(All the pictures in this post are from Google Image Search)
This post is in memory of Helen Augsburger (1916-2005), my Grandmother-in-Law, who was mentioned in a previous COAL.
I had gotten a new job in Jersey City, NJ, just outside Manhattan and did not want to subject my 9C1 to the abuses of daily city driving. Consequently, I began to search for a beater/city daily driver. While driving around, I encountered a ’93 Saturn with a for sale sign reading $300. I pulled over, called the number and waited for the seller to show up.
It was a gold sedan with about 70,000 miles. It drove well and it did not seem to have any issues. He said that he was selling the car for his daughter. It seemed like the perfect city car. I asked him why he was selling so cheap, and he said he just wanted it gone as soon as possible. I told him I wanted the car. He said, “OK, give me the money.” I told him that I had just seen the car and would need to go to an ATM but would be back in 20 minutes. He told me that would not be acceptable, that he needed it gone now. I told him if he waited 20 minutes, I’d pay him $400. He said he wasn’t sure, but I told him I’d be back in 20 minutes tops with the money. I came back maybe 15 minutes later to find the car gone. I tried calling him; no answer. I waited around and saw him coming down the street. He took one look at me and took off running in the other direction. To this day, I don’t know what that was about. Now that I think of it, I was in my 9C1 when I came to see him. Maybe he did not really own the car and he thought I was law enforcement? Oh well, I guess I’ll never know.
A few weeks later, I found a local car for sale that I thought would work. It was a white 1992 Buick Roadmaster station wagon with “woody” flanks and a tan leather interior. It had the 180 hp LO5 350 V8 and the towing package, which included oil and transmission coolers, heavy duty suspension and limited slip differential. The car had 136,000 miles on the odo and I took it home for about $1,400. The car had some trim pieces missing, including the hood ornament, the driver’s seat was torn and the glove box was broken, but otherwise it was pretty solid. There was one other thing: The anti-lock feature of the brakes was inoperative and the warning light was on. The brakes were fine, otherwise. This is where I used a skill I learned from my J car days, using black electrical tape to cover up annoying warning lights. The plan was to use the Roadmaster as a beater/daily driver and have the 9C1 as a weekend car.
When I got the car home, I realized it was a lot nicer than I’d given it credit for. The Roadmaster wagons were the premier luxury wagons of their time, probably equivalent to today’s Cadillac Escalade. Mine was the first car that I’d owned that had genuine leather seats. Prior to owning this car, I thought leather seats were just like vinyl seats; I learned the error of my ways quickly. The soft feel, even the smell of the leather, convinced me that leather seats and vinyl seats were not the same.
The Buick Roadmasters and Oldsmobile Custom Cruisers of this generation also had a Vista Roof over the second-row seats. I thought it was a nice touch that really brightened up the interior. It was also loaded with such luxury features as electronic climate control, power seats, twilight sentinel, power everything and auto-dimming rear view mirror. This car was much more comfortable and well equipped than anything I’d ever owned before.
The Corvette-derived LT1 engine became standard in the 1994-96 Roadmasters. In addition, the interiors were redesigned with, among other things, a new dashboard. I actually prefer the earlier dashes as depicted above, since they included a full set of gauges. Also, the TBI engines in the 1991-93 cars were less complex and easier to work on than those in the LT1 cars. In addition, they had the far less troublesome 700R transmission, as opposed to the more troublesome 4L60E of the LT1 cars.
For me, the most important discovery was the HUGE cargo area. I thought my Caprice sedan trunks were large, but this was something else entirely. I was able to easily transport recliners, wheelbarrows, lawn mowers, Christmas trees, baby items, you name it. It was like having a covered pickup truck. A few weeks ago, I was reading Robert Kim’s COAL about his Custom Cruiser wagon and I couldn’t agree more about the cargo capacity and utility of these vehicles.
