The 90s Buick Roadmaster was the ultimate station wagon–and collectors are catching on
In the middle of a roadtrip across mid-America I saw a wood-sided staton wagon merge on to the highway. I assumed it was a classic. Then I had to look again. This wasn’t any 1940s Ford Woody or 1960s Grand Wagoneer. It was very obviously a curvy 1990s car with a wide body and massive rear overhang. As I passed it I glanced in the rearview mirror. It was a Buick. A Buick Roadmaster Estate to be precise. And it might have been station wagon perfection.
The 1991-1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate
Buick first used the “Roadmaster” badge in 1936. It brought the badge back from a 33-year hiatus for a 1991 sedan and wagon. It started with a 170 horsepower small block V8, but we’re focusing on the 1994-96 opus: the Buick Roadmaster with the C4 Corvette’s 5.7-liter fuel-injected V8. This baby made 260 horsepower. In 1994. And that’s not all.
You could order the Roadmaster with a towing package. That’s right. It added a limited slip differential, heavy-duty engine oil and transmission fluid cooling, and early “Dynaride”self-leveling suspension with air shocks. Its towing capacity was 5,000 pounds. But it’s well established that with a weight-distributing hitch this thing can haul 7,000 pounds. That’s on-par with a 2025 Chevrolet Colorado.
But this isn’t a big old truck or modern SUV. It’s a wagon. Sure, it’s a body-on-frame, RWD long wheelbase sedan/wagon chassis. But it’s low and unassuming. Buick even offered leather interiors, a Delco cassette player, and a glorious rear-facing third row of seats!
The most retro-fabulous car of the 1990s?
Even in 1991, there was something wonderfully retro-classy about the Buick Roadmaster Estate. It harkens back to the era when nobody drove trucks, but many folks hooked their camper trailer to the back of a V8 sedan to drive cross country with the entire family. Who needs A/C when you have vent windows? It isn’t by any means a 1966 station wagon. But it’s a state-of-the-art 1996 station wagon that I suspect a 1966 driver would dig.
I think Buick was leaning into the vibe; the Roadmaster Estates all came with wood paneling down the sides. You could order them with blue leather. I’m surprised the dealers didn’t install fuzzy dice! By 2005, you had your pick of retro-styled cars, from the new Beetle to the fifth-get Ford Mustang. But when Buick rolled out the 1991 Roadmaster, no one was doing retro.
Today, the Buick Roadmaster has become a bit of an internet meme. Engine/car pairings are the fantasy football of the automotive enthusiast community. So a station wagon that came with a Corvette engine stock is swoon-worthy. Yet you can still find them on Craigslist for $4k or less. A 1993 Roadmaster with 65k miles (pictured) sold on Bring a Trailer for $8,750. But collectors are starting to notice. Truly pristine low-mileage versions are beginning to pop up on auction sites for $20k or more.
My take: The Buick Roadmaster Estates is cool but in an adorably awkward way. This might be the most dad-core car available. This is the jean shorts and cellphone holster of cars. It’s a trucker hat over a mullet. Yet it’s sensible. A quirky classic car that will gather a crowd at Cars and Coffee, haul eight, and tow another car on a trailer. And it’s still a bargain at $8k. See Doug DeMuro’s review of a 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate in the video embedded below:
