(first posted 6/2/2014) This Buick a rarity, not in that it is a Roadmaster, but in that it is unmolested. There are plenty of Roadmasters in Memphis, but most of them seem to have been donked, and usually appear to be one breakdown away from appearing as fodder in the local pick-a-part’s lineup.
This one appears to have led a small town life before heading to the big city. I did some research on Huebner Motors in Pittsburg, KS, and it does look like they sold all five main GM makes.
Of course, that sort of situation was uncommon, but makes a good example of all the internal competition the Roadmaster faced. Not only could you find the same car dressed in more aero, but much less tasteful (to my eyes) clothing as the Caprice on the same lot or a super-sized Cadillac version, but you also couldn’t option up what was advertised as Buick’s biggest car as much as some buyers wanted, lest it top its smaller but more prestigious sibling, the front-drive Park Avenue. The LeSabre also crowded it from below, giving the Roadmaster a very narrow slice of the pie. It was pretty much meant as Grandpa’s last car, since he wouldn’t get in no gosh-darned front wheel drive contraption unless it were a hearse, and even then, he might contrive to fall out the back.
Another reason for the Roadmaster was that it could tow a useful amount, which was somewhat ironic, given that it was cancelled so another factory could be converted to pickups and SUVs. I wonder how many folks cruising around in a Broughamtasitc pick-’em-up would be happier, in say a modern day Park Avenue, like you can get in China?
In the era of the ‘New’ GM, such things as re-badges are verboten. The Enclave offers essentially the same towing capacity (4500 vs 5000 lbs for a Roadmaster Estate), and if you really want a V-8, I’m sure the salesperson will more than happy to write you up for a Sierra or Yukon Denali. But, if you want a Buick land yacht, your ship has sailed, unless you want to find a Caprice PPV and engage in some D-I-Y badge engineering.
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I miss cars that could tow. Not many of those left.
Whoa. I did not expect the Porsche Panamera to top this list.
http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-13-best-cars-for-towing-for-2013.html
Yes, there are very few, and what remains can be a tad expensive.
It’s important to understand that the reason cars have such low towing ratings is for legal reasons (limiting liability). They’re capable of much more. The identical cars sold in Canada and Europe have much higher tow ratings.We covered this here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/auto-biography/the-great-american-anti-towing-conspiracy/
Oh sure, Paul… we all know this. That’s why I have no issue towing my 500 lb. camper with my 1G Scion xB, despite Scion’s admonition that towing is Not Recommended.
That’s all well and good, because my Scion is long out of warranty. What happens when I buy a new car *with* a warranty? Oh sure, Moss-Magnusun and all that, but there is a lot of anecdotal evidence of dealers denying powertrain warranty issues the moment they see a hitch.
I’m not sure I want to deal with that.
…and of the few actual cars that are on the list (I see most as CUV)…
The ’14 Volvo XC and Subaru Forester are more CUV-like for ’14.
The Volvo C30 is dead, as is the Toyota Matrix.
The new-for-’14 Corolla no longer has a tow rating.
Believe it or not, the ’14 Mustang still has a 1,000 lb tow rating, but it didn’t make the list!
I prefer the station wagon version over the sedan, but still, it’s nice to see one in unmolested condition. I loved these GM “land yachts”. I have a friend who had a 1995 Chevy Caprice Classic. As old school as its drivetrain may have been, its styling was finally up to date. It still looks attractive. I was more than disappointed when GM discontinued this version of the Caprice when they did in favour of smaller, front-wheel drive cars.
GM killed the B body in 1996 to retool its sole plant in TX, to SUV production. The FWD Impala didn’t come along until model year 2000, btw.
While I’m a Buick Fan these just never did it for me, personally I think that the Caprice wears the blubber a little better and the Roadmaster wagon with its rebadged Caprice front end looks better than the sedan.
+1
My mom’s summer car is a ’92 Roadmaster. I talked my parents into buying it. “This is the last chance you’re going to have to buy a REAL car!” (Of course, that was years before the RWD Chrysler 300 reappeared.) To my eye, the Roadmaster looks significantly better than the Caprice and even a bit nicer than the Caddy equivalent.
My brother later bought another ’92 RM with the towing package. Heavier swaybars front and rear and a steeper gear in the differential. That one accelerated and handled more to my liking, but of course gas mileage suffered. It was a beater and he eventually scrapped it, but not before removing the swaybars to install in my mom’s RM.
These cars have very unfortunate proportions. That giant C Pillar combined with a much too short of wheelbase makes it look shockingly clumsy and amateurish, especially in profile. Bill Mitchell would be spinning in his grave.
I’ve always felt a similar way about these cars. Not only was the c-pillar very wide, but it was also too tall for the body. I modified the Roadmaster’s look a bit with a lowered roofline, narrower c-pillars, and moved the front wheels forward. I wouldn’t say it makes what I find rather unattractive sheet metal look any better, but it does improve its proportions a bit.
Much improved.
Then it starts looking like a Park Avenue. It does look better that way.
The wheelbase is too short. It works on the Caprice, but the Roadmaster/Fleetwood is a C-body body on a B-body frame. They should really have gone the extra length and reverted to the B/C-body tradition for those cars.
Sorry, this was a reply to Paul, not Brendan trying to fix the problem.
Not bad, these did sort of try to bridge the “blobby” round look of the Caprice and the formal look of Fleetwood into one roundish but squareish package, I don’t dislike the Roadmasters looks personally, but it could have been better, I like large, fat C-pillars.
I almost bought a low millage 94 Limited one of these was owned by a dead old man, it had like 12,000 miles, it was the purplely-amethyst color with the thick vinyl top and the alloy wheels, it was a really nice car.
I was hoping someone would photoshop in a mast and sail, to enhance the yacht-like experience. Maybe a cornering shot, with a close-hauled mainsail and a hard lean to starboard. 🙂
With that C-Pillar, it almost looks like a 1998 Ford Crown Victoria… Which isn’t a bad thing to me…
I recall that my Buick dealer happened to have a Roadmaster wagon on the showroom floor and I thought that it might be a good car if it were smaller. I think that the wagons were better looking than the sedans. I like the Fleetwood version of these best but it is a longer body/wheelbase, so probably not quite the same body. I don’t know why Buick had the Roadmaster as it did not really fit into the lineup quite like it should have. They obviously did not want it to be top of the line or bottom of the line. It was too much like the Chevy Caprice. It should have been in between the Fleetwood and the Caprice size wise. When the Roadmaster sedan was put into production (1992) GM’s FWD plans were well under way to build the Aurora with a stiff body structure that would under pin all of the big FWD sedans, making these RWDs archaic designs.
“It was pretty much meant as Grandpa’s last car”
This pretty much explains why I have one in Dark Adriatic Blue in my garage right now, snuggled next to my Park Avenue. My father wanted his last car to be something familiar and dignified and the name Roadmaster name carried a lot of weight with his generation.
I really can’t complain about the car other than the shoddy trim pieces. With only 80k on it, the rub strips have fallen off, (thankfully I still have them) and the interior of the driver door has cracked.
What makes up for it is THE POWER! Merging is no problem with all those horses under the hood. Twenty-Four mpg isn’t so bad either.
Killed off to soon,Ford still had steady sales of their RWD Crown Vic and it’s relatives.Is there a RWD V8 Buick made in China that’s a badge engineered Monaro or was there talk of one once?
Gem, the Monaro was discontinued in 2006, but buick might get a RWD flagship in the future.
We have a Vauxhall VXR 8 still.I’d like to see a V8 RWD Buick but bearing in mind what happened to Oldsmobile and Pontiac I’m not sure about it,especially if it’s stepping on Cadillac’s turf
Well, Buick’s trying to go the VW-ish route, for lack of a better comparison, so a soft-tuned Caprice-clone wouldn’t be appropriate. But maybe something in the Lexus vein would work without stepping on Cadillac’s toes (since they compete with Lexus but have been building a more hard-edged image for some time).
Yes, the black one is a China-only Buick Park Avenue, itself a re-badged WM Holden/ Chevrolet Caprice. Your VXR was based on the shorter wheelbase Holden Commodore, which we got as the Pontiac G8.
Thanks all,knew there was a Holden connection somewhere.
Well, kind of. The Monaro is a 2 door Holden Commodore. The long wheelbase Commodore is called Statesman, which is rebadged and sold in China as the Buick Royaum, and then the Buick Park Avenue.
I’va attached a picture from wikipedia
If the car is from PA (though no windshield stickers) I wonder if the current owner is waiting to Donk it? Or perhaps the car is from a relative. The Buicks are too fancy for me, I rather have a Caprice.
the dealer sticker read Pittsburg, KS.
I agree that the Roadie sedan was grandpa’s last car and as such it was and is totally without appeal or interest to me.
But the wagon, well that is and was something special. It was, to my mind, sold to a completely different client – the county club, kid hauling, lake vacation going upper middle class family in Lake Forest, Burlingame, Ladue or Greenwood Village. It was the luxury wagon of its era and its place of assembly, Arlington, was re-programmed to the manufacture of a real, truck based SUV after these final full sized American wagons went away following the 1996 model year.
The beauty and interest in this particular car is, as the OP indicates, the untouched originality (except for the blackwalls – these ostentatious cars seem to mandate the whitewalls GM put on ’em when new).