As I mentioned above, the supple leather seats and the power amenities ensured that any ride in the Roadmaster was comfortable and luxurious. While I had originally purchased this car to keep the 9C1 from doing the daily city commute, I began to really appreciate the Roadmaster more than the Caprice. As a result, the opposite happened: The Roadmaster stayed in the garage and the 9C1 became the daily driver, a role that it was very well suited to.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had grown close to my wife’s grandmother. Sadly, she passed away in the summer of 2005. We took the Roadmaster to Maryland for the funeral and to be with family. It was during those days that I discovered yet another positive attribute of the car, the foldaway rear-facing third seat. Helen’s death brought family together, and it was a reunion of sorts for my wife, her three siblings and their spouses. Lunches and get togethers were arranged since we were all together, and the increased seating capacity of the car allowed us to all travel to lunch in one vehicle. It was actually pretty impressive. More importantly, it allowed us all to spend some very good times together. I think my Grandmother-in-Law would have approved. I can still hear her voice when she said about another vehicle of mine “this is a nice car Fred….what kind of car is this?”
As I mentioned at the end of my last COAL, my 9C1 had fallen out of favor with me, so I replaced it with next week’s COAL. At about the same time, one of my good friends was down a car so I let him have the Roadmaster, as he needed it badly for work and family obligations. Soon he, too, appreciated its utility when he used it to haul a playground set (including a tree house) for his kids. He was not known to be gentle with cars, yet that car served him faithfully until its engine died at about 200,000 miles.
The Roadmaster left big shoes to fill and also set the standard for all my future cars over the next five years. They all had to be V8 powered, and they all had to have third-row seating and a large cargo capacity.
As you will see, my next seven COALs, in one way or another, met those requirements.
Very nice car. I have always liked RWD woodgrain wagons. I currently have a really nice 1972 Pinto woodgrain wagon. But I would not be able to deal with the gas mileage on that one. I contemplated getting a late model low mileage Grand Marquis, but couldn’t handle the mileage on that either. I average about 30,000 miles a year, mostly highway, and with that kind of mileage, every mpg counts. Gas will not stay cheap for long. My current car gets 30 mpg highway, and I would like to do better than that. But that is a sweet wagon.
I’ve seen both the Buick Roadmaster sedan and station wagon of this generation, and I found the face of the station wagon to be more attractive than that of the sedan. It’s a shame that General Motors discontinued the station wagon.
The face is actually a Caprice with a Buick grille. The Caprice, Roadmaster and Custom Cruiser were all the same cars with just different trim and grilles…the sedans had all different sheet metal…The wagons were a little sleeker, lower profile
Who refers to their Caprice as a “9C1”?
People who own one with the 9c1 police package?
Fair question I guess. At the time, my wife was driving my 91 Caprice featured here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-1991-chevrolet-caprice-living-up-to-a-legend/
So we had two Caprice sedans. To tell them apart, I referred to the white one as the 9C1. In case you didn’t know, 9C1 was Chevy’s designation for police package Caprices. The white one was equipped with the police package.
Anyone who knows about them…they are awesome cars and very different than the cushy civilian Caprice. The police 9C1 is basically an Impala SS in disguise.
Have enjoyed your COAL’s. I have a 96 Roadmaster Wagon. Love the Car! Can be so handy when needing a lot of load floor. Drove mine about 800 miles over the Christmas Holidays fairly well loaded. Here is a write up I did a few years ago on my collection of LT1’s in case you have not seen it.
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/
Never knew the transmission was weaker with the LT1. Fortunately I have had no problems with mine. Wish mine did have the full instrumentation like some of the early ones had. My only complaint, living in Mississippi, is the AC is a little weak for such a large area to cool especially with the Vista Roof.
Thanks. You’ve got quite the wonderful and beautiful trifecta of iconic B bodies. Long may they live!
I hear you about the AC on the wagons. Fine if you are sitting in front, but tough if you are in the way back facing away from the vents. I once read about someone who used the dual AC setup from a Suburban to cool the rear of the wagon. I have also heard that tinting the windows helps a lot..
The RMW I have now had the trans rebuilt just before I bought it. I’ve always had a wagon, but there are so few made now (Subaru?). Hard to imagine, but they are as rare now as a regular cab pickup.
I looked at a brochure for a new ‘burb, and they only seat 6. I wonder if my ’07 eight passenger was the last of the people movers…
My Roadmonster wagon is a ’94 – non woodie, leather. I like the lack of wood; paint is more durable than vinyl stickers. And my A/C seems weak also but that is really not a problem as the car is used in Wyoming and Colorado.
