There’s a concept in the study of history known as the ‘Short Twentieth Century.’ First coined in 1994 by historian Eric Hobsbawm, it posits that, from a geopolitical standpoint, the 20th Century was actually quite short: shorter than its 100 years would suggest. In contrast with the ‘long’ 19th Century, which can be considered to last from either the French Revolution to WWI, the historical 20th century lasted from 1914 to 1991 –from the First World War to the fall of the USSR. By implication, the historical 21st Century then started in 1991, instead of at the turn of the Millennium.
And, in so many ways, this feels accurate, as so many historical trends ended and modern trends began in the 1990s. The Eastern Bloc fell and its former members more or less became democratic and capitalist. Globalism and Neoliberalism became the global economic norm. The Internet gained popularity and connected the world as it never had been before. And, in the American automotive market, the traditional full-size sedan began to draw what would be its final breaths, as its dwindling long reign would begin to crumble under the pressure of minivans and SUVs.
For big station wagons, the fall would come even sooner, as there would be no more full-size wagons in production in the US by the middle of the decade. And this car — ’94 Caprice Classic wagon — was one of the last.
Our featured car is one of the last examples of a storied American tradition; the big ol’ station wagon. Though station wagons have been around since the dawn of the automobile age, they really took off in popularity starting in the 1950s. As American families began to explode in size during the post-war Baby Boom, automakers were happy to offer affordable, steel-bodied wagons based on their full-size cars to provide buyers with additional interior room for their kids and their stuff.
They were big, comfortable, and, most importantly for their manufacturers, profitable. And for the better part of half a century, station wagons were the premier way to haul a family around. Millions of Americans grew up in the back of a wagon and paired with their sedan counterparts, it was hard to imagine such a staple of motoring ever disappearing.
As we know in the current day, though, the traditional American sedan, and wagon, would vanish from our roads and driveways as the 20th Century came to a close.
General Motors introduced what would wind up being the final generation of its venerable B-Platform cars in 1990 for the 1991 model year. In addition to the Chevrolet Caprice, the new B-Bodies also formed the basis for the reintroduced Buick Roadmaster and Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser. The first major update for its full-sized offerings in 14 years, the ’91 B-Bodies wore vastly-different sheet metal than their predecessors. Gone were the boxy looks of the late 70s, and in their place was soft, tapered styling with curved glass and rounded edges. No sharp corners or rectangular anything; the 90s were here and the future was smooooooth.
Though the B-Bodies were more modern looking than their outgoing predecessors, they were completely conventional at their core. Body on frame, rear-wheel-drive, generally with a V8 under the hood and hooked up to a column-shifting automatic. The phrase ‘why mess with success’ comes to mind, but GM may have taken it a little too far with the 90s B-Bodies. Underneath the sanded-down sheet metal, GM mostly carried over the mechanical and structural bits from the old cars. The frames were the same, the drivetrains were mostly the same, and even the floor pans were the same — beyond the interior and the body, there wasn’t a whole lot of innovation to be found with the 90s GM full-sizers. They were traditional, but maybe to a fault.
image credit: Wikipedia user Mr. Choppers
Of course, considering how revolutionary the 1977-90 B-Bodies were, it isn’t terribly surprising that GM would try to get more life out of the platform. Significantly improved and downsized from previous full-sized GM cars, the ’77 B-Bodies were a smash hit and were the exact right car for the times. As after the tumultuous gas crisis years, Americans looked for cars that got better gas mileage and had better space utilization than the barges of the early 70s.
And despite being in production with few updates for nearly a decade and a half, the B-Body cars kept selling well until their final model year in 1990. Why wouldn’t GM keep using the platform? They had spent $600 million in 70s money on its development after all. It’s still competitive, right?
Unfortunately, this would not be the case, as the ’91 B-Bodies flopped almost as hard as the ’77s succeeded. Despite having brand-new exteriors and interiors, the ’91 Caprice sold half as many units as the outgoing 1990 models did. And the round boi Caprice’s best sales year was still worse than the old Caprice’s worst; selling 116,000 units in 1992 vs. 123,000 in 1983. The Caprice soldiered on until 1996, along with its Buick counterpart, but the Oldsmobile Customer Cruiser was a complete non-starter and left the market after 1992. After 1996, the General Motors B-Platform — which had underpinned tens of millions of cars since 1926 — was no more. And GM would never build a big, body-on-frame sedan ever again.