My wife’s aunt & uncle had one of these as their last car. IIRC they purchased it new and used it regularly until her uncle became too ill to drive (her aunt had vision issues by then and had stopped driving). After he died my wife’s cousin inherited the car, and the duty of taking her mother around town as well. The wife’s cousin kept the beast on the road until 4 or 5 years ago. By that time the RM was pretty used; the paint was faded, there were scrapes and dings in the body and the motor was using/leaking quite a bit of oil. None of these things were necessarily fatal but the expense of fixing far outweighed any usefullness. The final straw was when the A/C quit working, no one here in the Ohio River Valley is going to drive a car without A/C if they can possibly help it.
When they first came out, I remember these being notable because they could be had with the 350 cid Chevy V8 engine. The largest engine offered in the Caprice was still a 305, so even if the Buick was let down by its styling, it could offer its owners a little more grunt when the light turned green.
I always liked these as well, the wagon most of all. I will agree with PN that the sedan is just not that well proportioned. However, for those of us who like big, comfy RWD V8 cars, it was one of a dwindling number of choices. And fwiw, I prefer the look of the Roadmonster to that of the Cadillac or Caprice.
In one of my many mis-reads of the new car market, I vividly recall thinking that the Roadmaster was going to bury the higher-priced Park Avenue due to its larger size and lower price. As it turned out, once you got beyond the older, more traditional demographic that liked this kind of car, the Park Avenue sold to a higher-income, younger and more educated demographic.
Today, I would be hard pressed to choose between the two. A car with the looks of the Park Avenue and the size/layout of the Roadmaster would be the play.
While I like this platform, resurrecting the Roadmaster was kind of an odd move at the time. Buick’s line-up was hyper-saturated in the 1991-1996 era: TWO different midsize platforms (Centruy & Regal), THREE full-size cars on two completely different platforms (LeSabre/Park Avenue & Roadmaster), and of course the weird little N-body Skylark to round things out on the bottom end.
How many different flavors of grandpa-mobile are really necessary? From a non-car person perspective, I would be overwhelmed walking into a Buick dealer circa 1994 with all the random, overlapping, redundant options available… not to mention the additional overlapping options from the other GM divisions across the lot. When they simplified things in 1997 with one mid-size platform and one full-size platform – along with much improved, cleaner styling (and finally putting the Skylark out of its misery), the lineup was much better.
As for the styling, the Caprice did the “aero” thing better, and the Fleetwood did the “formal” thing better, with the Roadmaster striking a really awkward, ungainly middle ground between the two. Not really something I’d ever fantasize about owning.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve always found this model kind of wacky because of the side by side use of flagship names and the use of the RWD B-Body instead of the RWD D-Body.
The Roadmaster had, pre the ’59 intro of the Electra, been Buick’s RWD C-Body. The LeSabre had been the RWD B-Body after that time. Things continue apace, except that the Electra ultimately morphs into the Park Avenue, its highest trim line.
In 1985, they downsized the RWD C-Body Electra/Park Avenue to the FWD C-Body. No more RWD C Buick.
In 1986, they downsized the RWD B-Body LeSabre to the FWD H-Body. No more RWD B Buick/
In 1991, they bring back the RWD Roadmaster alongside its FWD successor the Park Avenue (nee Electra). But the Roadmaster is weirdly both bigger and yet inferior to the Parkie, being essentially a reskinned 1985 RWD LeSabre with a 350 instead of a 307, but the Parkie being better appointed.
I remain perplexed as to why:
1. They would bring back the two succeeding flagship names (Roadmaster and Park Avenue) and market them side by side. Talk about confusing.
2. They would bring back the RWD big car on the ’85 LeSabre B-Body instead of the RWD C/D-Body like the old 1984 RWD Electra had been. The Roadmaster (and then the Electra) was supposed to be the Cadillac for people who thought the Cadillac itself was too flashy but wanted to buy GM. Instead they bring it back on the Caprice frame.
3. They would bring it back at all. I could see keeping a carryover RWD Buick back in 1985. It worked well for Cadillac with the RWD Brougham…those sold in decent numbers from 1985-88, probably largely as a result of people dissatisfied with the downsize who wouldn’t switch to Lincoln and were willing to accept a Cadillac which was not being updated at all in order to keep driving a big one. Sales of the Brougham never reached that pre ’89 level again. I’m imagining carrying over the old ’84 as the “Limited” or something in 1985 working out really well for a few years, too, til ’88/’89 or so. By 1991, just in looking at the Brougham, it should have been pretty obvious that it was sort of pointless to start producing another big Buick. Sales on the big Cadillac were already dropping off as buyers began to accept the smaller cars, especially with the ’89 restyle. The ’91 Park Aves were similarly upsized.
Carmine stated at one point when I touched on this in a more brief manner that there had been a demand to bring back a RWD model by the early 90s. It seems to me though that that demand probably existed to a greater extent several years before and Buick acted too late to respond to it with these.
