Here’s another find that has appeared little at CC, a 1971 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser uploaded by Hyperpack to the Cohort. These rather impressive machines were GM’s state-of-the-art take on the station wagon, and they arrived in 1971 ready to take over the upscale station wagon segment. Larger and with more cargo capacity than all competitors, stuffed with options, and carrying the sci-fi-like clamshell tailgate, they appeared ready to make an impression.
Along with its corporate sibling, the Buick Estate Wagon, these have only made infrequent appearances at CC. Their specs and story are more or less covered in a previous 1975 Buick Estate Wagon post, but a recap may be worth it for this rather outstanding surviving Custom Cruiser.
By sheer size alone, the claim has been made that these were the Ultimate Station Wagons. An idea I’m not about to dispute. These were clearly a bit of overkill in many respects, but that was GM’s modus operandi by then. And in the case of these wagons, all part of the company’s quest to upstage and take over the market by sheer corporate force.
To recap, Oldsmobile (and Buick) had been out of the full-size wagon segment since 1964. At the time, the novel Vista Cruiser (and the Buick Sport Wagon) appeared with a new proposal. Riding on an extended A-Body platform, the “mid-size” wagons offered three-forward-facing seats, great cargo space, and a neat glassy raised roof. Memorable and neat looking, they did decent numbers but not the outstanding business GM always expected of their children. It was time for a new plan.
So it was back to the full-size action for Olds and Buick. The new models arrived for the 1971 model year carrying all the bells and whistles GM could throw at them. The full-sizers rode on an extended B-platform –all to 127″– providing 3-forward-facing seat rows. Cargo capacity was 109 cubic inches total and the standard engine was a Rocket 455 CID V-8 with 2 bbl. carburation. Other standard features included Power Windows, Power Steering, Power Front Disc Brakes, Flo-Thru ventilation, and plenty of wood-grain trim.
(Elsewhere, the Vista Cruiser would gain a less distinctive shape for ’73)
The model’s main attraction was its “disappearing tailgate!”, or Glide-Away. A rather sophisticated and convoluted bit of technology that was impressive in a “Car Show” sort of mode. While I could go on about its working methods, it’s best to see it in action in the video above.
Did you see it? Very neat! The system hides away the whole tailgate for unimpeded cargo access. The video shows the fully automated option (a manually operated tailgate was available too), with the tailgate dropping onto the wagon’s floor and the back window rising into the roof. Take that, Ford’s Magic Door!
Of course, Ford’s double-hinged Magic Door was a more practical and nifty solution. With a bit of practice one could open and set up the door as desired; either pushing it to the side or leaving a nice base onto the loading area. No wonder it was the favorite setup of any self-respecting cowboy.
GM’s clamshell was quite a sight, true. But it did require some methodology to get it all going. Let’s see if I got this straight (and I’ll leave it to clamshell experts to correct me):
The dashboard controls the glass motion; set the system in auxiliary and activate the switch. Watch the window go up and hide away into the roof! For the tailgate, step out, insert and turn the key to get the tailgate motors going. Watch the tailgate magically disappear! That is unless there’s a bit of vacuum and the process needs some manual assistance.
Sounds like more steps than I expected… Computer! Why won’t you just open the gate on my voice command?
Should you care to see it, it’s all better shown in the following video (on a Pontiac Grand Safari):
In any case, as it was going to be GM’s wont in the near future, one wonders how they reached their decisions. While the Custom Cruiser and Buick Estate offered, one could say, easily measured goods –cargo capacity, upscale ambiance, etc.– the clamshell was too techy. Neat, for sure. But, one could argue that it was more of an effort to impress competitors rather than truly please users.
Still, the company was going all in on the tech, with all their full-size wagons offering it. Here’s the ’71 Chevrolet Kingswood Estate, looking rather swanky and pleased with itself. Keep in mind that against the Chevy (and Pontiac), Olds and Buick’s offered 2″ of additional wheelbase, a few more inches of overall length, and 3 cubic feet of additional cargo. Plus brand cachet, you know?
Early tech woes and sibling competition aside, these were rather nice-looking wagons. So let’s not miss this chance to take a look around this surviving one.
As usual, the Buick carried more restrained styling. The Olds, on the other hand, wore a more extroverted exterior; a mix of the formality for which the brand was known, plus the rocket-themed cues that were part of its tradition.
In the case of the Custom Cruiser, the rear tail lights do a good impression of jet exhausts, and the winglets on the rear fender top add to the theme. Meanwhile, the curvy greenhouse is certainly very space-pod-like (a quality shared with all the clamshells).
Regarding the front, that’s truly early ’70s Oldsmobile. There’s much to see on this face, with lots of sculpting and tri-dimensional work.
Looks like the interior is awfully well-preserved, and quite the time capsule. Now, we may have said that GM was aiming for the stars with these, but even so, cost-cutting was showing all across the board. And Olds was no exception. The Rubbermaid plastic door panels were far from pleasing, and the plasti-wood bits do scream early ’70s. Plus, space-age references aside, these interiors were not very ergonomic and had quite a few oddly placed controls.
Then again, I’ve never been to the future. Maybe they don’t care about ergonomics in the 22nd century?
Still, what we have with us today is a rather extraordinary early survivor, from its first year nonetheless. That first production year the model sold about 13K units, with the Buick doing somewhat better with 24K units. Numbers would improve some in the next few years, but once again, not reaching GM’s expectations. By the time the Custom Cruiser was downsized for ’77 with the rest of GM’s lineup, the Glide-Away was gone for good. Instead, the ’77 model made do with a very Magic-Door-like tailgate arrangement.
But for a short few years, there was nothing quite like the clamshell, or Glide-Away. And the concept may sound funny and contrived now, even of overkill. But when it works, it still has that “Wow” effect on the child that lives within me. Now, the adult in me…
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1975 Buick Estate Wagon – The Ultimate American Station Wagon
COAL: 1971 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser – The Ultimate Wagon Of A Lifetime
Thanks for the Insight on these Rich, we has a similarone on the car lot when I was a kid, clamshell and all. It was a chevy Implala wagon, blue of a similar vintage. It of corse was no a MoPar, so away it went. I rember the electrics of the clamshell being fussy, as it would have been a ~ 20 year old PA car by that time.
A minor correction but the Chevrolet ad is the Kingswood Estate and not the Kingswood. The Estate had the wood paneling sides. My family wagon growing up was a 1972 Chevrolet Kingswood. I remember our clamshell working differently. There was a raised switch with “wings” to manually turn it. You inserted the key in the middle and turned it right to raise the window. Then you turned the whole switch to release the bottom panel. It was not power. You manually lifted it and it snapped into place. Then you turned the key to the left to close the window. The switch on the dash only raised and lowered the window. The full power tailgate was standard on the Kingswood Estate. It was a great car but in hindsight. We had it for 8 years and 100K miles. We thought that was a long time. Cars didn’t last as long back then. We got the Chevy because nobody wanted to sit sideways (Ford) or backwards (Chrysler). When GM downsized the cars in 1977, they returned to the rear facing rear seat. The clamshell design did limit height in the “way back” space behind the third row.
Thanks for the notice Rick. I updated the text to reflect the model name properly.
Those “wings” were added in later model years. These wagons didn’t have those wing with the optional power tailgate. Guessing folks were breaking off keys opening the tailgate. The featured car is actually more of a base model. It has the manual tailgate (it has the handle in the middle) Also the more base level interior, more like an Olds 88 of that time) and no clock, the same as my folks’ ’73 Custom Cruiser. For extra cost you could get an interior similar to a 98 LS, complete with a carpeted cargo area. The gap between the D pillar and tailgate tells me the tailgate wasn’t closed tight enough. It takes a healthy slam to pull those tailgates completely closed. All the clamshell wagons had a standard power rear window, but the power tailgate was an option. The 2bbl 455 was standard in ’71? I thought these all came with a standard 4bbl 455 until ’75 or ’76 when a Pontiac 400 was available as a credit option. Most by far chose the Olds 455. ’71 was also the only year for the vent slots in the tailgate (trunklids in coups and sedans).
This is a great survivor. These cars rusted to pieces in the upper midwest and northeast. Southern cars were gobbled up to be used in demo derbies.
These were enormous automobiles for the time, although today’s gargantuan cars are even bigger and heavier than this Oldsmobile. Good thing fuel efficiency has improved, because a 455 is going to really horse fuel.
The clamshell tailgate was very cool but a service headache. Dirt and water would get into the mechanism causing it to jam. Removing the bottom part was a very involved process. For this reason GM gave up on the idea for the 1977 models and simply copied Ford’s dual tailgate.
In hindsight, I’m not even sure if the clamshell tailgate was a *good* idea, or a “because we can” idea. I grew up in the era where many of my friends’ mothers drove these (my parents were staunchly anti-wagon people) and a lot of these tailgates were in various failure modes by the time these were traded in on the 1978+ B-chassis wagons.
I guess I’m an outlier. My folks’ Custom Cruiser never had any serious problems and we had that car for 13 years. All I remember was it needed a healthy slam to close and seal up, And the tailgate well drain holes would plug up and after a car wash it sounded like a slushing gas tank. Other than that no problems. In fact I don’t remember anyone with a clamshell GM wagon ever had a problem with the tailgate. I think the worst problem other than manufacturing costs was that the design seriously compromised cargo space for the size of the car.
And yes these were gas hogs. We got 12mpg with one person in an otherwise empty car or our family of 6, luggage, camping gear and a popup camper in the back.
That heavily sloped rear window really hindered these things’ ability to carry bulky cargo. I knew one staunch GM family who bought a Mercury Colony Park specifically to avoid the clamshell rear on the GM wagons.
To be honest I have never seen a GM Clamshell gate in action. I don’t even recall seeing that many in San Diego between 1971-77 but saw a lot of Fords. Now watching the video on the tailgate immediately made me say I’m sticking with Ford. Two sets of motors. gaskets, dirt, wear and tear don’t lend themselves to longevity.
Not to mention a layer of snow or pouring rain!
We looked at Buick wagons when I was 12. The glass bending as it rose was disconcerting. The third row was unusable by anyone over 4′ because of the differential/axle hump, and the split for access really compromised 2nd row comfort. Mom finally decided it was too big, so we got a ’73 Century wagon, which never failed to stall at least once after a cold start. At least it got double digit mpg when the gas crisis hit.
Great article! During 1976&77 Custom Cruisers served as Police Cruisers for the town of Duxbury Massachusetts. Dark blue metalic minus the woodgrain was the livery. In 1977 these where traded in for Fords at Herrick auto sales, the local dealer. A friend and myself took one of these tanks for a test drive. Being 17 year old gearheads; we flipped the air cleaner lid and found the results quite satisfactory, much better sounding than my 318-2 barrel! Even more unusual was DPD using Vista Cruisers, woodgrain and all from 1968 to 1972. My senior high school yearbook provided the only picture I could find.
The power clamshell worked as follows. The key switch at the rear had six operating positions. Position one to the right opened the window. Position two opened the tailgate. Position three opened both simultaneously. Three positions to the left worked in the reverse manner. On the instrument panel there were individual toggle switches for both window and tailgate to be pressed up or down respective to the direction desired. It helped to have the engine running during operation to provide a few more amps to the works particularly after the system had accumulated some age. The tailgate operated on a gear reduction drive mechanism while the window ran on a screw cable. The compartment underneath which stowed the lowered tailgate consumed most of the usable space under the rear floor so the fuel tank was mounted in an upright position in the left quarter panel behind a protective shield. I guess it must have worked as I never heard of any collision/puncture issues like I did with the side saddle tanks on the trucks.
The Side Saddled C/K issues were WAY overblown. Look up the Dateline Falsification Sandal. they had to rig the truck with explosives to get the thing to blow….