So what happened? How did the Mighty B fall so completely, so fast? Well, the styling didn’t do it any favors. Whereas the Bs of the late 70s and 80s looked trim despite their full-sized dimensions, the cars of the 90s were rather ungainly. Though they had smooth, soap-bar styling like most other 90s cars, the Caprice and the other B-Bodies look bulgy and ponderous; partially a result of having bodies wider than their 70s-era frames were designed for. Automotive critics panned the new designs, with the unfortunate moniker of ‘beached whale’ following the cars like the foul smell of its namesake.
The wagons may have suffered most of all. Historically, wagons would ride on longer platforms than their sedan counterparts, with a few inches of wheelbase helping both with interior room and external proportions. This did not happen with the 90s Bs, as the wagons rode on the same 116.9 inch wheelbase as the sedans. So this Caprice wagon’s big badonk hangs out way further than its rear wheels, and its sloping greenhouse makes the car look wider than it already is. Sir Mix-A-Lot helped popularize big butts on women in the early 90s, but I guess he couldn’t convince people to love cars with the same feature.
The Caprice Sedan got a mid-cycle refresh in 1993 that removed its skirted rear fenders and helped the car look a little less bootylicious, but no such updates were given to the wagon. It kept its rear wheels partially-hidden under its love handles until the bitter end. The styling update didn’t help, though: sales remained stagnant through ’93 and ’94, until falling precipitously in the final two years of the platform. Half of all sales were to fleets, and the 90s Caprice was probably more commonly seen in cop shows than they were in real life. Chevrolet only moved 27,000 Caprices in 1996; of which only 485 were wagons.
And despite its flirtation with modernity, the end-stage Caprice wagon was still slathered in the usual wagon accouterment. Wood grain was still plastered over the sides and rear of many Caprice wagons, the back row seat still faced rearward, and the tailgate was still split; the glass lifted up, but the tailgate itself still swung open from the side. It even still came with a standard hood ornament. Like so many GM creations of the era, this Caprice has one foot in the present, but the other is firmly planted in its storied past. And the reluctance to modernize is what caused so many of said cars to flounder and fail in the marketplace.
Of course, regardless of how modern this Caprice was, it likely still would have gone extinct. The 80s showed the world the wonders of the minivan, and the 90s were the dawn of the SUV era. Station wagons were old news, and when the Baby Boomers started to have kids of their own, they largely rejected the wagons they had spent countless hours riding around in when they needed their own family trucksters.
Neither Chrysler nor Ford had full-size wagons left in their lineup when the 80s became the 90s, so they left the market all to GM. And as it turns out, that market had dried up entirely. Minivans reigned supreme in the 90s, and by the 2010s, SUVs had largely killed them too. Full-size sedans didn’t last much longer; with the last one, the Ford Panther platform, limping along until 2011 largely due to fleet sales. Now, in the 2020s, crossovers and SUVs are threatening to kill sedans altogether. Even if they had been more handsome, I doubt the Caprice and its siblings would have lived much longer than they did.
In the 2020s, though, these big land yachts have undergone a minor reevaluation. The high-performance Impala SS — based on the pedestrian Caprice — has entered the pantheon of modern classics. And the Buick Roadmaster wagon has enjoyed a bit of ironic popularity in recent years due to how big and funky-looking it is. The Caprice wagon, though, still hasn’t had its moment in the sun. Despite its dangling rubber bits and rust hiding under the wood grain on its tailgate, this example still runs and drives, and looks plenty restorable if the owner so chooses.
Wild how cars from the 90s need reservation now, isn’t it? Well, they’re classics now, and potentially no other car of this vintage is so classic as this Caprice.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1996 Chevrolet Caprice Classic – Engineer’s Choice
Curbside Classic: 1994-96 Chevrolet Impala SS – Killer Whale
Fine mix of world and auto history. I learned something from this article!
The era of low-slung wagons was also a lot shorter than it seems. Autos have been around for 120 years, and low cars were only fashionable for about 30 of those years, from 1950 to 1980. Tall cars are more normal in the big picture.
Good article and a nice find! Lots of interesting info here, especially to a B lover like me. I used to own a 94 Caprice wagon (and currently own a 96 RM). I wrote an article here a few years ago on a 91 Custom Cruiser.
I’m curious how this car came to be parked with it’s nose pressed against a traffic cone and hood popped. Is this in Philadelphia? Are traffic cones on street-parked cars common there?
The only thing I still would have liked to see is an interior shot or two, as these cars are
really all about the interiors. I know it’s a awkwarx moment of self-consciousness when you put that phone up close to the passenger side glass, but it’s worth it!