As to the cars themselves, I think they look better than the Caprices. The whole lot of the bubble body cars (and I own a 1993 Fleetwood Brougham) strike me as a strange mixed bag of good and bad styling cues, and balancing improvements under the hood against cheapening out the interior.
This looks attractive in red, though. And would also in dark green.
It was model year 92 that the Roadmaster sedan reappeared. I’m not sure whose idea this was, it might have been GM Corporate headquarters that wanted another big RWD sedan. Why Buick instead of Pontiac or Oldsmobile? Perhaps Buick’s proposal made more sense (and maybe Buick hoped they would not get picked).
Buick was positioned as ‘traditional’ after the ’87 Regal GN was dropped, so they got the RWD B’s. Pontiac was “We build excitement” and Olds was “Not your Father’s” in 1990. So, Buick got it.
I knew someone who worked for Buick marketing back then, and the Roadmaster wasn’t meant to be the top model. Was for former LeSabre owners looking for RWD. The Park was meant to compete with lux imports, yes really.
Yeah, it just seems to me they waited an awfully long time to get this one out. Chevy was already making a B and had been continuously since the 1984-85 downsizings. Caddy had kept on making a C>D since the same time period. I could see Buick keeping a big RWD C car in 1985. I could even see them bringing it out in response to continued Mercury and Lincoln sales up until about 1988-89. But to wait til 1992, by which time, Cadillac Brougham sales have dropped to 14K a year, seems odd.
In terms of product hierarchy, I kind of get it, Chevy is Chevy, Caddy is Caddy, somebody has to build the big car in the middle, the erstwhile competitor to the Grand Marquis and the essential catchall for the former 88 and LeSabre owners dissatisfied with downsized FWD versions who aren’t going to spring for a Cadillac and aren’t going to be driving a Chevrolet. I’m just shocked that GM’s analysis would have found this demographic worth building a Grand Marquis competitor for by 1992.
Well, remember, all the divisions still carried at least ONE version of the B-body after 1985, in wagon form. Pontiac had the Safari, Oldsmobile the Custom Cruiser and Buick had the LeSabre and Electra versions of the Estate, later just trimmed down to one Estate, all the way until 1990.
The only division that was left out when these were re-styled was Pontiac which didn’t get anything to replace the (Parisienne) Safari. Oldsmobile got a new Custom Cruiser, but only for a brief time, and Buick got a replacement for the Estate and a sedan counterpart with the Roadmaster. Yes, sales were decreasing for the Brougham, but how much of that could be attributed to no significant design changes since 1980. Remember also that Buick was the only division left out of the mini-van party when it didn’t receive a plastic bullet train van.
I imagine that these were probably scheduled to come out a bit earlier than they did, I think that GM started to seriously consider keeping the BOF RWD cars around for another round after 1985-1986, when the gas price apocalypse didn’t happen. Chevrolet started showing the new 1991 Caprice in late 1989 from what I recall.
Supposedly Oldsmobile and Pontiac also lobbied for a sedan version of the B-body for 1991 too, Pontiac wanted to call theirs the Star Chief believe it or not.
I think that the Chevy and Caddy were kept in production during the 80’s transition to FWD because the Caprice was favored as a police car for example and Cadillac probably expected the RWD Fleetwood to fade away. When both cars remained in demand during much of the 80’s, they refreshed them for 91, and probably added the Roadmaster to expand potential sales, which were fading by the late 80’s. The Roadmaster’s sales probably helped make them all more profitable.
I’m really not all that interested in the car (at this point, the Supercharged H/C/G bodies hold my attention more) but that modernist building is damn cool, and also reminiscent of the time when landyachts were truly special.
That’s The Memphis College of Art (Hence the ‘We make ART work.’ banners) in Overton Park. See, we’re not all rubes down here. 🙂 (just wait till my next CC.)
Well, good architecture tends to de-Rube reputations 🙂 .
Jana, Memphis is where I found the Tatra parked in front of Sun Studios. You have a lot of good iron still running around town from driving the entire length of US 72 through town last fall.
I zeroed in on that building too! And I like Roadmasters 🙂
In 1977, my grandparents bought a new Impala. It was a turd that drove them into the arms of Lee Iacocca for purchases in 1985 and 1998.
In 1992, my grandparents bought a new Roadmaster. It was a bigger turd than the ’77 had been and prompted them to buy a Lincoln the next time.
I like these enough, and this is the best looking one I’ve seen in a while, but I’d take a Panther any day over a B-body. Of course, that’s just me.
I’ll take the Chinese Park Avenue. Looks to have all the rear seat room that’s been styled out of most US-market sedans, even the big ones.
The 1977-85 Buick LeSabre will always be the most desirable. Even the Oldsmobile diesel-powered versions (on the 1980-85 models), despite that engine’s misunderstood flaws, seem to be sought after by a few.