My car was a rancher’s wagon originally; it was used like a pick up to haul hay bales and when I bought the car (in Fort Collins) it did take forever to get the bits of hay detritus out of the carpeted load area in the rear.
The Roadmonster serves two purposes for me. One is to take four or so people on road trips up/down I-25. The car is meant for interstate cruising and is supremely comfortable in that role. The second purpose is to haul bicycles (inside the car) as needed; it has carried so far up to three old Schwinns on the way back home for refurbishment; probably could have gotten a fourth one on top of that pile.
As I remember, the production (at Arlington, TX) of the Roadmaster and Chevrolet cousins was ended because the plant was needed for production of some or other SUV (Tahoe?). I’ve also had a Ford Panther platform wagon and while that seemed lighter and easier to handle the Buick has been my favorite wagon simply for its imposing size, comfort and what is now (21 model years old) its highly unusual and unlikely road presence.
Glad to see that you have had a similar experience to mine with your Roadmaster wagon. These kinds of experiences are common with old B-Body wagons, I believe; their mechanicals and interiors/cargo arrangements were so thoroughly worked out through decades of experience that a decently maintained example will do its job of hauling passengers and cargo well for many years.
Your 1993 Roadmaster is the version that I have been considering “upgrading” to. I have been toying with the idea of selling my 307-powered Custom Cruiser and finding a 1991-93 Custom Cruiser or Roadmaster with the pre-LT1 350 or 305. The greater power, comprehensive instruments, Vista Roof, and other improvements address all of the things that I would change about my 1980s version if I could. Although I don’t want to have two of these wagons, and selling a rough-looking almost 30 year old station wagon will not occur quickly, so this idea will take a long time to make happen if I decide to do it.
Thanks Robert. I became obsessed with these things. There was a time when I owned three at the same time! Stay tuned….
I kinda had the same question as Scott above. I’m not a car guy in the same way as a lot of folks on this site, so I can feel put off by insider-ish lingo. Not used to hearing cars referred to by chassis designations (W126 Mercedes), A- and B- bodies, and the like…have wondered why the articles don’t use mainstream labels in addition. Maybe some feel this would dumb down the site? I dunno.
If you don’t know what a “9C1” is, the author was kind enough to provide at least 4 links within this article to his previous COAL article on his 9C1, which describes what 9C1 means. Otherwise, a google search for 9C1 would’ve quickly set you straight. 🙂
A good answer on the 9C1 has already been given; links are there for a good reason. Regarding other designations, like Mercedes “W” and such, it’s because it’s actually much easier than trying to remember the exact years when a given Mercedes (or other model) was sold.
That gets even more complicated by the fact that often a given Mercedes model (or VW, etc) was sold in Europe for a year before it was in the US. The W124 was first sold in Europe as a MY 1985, but not until 1986 in the US. And then it was sold for some ten years. Trying to remember all the exact years a given model was sold, in order to identify it, becomes rather tedious. It really does become easier to remember the key W models than by identifying it by the first and last year sold. How else to refer to a car model that was sold with very few significant changes often for ten years? Is there a better way?
The GM B-Body was America’s bests selling full size car line for many decades, and includes a huge number of variations. How else to refer to them? Can you think of a better way? The same goes for a a lot of car variations. Fox bodies were built for several decades with a mind-boggling number of variations. Similar to the Ford Panther.
All these code names refer to a family of cars; families that often have a very large number of members. There’s really no other way to refer to them generically, unless one is talking about a specific year and model. In which cae we do identify it as such.
Please note that every CC article always has the year, manufacturer and model in the headline. And if we add something like the “W” designation for a Mercedes, it’s also an opportunity for readers to acquaint themselves with the designation.
We are a site geared to auto enthusiasts, so it’s only natural you may encounter terminology not used in the mainstream. Consider it an opportunity to learn the lingo. 🙂
To add to that, please do post and ask though, nobody will ever take offense if you politely phrase a question as “Please explain what 9C1 means” or ” I am not familiar with a W124, to me that looks just like a 1987 Mercedes 300E, what is the difference?”. More likely than not, someone will answer with a mini-post that explains the whole series of nomenclature for that particular model…And for the one person that asks there are probably a few others that were wondering the same thing.
Love these so much I own one, well actually a 95 Roadmaster wagon. The utility, and the ultimate cruising of these cars are tough to beat. My only gripes with my Roadmaster are that they really need top tier suspension replacement parts.
