1941 Buick Special Estate |
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| Manufacturer | General Motors |
|---|---|
| Also called | Buick Roadmaster Estate Buick Super Estate Buick Century Estate Buick Special Estate Buick Electra Estate Buick Invicta Estate Buick LeSabre Estate |
| Production | 1940–1964 1970-1996 |
| Class | Full-size car |
| Body style | 4-door station wagon |
| Layout | FR layout |
1974 Buick Estate Wagon |
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| Model years | 1971–1976 |
|---|---|
| Assembly | Flint, Michigan, USA |
| Platform | C-body |
| Engine | 455 cu in (7.5 L) V8 |
| Transmission | 3-speed TH-400, automatic |
| Wheelbase | 127.0 in (3,226 mm) |
| Length | 1971: 226.8 in (5,761 mm) 1972: 228.3 in (5,799 mm) 1973: 229.5 in (5,829 mm) 1974: 231.1 in (5,870 mm) 1975–76: 231.8 in (5,888 mm) |
| Width | 1971–72: 79.7 in (2,024 mm) 1973: 79.6 in (2,022 mm) 1974–76: 79.9 in (2,029 mm) |
| Height | 1971–1973: 57.3 in (1,455 mm) 1974: 57.9 in (1,471 mm) 1975: 58.4 in (1,483 mm) 1976: 57.8 in (1,468 mm) |
| Curb weight | 5,200–5,500 lb (2,400–2,500 kg) |
| Related | Buick Electra Oldsmobile 98 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Pontiac Grand Safari Chevrolet Caprice Estate |
| Designer | Bill Mitchell |
1980s Buick Electra Estate |
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| Model years | 1977–1990 |
|---|---|
| Assembly | Arlington, Texas, USA |
| Platform | B-body |
| Engine | 350 in³ Buick V8 307 in³ Oldsmobile V8 350 in³ LF9 diesel V8 |
| Transmission | 4-speed automatic |
| Wheelbase | 115.9 in (2,944 mm) |
| Length | 220.5 in (5,601 mm) |
| Width | 79.3 in (2,014 mm) |
| Height | 59.3 in (1,506 mm) |
| Related | Buick Electra Buick LeSabre Oldsmobile 88 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Pontiac Bonneville Pontiac Parisienne Pontiac Catalina Pontiac Safari Chevrolet Caprice |
Buick used the Estate name on their full-size station wagons.
The first Buick Estate used a wooden body and was offered on the 1940 Super model. It was available on Buick's B-body Special series in 1941 and 1942, and later on Buick's larger C-body (Roadmaster and Super) in the 1946-53 model years. From 1954-1958 it was only offered on the smaller B-body Century and Special, with all steel bodies. Among these were hardtop Estate Wagons called Caballero that were offered only in 1957 and 1958.
From 1959 through 1964 it was still offered on the B-body which had been renamed Invicta and LeSabre.
The model was reintroduced on the B-body in 1970 and was simply called Estate Wagon.
From 1971 to 1976, the Estate Wagon was built on the C-body and used a 'Clamshell' design where the rear power-operated glass slid up into the roof as the tailgate (manually or with power assist), dropped below the load floor. The power tailgate, the first in station wagon history, ultimately supplanted the manual tailgate, which required marked effort to lift from storage. The Clamshell system — heavy and complex — remained un-adopted by any other manufacturer. Its first year, 24,034 were sold.[1] The 1971-1976 models were the largest station wagons ever built. [1] The 1971-76 GM full-size bodies, at 64.3" front shoulder room and 63.4" rear shoulder room set a record for interior width that would not be matched by any car until the full-size GM rear-wheel drive models of the early to mid 1990s. The Estate used the Buick 455 from 1970 to 1976.
In 1977, the Estate Wagon was downsized and relaunched on General Motors' B-body. In 1979 an Estate Wagon Limited was offered with many extra cost options included as standard. To further differentiate the Limited model, fenders included four VentiPorts (up from three) and the interior had loose pillow designed seating. In 1980 body changes made the wagon more aerodynamic for better fuel efficiency. Also in 1980, the Electra Estate Wagon was introduced and replaced the Estate Wagon Limited. The 'base' model was called the LeSabre Estate Wagon. The Electra Estate model name was used in 1988 and 1989 even though the Electra sedan used the front wheel drive C platform. In 1990 the Estate model name was used, even though the Electra name was used for the its final model year, 1990, for the sedan models. After the Buick V8's discontinuation, the Estate initially came with either the Olds 307 or Olds 350 diesel.
Buick revived the venerable Roadmaster name with the introduction of the Roadmaster Estate in 1991. A "Vista Roof", a fixed sunroof over the second row seats, was standard. Initially the Roadmaster Estate used Chevrolet's 5.0 L small-block V8, but used the larger 5.7 L version from 1992. GM discontinued the Roadmaster Estate in 1996, ending production on December 13 of that year.[2] This was largely a response to the SUV craze, as the Arlington, Texas factory where RWD GM cars were built was converted to truck and SUV production. When discontinued, the Roadmaster Estate and the similar Chevrolet Caprice wagon brought up the end of the era of the full-size family station wagon.
| Type | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Subcompact | Skyhawk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Compact | Skyhawk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Somerset | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skylark | Skylark | Skylark | Verano | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mid-size | Century | Century | Century | Regal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regal | Regal | Regal | LaCrosse | LaCrosse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full-size | LeSabre | LeSabre | LeSabre | LeSabre | Lucerne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electra | Electra | Park Avenue | Park Avenue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estate | Estate/Roadmaster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal | Riviera | Riviera | Riviera | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Crossover | Rendezvous | Enclave | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SUV | Rainier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minivan | Terraza | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sports | Reatta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||