My favorite was the 1980-89 Buick Electra Estate wagon, which from 1977-79 was known as the Estate Wagon Limited.
The sedan isn’t bad-looking, but it does have a very heavy look to it, and the C-pillar is clumsily thick as PN mentioned. In fact the entire greenhouse looks overly tall, The wagon, in comparison, comes off as far more graceful, if slightly derivative. I always found the fact that the sedan and wagon used different front sheetmetal to be a very GM-characteristic bit of “sort of cost cutting”. They went to the trouble to tool up for the unique sheetmetal wherever they produced the sedan, then decided to use the Caprice fenders with a different grille on the wagon, to save money elsewhere. Really?
My uncle, given a generous stipend for a company car in 1994 or so, decided on a Roadmaster Estate Wagon to haul his family of 6 around when he wasn’t using it for business purposes. Very nicely trimmed car, and comfortable for the whole family. When it came time to replace it around ’97, what with there being no more big wagons left, he was driven into the arms of an SUV.
I have a ’92 Roady Ltd sedan as my summer car, I really like it. Comfortable, quiet, roomy, descent performance and milage. 157000 miles so far. I hope it will last forever, at least I’ll do my best to keep it on the road. The ’77-’90 B-body sedan looked better but it’s not easy to find one in this condition over here.
Just bought a mint 1996 dark cherry red Caprice with the 4.3 small V8 and 83k original garaged miles. It is my Summer driver and keeps miles off the 2013 Impala. I have received no less than 12 favorable comments about this car and it has only been out for a drive 3 days! It was taken really good care of, doesn’t have a spec of rust anywhere, drives and rides like a dream and get’s pretty darn good MPG for a boat. The acceleration isn’t up to new car standards but it does very well considering it’s size and weight. I look at her as a good compromise between the old and new. Yes the old B and G body cars interest me more and I prefer there styling. But the insane finicky Quadrajet’s, drive-ability and lack of parts drives me nuts on the 80’s cars. This Caprice seems to blends the old and new rather well and should make a great reliable Summer fun cruiser!
After nearly 10 straight years of old RWD GM ownership, I’ve reached the same conclusion. Although I’m not entirely a fan of its looks, I’m inclined to hang on to my 1993 Fleetwood Brougham because it gets great mileage, can keep up with traffic, and is modern yet simple with the L05 fuel injected V8.
I like my 1977 Electra 225, currently relegated to Sunday status even though it’s not mint at all, because it is the opposite end of the spectrum…no computer, no feedback carburetor, no digital stuff. I had a 1987 Brougham for 6 years and I don’t miss that about it at all, the 1977 has been so much easier to deal with: just basic, mechanical issues some of which I’ve been able to deal with myself with ease (and I’m no mechanic). When I do take it to a mechanic, they love working on it, and the repairs are always shockingly affordable.
I’m planning on selling it at some point because I would like, now that my income level has been rising, to have a ’75-’76 Sedan DeVille as a weekend cruiser. I have the luxury of not being required to drive either one more than once or twice a week, living in New York City.
How would you compare the ride and handling of your 77 Electra and the 93 Fleetwood Brougham?
The ’93 rides a little better if only the ’77 is in need of some new rear air shocks. The ’93 has a longer wheelbase of 121.5 and the ’77s (Olds 98 and Buick Electra) had a wheelbase of 118.9. I think that just adds 2 inches of rear leg room and probably has a negligible effect on the ride, The ’93 handles better in terms of road feel; the ’77 I think has the tighter turning radius–it is narrow and shorter. The ’93 is somewhat more relaxing to drive (an ergonomic seat design probably helps this), yet sometimes the Electra feels (even if it is not) more nimble because of the brick-shaped body and narrow pillars. My ’77 has no passenger side mirror, and it really doesn’t need one. I can’t imagine trying to drive the bulbous ’93 without one. The 350V8 in the ’93 has 30 more HP and generates a bit more torque than the Buick, so it’s quicker. On the other hand the Buick 350 seems to be easier to hold at speed. The Buick has the old THM 350 which is a nice, smooth shifting system. The Cadillac has the 4L60 (non-E) which is not as smooth. Obviously the Cadillac having ECM, overdrive and fuel injection gets way better mileage; I’ve pulled 25 at a steady 65 and the best the Buick has managed has been 18 or 19. I’m sure the Caddy is safer since it has a passenger cage, crumple zones, and air bags.
I like them both, if the Buick had the Cadillac’s seats, I’d sacrifice the mpg. The older Cs and Bs seem made of nicer stuff. I’d still take a ’77 Cadillac over a ’77 Buick and I think the performance between the ’77 and ’93 Cadillac Fleetwoods (4bbl 425 vs. TBI 350) would be just about equal since they have similar horsepower and torque ratings.