Speaking of lasts, I believe the 94 Caprice was the last car available with an UN-split front bench seat. It was dropped for 95.
I’ve always thought the wagons would have benefited from a couple of extra inches of wheelbase. The back seats are surprisingly stingy on leg room for such a large car. Of course, that’s not a whale thing as GM had the same wheelbase on the boxy wagons too (115.9, by the way). Ford did the same thing with their Panther wagons, except even shorter at 114in IIRC.
The big butt thing is a good question: was the rear overhang actually more as a percentage than earlier full and midsized cars? Every once in a while it strikes me how many beloved 60s and 70s cars really do have bizarrely long rear ends, when looked at historically or internationally.
After the B’s demise, the Taurus/Sable soldiered on as an at least semi-traditional wagon for several years. I’ll have to look at the numbers but I think they were also pretty weak. There was just no way the 91-96 wagons were going to be big sellers even if they were wonderfully styled. What I’ve never heard for sure is if GM made good money on them despite low sales what with amortized platform costs and minimal new engineering required.
The 485 Caprice wagons for 96 is remarkablely low, though I think GM purposely minimized production in favor of the Roamaster wagons that year. Again, I’ll have to look it up, but I think 96 was the best year for RMW sales of the six. They also favored Impala SS production over civilian Caprice. The SS sold pretty well that year. Most of the Caprice sedan production went to the 9C1, which many police departments wanted to get their orders in before they’d be forced to switch brands.
You were close, it’s Pittsburgh! Like Philadelphia but with more hills and French fries on everything.
The Roadmaster wagon sold about 8-10 thousand units for most of its lifetime: including almost 9k in 1996. So I imagine you’re right about GM focusing wagon production towards Buick.
Still getting the hang of being brave enough when it comes to car photography. I got yelled at a few days ago trying to snap pics of an old F250 so confidence is sometimes fleeting…
“I got yelled at a few days ago trying to snap pics of an old F250 so confidence is sometimes fleeting…”
I know how that goes. There are a few people out there highly sensitive with their cars on the street. More often my experience has been that if the owner comes along, they are happy to talk about their car after you explain you are an enthusiast taking pictures because you like the car. Of course, the older or more unique the car, the more likely they are to get that. I’ve had plenty of people open up the car and invite me to take all the photos I want.
I know what you mean about that awkward moment of self-consciousness when you put that phone up close to the glass. I’ve been doing car-writeups here for 8 or 9 years, and I still don’t particularly like photographing interiors.
The “whale” Caprice and its divisional siblings were direct replacements for the cars that debuted in 1977, but the market they entered couldn’t have been more different. In the late ’70s, although fleets certainly bought these, the B/C bodies including the Caprice were mostly privately owned, and many people of all stripes chose these big (but by ’70s standards, mid-sized) sedans or wagons as their daily driver. Sales of big cars plummeted with the economic issues of the early ’80s, but while big sedan sales recovered in the mid-’80s, big wagons didn’t. Two vehicles that debuted in 1984, the Jeep Cherokee and the Chrysler minivans, and the multitudes of competitors they spawned ate into big-wagon sales. When the revamped big cars from GM and Ford finally arrived in the early ’90s, they were predominantly sold to fleets and a shrinking number of V8/RWD/BOF traditionalists; they were no longer really a mainstream choice for a daily-driver family car, a market now served by SUVs, minivans, and Camcords.
I was unaware how badly these sold though. Was it the same for Ford? GM didn’t seem to have there hearts in it for the redesign – there was minimal difference between the Chevy, Olds, and Buick wagons – all three used the same front clip even, save for grille inserts. There actually were a few differences that few people likely noticed, like two different C pillar treatments and slightly taller taillights on some models. BTW, the tailgate arrangement with the flip-up glass was not carried over from the early “box” design as stated here – the box B wagons had a Ford-style tailgate that could either drop down or swing open, and a power rear window that dropped into the tailgate. The flip-up window design on the ’90s design doesn’t need power and is thus likely less expensive, plus it allows for wider glass and thinner D pillars.
The 1991 Bs were basically a new body and inerior atop the same 1977 mechanical underpinnings.
Doesn’t look promising…..hood popped, cone in front and no plates.
The “short 20th century” theory is very real, perhaps a bit more so for Europe as WW1 created such a radical change there, more than in the US.