Have owned two big (for the time) wagons. If I hadn’t needed 4wd I might be driving one now. I preferred the 77 Impala Wagon to just about anything I have owned before or since. Good story.
Times change. Needs do too. I gave away my impala but might now have been willing to give away this Buick.
Nice barge. Was the Vista Roof inspired by GM’s Scenicruiser bus?
Soapbox: I wish industry would go back to putting durable vinyl on high-contact surfaces such as armrests & headrests, & not just cloth everywhere, esp. in family vehicles with messy kids, pets, etc. Cloth is a dirt magnet, Scotchgard notwithstanding. Leather is OK but needs regular care, as with house furniture.
I put a rag doily over my headrest now after seeing what happened to my old Accord’s cloth headrest after 100Kmi. No wonder airlines do this too.
Depends on the car. Both my Kia and my Volvo have vinyl-topped armrests, but perhaps that’s because it doubles as the lid for the storage cubby in the center console. The one on the Ford is cloth but it’s a split bench so it’s the same material as the rest of the seat. The Kia’s headrest is vinyl also but it’s at such a peculiar angle that you can’t actually rest your head comfortably against it anyway. Perhaps that’s intentional.
Nice looking wagon… I’d be tempted if one of these came along in decent shape.
That’s a great wagon, Fred, looks quite comfortable. I recall seeing these on the lots when I used to walk them regularly back in the day with my neighbor, a fellow car nut. They had one on TopGearUSA a few years ago, too bad they ended up completely ruining it, it looked pretty good at the beginning.
Wagons are heard to beat as general utility vehicles…
Selling off old beat to crap Station Wagons is dead easy as long as they run , so many people want them as Work or delivery vehicles , commuter beaters, gardener’s rigs , on and on and…..
Of course , driving and parking a Land Yacht isn’t for the faint of hear when you’re In Town .
Nice to see a bit of GM love here for a change too .
-Nate
I had a chance to buy a 1992 Olds Custom Criuser(1992 was the last year of the C. Cruiser) It was nice driving though it did feel a bit like driving the Titanic. I passed on it when I noticed how rusty the undercarriage was (especially the brake lines) I still look out for a nice 91-96 B body wagon as I have always liked wagons and perhaps one day I will own one. Sadly though most of the B body cars for sale here are Roadmaster sedans and i am not a fan at all of the sedan version(the back window makes it look a bit awkward looking)
Had an uncle with a fully loaded ’94 or ’95 Roadmaster wagon. Man, that was a nice car, and more importantly it was able to haul his entire family (himself, wife, and four kids) due to the rear-facing third seat. A few years later a high school friend had a ’92 Custom Cruiser with the L05 350 as his first car. A little rougher than the Roadmaster but still comfortable, extremely capacious, and pretty strong with the 5.7 motor. Plenty of good memories of both cars, and I actually wouldn’t mind having one, though I doubt it will ever make sense for my situation.
I wonder if these were the last vehicles to offer a rear-facing third row seat? I can only assume they are no longer legal due to changing safety requirements. The only other car I can think of that *might* have offered one later would be the Volvo V90, which was sold until ’98. But I don’t know if you could get one there or not.
The Taurus wagon had a rear facing seat. I saw one in a 2004. I believe it’s also an option on the Tesla. The older rear facing seats had lap belts only.
I own a 2000 Volvo P80 (V70 Cross Country) and a 2001 P2 (V70XC). Both were available with the rear facing 3rd row seat. The P2 offered it 2001 – 2007. I don’t know if the option was offered beyond this.
My 1995.5 Audi S6 had it, all Audi A6-based Wagons (A6, S6, Allroad) up to at least 2004 had it. Offhand I am not 100% sure about the 2005’s and newer but it is possible. I thought it was a great idea until my daughter vomited in the back of our friend’s Allroad, then I wasn’t so keen on it anymore…And I don’t think my friend was either… 🙂
Quote:The Corvette-derived LT1 engine became standard in the 1994-96 Roadmasters. In addition, the interiors were redesigned with, among other things, a new dashboard. I actually prefer the earlier dashes as depicted above, since they included a full set of gauges. Also, the TBI engines in the 1991-93 cars were less complex and easier to work on than those in the LT1 cars. In addition, they had the far less troublesome 700R transmission, as opposed to the more troublesome 4L60E of the LT1 cars.