Thankyou for your detailed comparison. Both cars are on my radar and as you say there are pros and cons to each.
For what it’s worth, the Electra 225, which I have, was also the base model and in that sense more of a “Caprice L”: cloth and vinyl, power full bench, one mirror, simple radio.
If I had a ’77 Electra Park Avenue, loaded up with automatic climate control, lamp monitors, and load leveling rear shocks, it would be very similar to to a ’77 Sedan DeVille except with a little less rear leg room and a less powerful engine with the Buick 350, unless it was ordered with the Olds 403, still an option in that year.
Chevy, Buick and Cadillac each had one of these at the end. Pontiac, Olds. did not, which divisions are still with us? Makes you wonder.
Olds did get a wagon version for awhile.
Yes, the Custom Cruiser. The revamped version of this wagon, long a mainstay of the Delta 88 lineup (until the sedan and coupe switched to front drive for 1986), was only sold for 1991 and 1992, as wagons of this class were no longer the preferred type given the success of minivans such as the Dodge (Grand) Caravan and its relatives the Plymouth (Grand) Voyager and (from 1990) the Chrysler Town & Country.
Pontiac’s Safari wagon, once a member of the Bonneville and Parisienne lineups, departed two years before the new bodystyle was introduced.
Frank Costello (a.k.a. Jach Nicholson) would be proud
I remember Frank Costello’s Roadmaster, Bill Murray played a mobster in Mad Dog and Glory, he had a grey Roadmaster in that movie.
Let’s not forget the oddest Roadmaster of them all, the infamous Eureka “Buillac” hearses built for Service Corporation International, the world’s largest funeral home chain. (If the sign says “Dignity Memorial”, it’s SCI) The wheels, trim, and everything behind the B-pillar were Fleetwood, (some of them even had the full Cadillac wreath and crest on the back door) while the front clip and driver’s compartment were Buick.
They were built to keep costs down (SCI does everything on the cheap, except of course for its fleet of Gulfstream jets and what it charges families at their time of need), but mainly to fool people in the procession into thinking they were following a Cadillac…..
Awesome, I’ll take one! It combines my favourite parts of the Roadmaster (the front) with my favourite part of the Caddy (the taillights), and it’s a wagon without the woodgrain sides and big round butt that these all had! With the raised roof, it probably has as much room in the back as my pickup with a cap.
Mind you, I’d need to do something to hide its service car roots a bit, or my wife would probably refuse to ride in it.
Your stock hearse only has the front seat and there really isn’t as much room in the back of them as it looks like from the outside. It basically fits a casket with a spray of flowers on the top of it at most. You’d have to do a lot of modifying to get rid of all the hearse gingerbread and back hardware to make it into a stationwagon of sorts, but it would still be unmistakenly a hearse.
Not to mention that these were never wagons begin with. Ever since Cadillac discontinued its RWD commercial chassis after ’84, the various funeral coach builders have used sedans as the basis for their “traditional” (as opposed to minivan/SUV/CUV-based) cars.
Here’s the interior of the SCI Buillac I posted earlier…..
Not all of them, all Buick based RWD hearses between 1986-1992 are Estate Wagon based, since there was no sedan counter part.
Not sure where you’re getting all that, but Buick hearses are not exactly a new thing, there have been Buick chassised hearses pretty much since there have been Buicks, there were also Pontiac, Oldsmobile and even Chevrolet based hearses.
These last Roadmaster hearses represent the last Buick chassised hearse, I imagine that the Cadillac rear was chosen because of the cost savings of creating one rear “hearse” design for 2 similar cars, plus the more formal Cadillac style rear goes better with the big square hearse body, or maybe because the standard wagon taillights were shared with the Chevrolet.
There were Roadmaster hearses that used the Chevrolet/Buick style rear lights and the curvy lower contours of the wagon don’t easily lend themselves to the more upright formal lines of the hearse body, see this Eagle Coach version below.
Certainly nothing new about Buick hearses. Before Flxible got out of the professional car business in 1965 to concentrate on buses they used nothing but Buick chassis. S&S also used them for many of their cars pre-WWII.
The “Buillac” was designed and built for SCI as a cheaper Cadillac. It’s considered a symbol of the 800-pound gorilla Walmart/McDonald’s of the funeral business that will do anything to lower overhead, often at the expense of the “Dignity” (to use their trademark) of the deceased. Central Prep – ’nuff said about that.
I’ve told my family that if I go before my time to make sure that my arrangements are through a local family-owned funeral home.
They were still very common after WWII too, even through the 1977 and up downsized full size cars, I’ve seen funeral homes with match Cadillac and Buick hearse/limo combinations in their car ports.