I’ve long felt that GM should have just kept making the box-B for as long as they sold enough to keep one plant going, in the same way that Toyota kept building RWD Crown Comforts and such for taxi and fleet use. The box Caprice was perfect for police and taxi use, devoid of the unnecessary width and weight; both were just a hindrance. And that slowly shrinking pool of traditionalists that loved their big RWD sedans and wagons would have been happier in the boxes than they were in the unloved whales.
And although the market was of course moving away from traditional wagons, GM sold a very healthy number of FWD A Body wagons during this era, which tends to suggest that the problem with the whales is that they were…too whale-like. The A Body wagons were trim and space efficient; a much better wagon all-round than the whales.
Is there an argument for a displaced 20th century (in Europe), rather than a short one – bookended by the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and the reunification of Germany in 1990.
The first led to the formation and definition of the modern Germany, and was the first of 3 conflicts on the continent, finally resolved in 1945 from which emerged the “never again” attitude of cooperation not conflict that over 50 years led to the modern European Union, and 1990 marked the end of the cold war formalised East-West socialism-capitalism stand off and the start of the spread of democracy to eastern Europe, against huge pressure and vested interest. 1870 links quite well with the emergence and adoption of many technologies too.
Slightly glosses over the 1914-18 war marking the end of many established governance formats though, I accept. Not many monarchies now!
I’d say the main point of the 20th Century being ‘short’ and beginning with the conclusion of WWI has as much to do with what historical trends ended then as much as what trends began. The Franco-Prussian War and the Unification of Germany where huge events that set up for even bigger ones down the line, but I’m inclined to go with WWI as being the true end point for 19th Century politics.
WWI ousted the Romanovs, the Habsburgs, the Hohenzollerns, and the Osmans from power in Central and Eastern Europe. Absolute monarchy was dead, at least in Europe, and said empires were all split into various smaller, self-governing states; which laid the foundations for the other colonial empires to slowly break up decades later. Communism came to rule a world power, and others democratized. And the idea of war as a noble pursuit firmly came into doubt with the absolute destruction of the Great War.
It’s not a perfect theory: it’s super eurocentric and very much abides by the idea that ‘eras’ in history are definite and rigid. But in my opinion, I think it fits pretty well. Imperial Germany was a monarchy, after all, and officially an Empire. So even though its formation after Prussia’s victory over France is a huge event in history, it feels more 19th Century than 20th imo.
It’s an interesting theory – one that I’ve heard before, but not really thought about much. Certainly not perfect, but no historical theory is.
When I was a college history major in the early 1990s, we were taught that there was a tectonic shift in geopolitical and economic forces in the mid 1800s (European revolutions, Industrial revolution & American westward expansion) and then again around WWI. What’s interesting is that this was in 1990-1994 – right the era where the “short 20th century” theory places another one of those major shifts… yet that was never mentioned in history classes at the time. It’s hard to comprehend the true significance of world events as you’re living through them.
My family ran a taxi business when the B body reigned supreme. I have gone into it in detail here before, but suffice to say I have driven every iteration of the B body there is.
We tried one Whale as a taxi. The problem with was weight: the cars weighed a good 400 lbs more than the box Caprice. This overloaded the chassis and especially the marginal brakes. The front end of a box B body wasn’t the most stout to begin with and the added weight made it even worse.
We left the taxi business upon the death of my father in 1997. Taxi operators switched to Luminas and then to Toyota Priuses.
I vacillate between admiring these final full-size wagons for being their Last of Their Breed, and then alternately thinking that they’re a mere caricature of the big wagon’s former self. I do wonder, though, what a mid-90s Crown Vic wagon would have looked like, had one been offered. I bet it would have looked less bloated than the Caprice.
The most recent B-whale wagon I saw was at a car show a few weeks ago… someone converted a Roadmaster into an… all-terrain vehicle? Part of me is aghast at this, but really it doesn’t look too bad. I recall a few years ago, one of the rural mail carriers where my in-laws live drove a ’91 Caprice (battered, and with a few hundred thousand miles)… this would have been a good modification for him:
Someone – perhaps whoever was showing it at the show you were at – bought that Roadmaster for just over $10K about 3 years ago.
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/Kdpb1MGy/1995-buick-roadmaster-estate-wagon?
uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Wow – great find! I didn’t actually stop to look at this car, just admired it while walking by. I’d assumed that someone found a salvage or decrepit Roadmaster and then modified it. I’m actually surprised it’s a more intense customization – the photos from the ad of the soundproofing installation is pretty intense. Thanks!