Actually these cars all came with a version of the 4L60 transmission which was just a new name for an upgraded 700R-4. It became the 4L60E starting with the 1994 model year but I never heard or encountered that one version was more reliable than the other. More complex but reliability was similar.
Regarding the TBI L05 vs the LT1 based engines I would hands down choose the newer engine design for it’s superior power, refinement and mileage. Having owned or driven both, the L05 was all packed in and done at a little over 4000 RPM’s which made 45-75 passing very sluggish. Even my 1996 Caprice L99 4.3 feels far stronger in the 45-75 and highway passing range. Just make sure if it is a 1994 that the Optispark is updated to the newer sealed setup with the vent tube and swapping out the cap and rotor at 60-70K intervals has kept ours trouble free.
I know that this is anecdotal but from reading forums and discussing with mechanics, there were a lot of people who shared my experience. My 4L60e tried to shift to low and reverse (or something and reverse) at the same time. The mechanic did not catch it right away and had to rebuild the transmission twice. The 700r4 was not electronic and about as bullet proof as it’s TH350 parent.
I think the transmission was virtually the same but early problems with the electronic shifting ruined it’s reputation. Sent me back to manual trannies.
It was around 1990 that GM update the transmission nomenclature. This is when the TH700-R4 was renamed 4L60 (4 speed, longitudinal, 60 = relative strength). The transmission weren’t changed significantly it was just a name change. The TH700-R4 had a spotty record of durability. Early versions were poor but it received updates through it’s life span to increase it’s reliability. That said, they never were in the same league as the TH350/TH400.
The 4L60E is just an electronically controlled 4L60. That “E” makes a big difference and many get incorrectly use 4L60 and 4L60E interchangeably, The main difference is that the valve body is electronically controlled on the 4L60E vs a mechanically controlled (TV cable) on the 4L60. The internals weren’t significantly different. Like the TH700-R4/4L60 the 4L60E received updates over the years. Most failures of the 4L60E are similar to the TH700-R4 and aren’t related to it’s electronics. I don’t remember them failing at a higher rate then the TH700-R4’s. My old truck had an early year 4L60E with 250K miles on it and it was still untouched when I sold it.
When I was on the Impala SS forum http://www.impalassforum.com which was really a forum for all B bodies, the two most common maladies with these cars were the 4l60e and Optispark. The transmission issues seemed to show up regularly. It’s possible that this was due to severe service but there were some lightly used ones failing as well. There were a few guys on the forum who specialized in swapping these out. The consensus was 94 transmissions were the strongest and 95s were the weakest.
The Optispark was reliable but required regular replacement like a timing belt or you would have driveability problems. The problem is it was not cheap or easy to do so.
In two future COALs I experience an Optispark problem with an LT1 car and a trans issue surprisingly with a 700R4 and not a 4l60e in an LO5 car but that was my fault.
1995 added the Pulse-Width Modulation Torque Converter Clutch to the 4L60E which seemed to cause several issues.
A L05 in a Caprice (or other B-body) used the 4L60 not the 4L60E. A 4L60 IS a TH700-R4. A 4L60E is NOT the same as a 4L60.
I know it’s anecdotal, but when I worked at GM we seemed to replace both 4L60’s (TH700-R4’s) and 4L60E’s at a similar rate. We didn’t consider either transmission bullet proof, and often it was owners maintenance and use/abuse that determined it’s life span more than anything else. Some went 200K miles, some were replaced more than once before 100K miles.
There is a 3rd common issue. This was the dreaded anti theft light issue. GM’s idea to prevent car thefts was to add a resistance pellet to the drivers key. After a time period, ether the pellet in the key or the sensor in the ignition switch wear out causing it to not start or to trigger the anti theft light.
This issue is shared with most of GM’s cars of the same era. The fix is to cut the two white wires in the ignition. Then measure the resistance of the pellet in the key and then get a bunch of resisters and solder them to the ends of the wires bypassing the anti theft system.
Excellent read for a great car.
I had a 95 Blue no wood Roadmaster wagon. That was a great car but I got a great offer for it one day and sold it.
Only down side is really poor legroom for such a long car.