Remember that these are also equipped from the factory to be modified for hearse and limo duty, so I’m not sure if there was some point in the production of the B-bodies when the hearse upfitter package was available on the wagons and sedans at the same time, since I have seen Roadmaster hearses with both the sedan front and wagon front end.
But again, not sure where you think there was some sort of massive savings using a Buick instead of a Cadillac. They were both probably pretty expensive, and I had seen these Buick/Cadillac combinations in service at non SCI funeral homes too. Really there wasn’t a huge difference in price between this and a Cadillac, and again, it STILL WAS A BUICK, what really “were they getting over on” with the bereaved? It’s not like it was some sort of Daewoo or Kia Sephia converted to a hearse or something. We’re all those other Buick funeral vehicles used by many different funeral homes in the past also an example of “cheaping out”?
They could have used a Caprice hearse, which I have seen in use at some of the smaller local family owned funeral homes.
Here is a Buick hearse with the wagon style front end, I think thee Buick-llac looks more upscale that these with the sedan front end.
I too have seen Buick hearses, notably one built on what I’m guessing was an Electra or a LeSabre from the early 80s. Quite frankly, I don’t see why it would matter if the hearse was a Cadillac or a Buick. Some small time funeral homes I’ve seen used things like modified Suburbans.
As to the referenced Roadmaster sedan, I kind of like it though I would agree with a number of the readers that the wagon looks better as does the Caprice wagon vs. the sedan (which I think is straight up fugly). I’ve been on record as a wagon-hater, but these old school RWD rear facing back seat American landyachts are something I’d drive. Also, would I go for the Chinese market Park Avenue? Damn right I would, though I’d rather it was more in market line with the old Fleetwoods than the S-class. I would guess the reason it isn’t offered over here is that its a hell of a lot nicer than both the LaCrosse and the XTS.
This era Fleetwood is certainly the looker of the bunch, and there is no mistaking one if you see it drive by. Much better looking than the FWD Devilles of the same era.
The other wagon of the bunch, theCustom Cruiser, I actually saw the other day. Did a double take as I think its the only one I’ve ever seen in the flesh. I always wondered what they would have called it if they made a RWD Olds sedan of this type.
I spent a lot of time in a ’91 Custom Cruiser wagon in high school as a good friend of mine had one. Vast blue interior that could hold quite a lot of people if you put your mind to it…that car had almost 250K miles on it by the time it was totaled in an accident.
What with the 88 and 98 nomenclature being taken, and seeing as how they had extended the Cutlass nameplate to no less than three lines by the end of the 80’s, they could have called it the Cutlass Colossal? Perhaps the 108?
Seriously, calling it the Regency probably would have made the most sense. Kind of like how the Fleetwood Brougham became simply the Brougham, you could kill or rename the Regency trim level on the 98 series and apply it as the model name to the B-body.
I enjoyed reading the story and comments. I cannot add to the comments. I saw many of the things I wanted to say mentioned or discussed. I know Oldsmobile wanted a version. I also know the Ninety Eight may switched back to rear drive with the Custom Cruiser if Oldsmobile had got a version. The Custom Cruiser ended up with Chevrolet parts and Buick parks. The only things I think that were Oldsmobile were the seats, the gauges, and steering wheel and the vista roof and wheels and grille. It would have made more sense to give Oldsmobile a version anyway. I think Custom Cruiser would have had a more unique look too. I heard about the Pontiac Star Chief rumor too. I wonder Pontiac would not have used Parisienne or Grand Ville? My old neighbor who had traded his 1985 Buick LeSabre Limited in for a Buick Roadmaster told me that as well.
Buick at the time felt it could sell that car along with Park Avenue and LeSabre. It did so. I know the B Bodies were still selling well when they were cancelled. One has to wonder what would have happened if GM had kept its B-Bodies up until 2010-2011.
One of you mentioned even in “Limited ” trim Roadmaster was not as loaded as Park Avenue and LeSabre. It is true. You could not get steering wheel controls, dual climate control and a few other things found on the other two.
I was a fan of the Cadillac Fleetwood version for the looks and features. Custom Cruiser was my other favorite of this group.
If I had to pick a favorite of the 3 it would be the Fleetwood, I love the formal styling and the foot and half of chrome on the lower rockers of the car, and it marks the last appearance of GM’s Vigilite lamp monitor system on the front fenders.
Everyone’s observations about this car are so spot-on, I couldn’t decide who to +1 first!
When this car debuted, the grill reminded me so much of the ’54 (below) that I immediately knew it was great-grandpa who designed this Buick (as a tribute to his 20’s). This car was produced with the same GM mentality that almost destroyed Cadillac “Our customers will buy anything we make.” And as proof of great grandpa’s reach within GM, I submit the Catera’s introductory advertising slogan, “The Caddy that Zigs!” And, no, only great-grandpa’s friend’s bought his offerings.