An interesting view of history. I’ve been reading British and European history lately (gotta keep the mind active), and one thing I’ve come to appreciate is that, wars aside, change tends to be gradual. But given the devastating impact the Great War had on Europe, I can see where Eric Hobsbawm was coming from. Makes a lot of sense. A century is an artificial construct anyway, being merely a convenient grouping of time rather than being based on cosmic events like the years and seasons, so why not? 1918 was much more significant than the flipping over from 1899 to 1900. I imagine that, like 1999 to 2000, there was a lot of partying and hangovers, then it was business as usual. So I like Hobsbawm’s idea.
The Caprice? While I liked the style of these cars at fisrt glance, there were problems. The bulgy sides only seemed to give rise to thicker doors not more space. There was too much tumblehome to the side glass; did you have to shut the window in the rain? And the rear doors look disproportionately short, the rear axle should have been a few inches further back, not just on the wagon.
In retrospect, perhaps they should have made more evolutionary changes to the old design, rounding off the sharp corners and edges some more rather than going full bar-of-soap. But at least they tried.
GM and Ford did the same thing – update the bodies of their BOF full sizers. Ford kept the same dimensions, but with a new engine,. GM put a heavier, wider, longer body on theirs. Ford went with a conservative restyle, GM was more radical.
My dad wanted to drive the Roadmaster until he saw it in person, and climbed into it. Priced similarly to a Town Car, the RM fell far short regarding material quality and switch gear. Not even close to Lincoln’s standard.
The new Chevy had disappearing front fenders with low seating. Ford sat higher with better visibility. Ford went on to make their last gen Panther another decade. This GM design had too many serious design flaws.
I think the B’s were really designed to appeal to GM traditionalists. The interior would be familiar to anyone who’s spent alot of time inside older GM cars. It wouldn’t necessarily holdup to aggressive cross-shopping. They don’t impress a newcomer with quality, but they are functional and hold up OK with respectful use. The door panels are the most likely interior part to have problems. Seats are comfortable and age pretty well. HVAC is really robust, in traditional GM fashion and most all the other interior functions don’t tend to break down. Vinyl clips holding the windows to the rails are a common fail point with age. These days, a motivated owner can remove the door panels and replace those.
Like most all modern cars, the end of the hood can’t be seen from the front seat. The hood ornaments aren’t just for show, they make locating the front of the hood much easier!
I miss full size station wagons .
When new I didn’t like the looks of these but they’re looking better as I get older .
I had and loved every station wagon I ever owned, the little imports as well as the big American boats =8-) .
-Nate
Great post, Sophie-san.
Didn’t realize how rare these were. I encountered one (albeit sans plastiwood on the flanks) in Tokyo recently. But then, they do have a thing about whales here…
Unless I missed it, it doesn’t appear that anyone really touched on what really killed these things – the SUV, specifically the introduction of the Tahoe and Yukon 4-doors in 1995.
Never mind the fact that the whale Caprices were the butt of a lot of jokes upon their release due to their styling and the wagons simply doubled down on all of that, and then the Roadmaster just added even more gingerbread, much of it reminiscent of the trim on a fancy coffin more than anything else – Oy, it’s a marvel that they sold even the quantity that they did.
No, the fact that the GMT400 Suburban was an excellent replacement for the old C/K series version, the Ford Explorer had shown the “future” of SUV-dom (along with the XJ Cherokee), and then GM released the shorter 4door T/Y twins – all of a sudden there was a big full-size SUV that had all the interior room and then some, but was short enough to park most places (and in most suburban garages), and even many police departments starting moving in that direction for at least some of their fleet.
If the B-body printed money, the Tahoe based on the Silverado simply had the money delivered on pallets, no need to even print it. I believe the Arlington assembly plant was switched from Caprice to Tahoe production in 1995 which likely means that Caprice sales for 1996 were production built ahead of time.
The Tahoe wasn’t simply a shortened Suburban, its suspension was reworked to specifically deliver a more car-like ride as it was anticipated to be more of a personal car than a workhorse. And it paid off handsomely. Love them or hate them (or the SUV genre), nobody’s ever really faulted the styling of any generation of Tahoe either, it’s been a consistent and hugely profitable seller since intro. The 2WD version (at least in the early days) also rode low enough to not require quite the climb up that they do today.
