folger Buick to drop off her 91 Roadmaster Estate for service. They gave her a 92 Century wagon with wood sides! I drove her around town doing errands that afternoon and the Century was a nice driving car.
I haven’t seen one of these in years
Early 60s Cortina wagons came with wood sidings in one model, and the odd old Falcon since then no fake wood worm cars they look daft.