This very car is another reason that Buick launched their current advertising campaign in a desperate attempt to change America’s perspective of Buick: “THAT’S a Buick?!” says great-grandma… (I rest my case.)
Look, I love -and own- ‘Old Fart’ GM products. But even I couldn’t have this beast.
Yeah, I cringe a little when I see that commercial. Plus, the car guy in me says, “For the love of…of course its a Buick! The three little shields in a circle are a dead giveaway. As is the waterfall grill, and the ventiport hat-tip on most of them…”
I also really do not see the shame in being the “granny” car. I’d take any of the older granny cars out there and after watching those videos about the Roadmaster, Caprice, and Fleetwood, I find myself wanting to go down to the Chevy, Buick, Cadillac dealer and buy one (probably a Fleetwood). Six person seating? Living room comfort? Quiet and smooth driving? Hell yeah, where can I sign?!
I have a ’96 RM wagon tan and wood grain, we drive it in the summer. My 32 year old daughter and her girl friends took it out to dinner and ice cream last week. That combination turned a lot of heads, and she reported a lot of comments.
My father-in-law had a ’93 Fleetwood, he was a very tall guy, so the car was sized right for him. I drove that car often, and it was like riding in a cloud. When the standard of the world was a smooth ride and 24 mpg – and everything worked the whole time you owned the car – it was the gold standard.
He also had a ’96 Fleetwood, the same year we got a green and gold Pontiac Transport. He liked the van, but was concerned it was ‘too small’ to be safe.
We had that van for 160k miles. After that we got an ’03 all metal Silhouette. It had a 3400, and drank it’s coolant, leaving us stranded in Bowling Green, KY. I fixed it, and got an ’02 Yukon XL. It was very thirsty, but gave us many years of service.
Now there are no good wagons to be had, our kids are grown and we drive a Tiguan and keep a Suburban with bench seats around to haul stuff. (mostly grand kids and wedding cakes.)
I had one of these for 5 years. It was reliable and great for road trips, but kind of a joke otherwise … enormous outer proportions, yet not very roomy inside, very clumsy handling, though it was fun to fishtail it everywhere if the ground as much as looked moist. For all its faults I loved it though.
My Dad had one, a last year ’96, complete with that goofy vinyl top and gold trim required by all Florida oldsters. It replaced a humdrum ’92 Caprice 305. The Roadmaster aka RoadMasher RoadMonster with it’s essentially Corvette 350 was amazingly quick for it’s size… that car would shit n’ git! Handling was not too bad, but certainly not up to the power! Doubt Dad ever drove it over 65. and when he died it was only 5 yrs old with very low Florida miles. As we no longer trailered anything long distances, it was sold outside the family. It was a great exit for the last big rwd Buick!
I did not like the dashboard on any variants of this car. It looked way too simple and dated from its very beginning. Also, the top surface of the dash was enormous, and despite surface texture designed to minimize glare, it was still an issue. The reflection of all that dash surface in the windshield was like having a Head-Up billboard.
On a separate note, damn, that Chinese Park Avenue is a very good-looking car.
I wonder if this Roadmaster had the car phone option, and if so, if it still works? That would be a hoot!
At least GM put a divider bar in the rear door so the glass would roll down, as opposed to Chevy, but the Roadmaster wagon did not have that little detail.
I thought rear windows that only rolled halfway down was a kid-safety thing by then, not a narrow door thing. The ’77-’90 box B bodies had a divider bar too but the window still opened only half way.
“I wonder if this Roadmaster had the car phone option, and if so, if it still works? That would be a hoot!”
Would it ever!
Despite being an avid user, I’m no expert on how mobile/cellular frequencies and signal types actually work. That being said, I seem to recall news reports in the past few years that carriers no longer support non-digital equipment, and maybe even 2G. Not knowing the technology (or lack thereof) in these GM-supplied units, I would imagine the answer is, “It depends.”
This repost brings back fond memories of the writings of Jana Lingo, who was a CC contributor for far too short of a time, and was taken from us suddenly, and way too young.
In my neck of the woods at least, it wouldn’t work anymore. I’m pretty sure all analog cell frequencies were taken over by emergency services or auctioned off a few years ago.
Today must be unremarkable Tuesday – a bloated and ruined product that GM decided to build when it was bored. Considering that the prior generation was at least okay in its dimensions, bloat, and comfort, I can’t believe GM ruined their full-sized cars like this. And this is the pretty one compared to that Impaler.
The roundy B bodies were meant to get 1986-90 Taurus owners to “move up to GM’s big cars”, so they made them “look like a big Taurus”.
GM was put off by the Taurus sales success. They tried to pitch 2 door W bodies as alternative, then W body 4 doors, to 1991 Caprice/Roadmasters.