The Caprice is likely a fine enough car, but a lot of the praise and adoration today has more to do with fond remembrances of the era and the relative lack of survivors, it’s doubtful a lot of its fans nowadays would have actually plunked down the money for a new one back when they were available (or would today if it was still available in any form), Impala SS excluded. I know I for one will look closely and appreciatively at any Roadmaster I come across but I definitely recall laughing at it when taking my evening walks through the car dealerships including Buick near my apartment back in the early-mid ’90s. Much the same for the whale Caprice, especially ones like the featured one, Vacation’s Wagon Queen Family Truckster was only eight years old when this wood grained beast debuted and that movie single-handedly killed Di-Noc – not that it had any business on anything but an FSJ Grand Wagoneer by that point (which ended production as this one started) …Don’t get me wrong, I adore the woodgrain on the featured car *now* but back then it was pretty hopeless.
I know I like the “idea” of wheeling a Caprice around nowadays but when I plunked down my own money for a big Chevy around 2008 it was for a ten-year old Tahoe, a Caprice wasn’t even considered despite likely being available for half the price. The Tahoe wasn’t perfect but it was close enough and certainly comfortable, roomy, and able to be parked just fine in the tight confines of the SF Bay Area.
Nice find and write-up!
You’re right the T/Y literally killed the B-body as it took over the Arlington factory. You’re not correct about production end. GM actually extended Arlington B production through December 1996, mostly to accommodate all the orders for police cars.
I agree the Tahoe killed the wagon in a general sense, too. The minivan wounded the wagon severely, but the mortal blow was the “civilized” 4-door SUV. The wagon was just too old hat after that. It didn’t stand a chance
Ah, thanks, I was wondering how that worked and that makes sense re the police cars. I believe my Tahoe was built up in Janesville, WI
I didn’t mention it but recreational towing likely had a fair amount to do with it as well – an SUV is generally considered a far superior towing vehicle compared to a transversely-engined Minivan for most things larger than a pop-up camper. I mean, the Europeans will tow the Queen Mary with a Kia Rio, but we need an F-250 when renting a cement mixer from Home Depot for the day. (I’m kidding, I’m well aware of differences between USA/ROW towing parameters!). Add real 4×4 and there’s why the SUV won out over everything else, at least as long as gas was/is cheap.
I always thought those were quite a nice looking car
In my eyes, the shoe box shaped predecessor was THE American station wagon. Oh, how I miss it. The shoe box Caprice in particular as well as the wagon in general.
Sometimes I wonder, if the horrific style of “The Whale” propelled the decline of station wagons in some way.
I doubt it. Wagon sales were way down before the whales came out. Ford opted out of a wagon version of the Crown Vic when it was redone for 92.
I am late getting here, but wanted to chime in on this very nice post. I wanted to like these, but could never totally warm up to their looks. Whether as a sedan or a wagon, these just never looked right. I think the sales champ of this generation was the Roadmaster. It seemed like loaded Roadmaster wagons were relatively common among older folks back then, and I remember really nice older ones still being fairly common until maybe a dozen years ago.
I think that the full-sized wagon was done in by a two-front attack: minivans from the bottom and the Suburban/Tahoe from the top. My Mrs. and I shared transportation duty getting our 3 kids to and from school in those years. Even at a Catholic school where families tended a bit larger than the norm, I don’t remember a single family with one of these, while minivans and SUVs of all sizes were all over the place.
First of all a great post on a now somewhat forgotten generation of car.
Unlike the prior B wagons and Roadmasters, I have only seen two of these regularly. A teacher at my grade school had a brand new ’94. Even then it stood out for its width and different design. The other was one that was still hanging on in the 10s in my condo complex. The Buick ones maybe had just enough pizazz to hang on as the last great American wagon, these were an after thought in the lineup.
Why did GM not build the H as a wagon or base a minivan on one? They would have had the size group either way all to themselves and either would have been seen as more modern than these. Also it is interesting as the market leader they were behind on 3 major trends: minivans, midsize everyday use SUVs and later crossovers. Their attempts to compete (Astro, Blazer, Aztek) were always late and half-hearted. The one win as pointed out before was the Tahoe. These were super popular in mid to late 90s in suburbia with the exact same buyers that would have bought Caprice Wagons a decade earlier. So eventually GM had to consolidate and go with the Tahoe and Yukon as the winners. But as I have said before GM was too distracted w Saturn, Geo and other myriad stupidity at this point to really focus where it mattered.
The blue , prior generation, one is “imo”, better looking. The “63” wagon with the red stripe tires “photo’s” well.
What “Pgh, neighborhood” are we in this time?