I remember these Oldsmobile and Buick wagons. The entire clamshell thing was a typical GM thing that should have never gone to production. But who could blame GM for trying what ever they could to try to even come close to the Ford wagons. They should have known they would never out wagon Ford. The full-size Ford wagons were the best-looking, most reliable and best sellers year after year. They didn’t have a lot of gimmicky stuff that wasn’t needed, They were just great wagons. I had a 75 Mercury Marquis Colony Park 9 passenger wagon for over 35 years. I always kept it looking brand new and in top mechanical shape. Ford was known as the “Wagonmaster” ever since the mid 60s. And, they earned it. When we think of great American wagons, we think Ford. Everyone that had one knew why.
I learned to drive in one of these, 1971, gold, with the four barrel option.. Named it Mac. That car passed everything but a gas station. We used to take it on vacation and I would have the rear seat all to myself, my sisters in the middle seat, my parents up front. And there was still room for luggage in the back. The vastness of these cars cannot be overstated. Loved that thing, we had it until the Delrin timing gear stripped itself. Still one of my favorite cars we ever had.
I am on record as being no fan of this generation of GM’s B/C body cars, but I will confess to carrying a small torch for the Olds Custom Cruiser of that time. I thought this was the most gorgeous wagon built, especially the 1971-72 version.
Also, one minor nit – in one of the oddest moves of all time, Buick brought back the big B body wagon for a single-year run in 1970.
At that time Buick dropped their vista roofed wagon. Olds kept theirs until 1972. Olds kept the Vista Cruiser name through the colonnade years but it was not a true Vista Cruiser.
I need to check with my Dad about this. He was a serious GM man before and since, but in 1971 when we became a family of four a Ford Torino Wagon (with magic tailgate) was added.
I must admit his voice asking “Who’s going to fix that when it breaks?” rang in my ears seeing that tailgate (that same voice actually asked me that about VTEC in a Honda, though it was never a factor). The worst that Torino seemed was black goo oozing from the window handles.
At work in 1974 one of my coworkers had a Chevrolet version of this behemoth. I was driving a VW Squareback. I had trouble even understanding what that thing was. One question: on the wheelbase of the Olds and Buick being bigger; how did they do this and where did the extra wheelbase go?
The extra wheelbase was ahead the cowl, so the bodies weren’t really any bigger. Even with a 127″ wheelbase they were not true GM “C” body cars like the Olds 98, Buick Electra, or some Cadillac’s. I think most here in the forum regarded them as GM “B plus” body cars. Most GM full size cars at that time used rear coil springs. All the clamshell wagons used a leaf spring rear suspension, presumably for extra cargo room. I always found it interesting the the Buick Estate wagon bounced around between being LaSabre or Electra series based on the portholes. The Custom Cruiser always had the 98 grille and front fenders but many features (clock, remote control mirror etc) that were standard in the 98 were optional in the Custom Cruiser. My memory is based on the ’71 to ’76 clamshell models. I have no knowledge on the downsized models.
Interesting that during the 1973 model year (the year of my folks Custom Cruiser) the most expensive American wagon by base price was the Chrysler Town&Country, the Custom Cruiser was the 2nd most expensive. Buick and Mercury were indeed right up there, all within a few (hundred?) dollars at that time. This was based on a 1973 Popular Science station wagon buying guide.
While turning wrenches at a Chevrolet dealership in the late 70’s I noticed considerable differences underneath vs the B body sedans or even half ton 2WD trucks that where still popular at that time; huge rear drum brakes even the lug nuts where larger!
The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser and the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser were true solid well built 💯%+ Car’s and God knows I loved them then & still does love them 💗 🤩 💗😍 today & also wish I had an Oldsmobile 98 Regency Bromghm Custom Cruiser. Cadillac made a few hand full Station Wagons that were beautiful., the 1972 Cadillac Station Wagon was in a James Bond movie the back turned into a sofa & a Jacuzzi came up with water it was quite good 💯%+ fancy Cadillac Station Wagon. I’ve always loved Station Wagons. The Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser and Vista Cruiser were true cars and were my personal favorites
My folks’ Custom Cruiser and a family friend’s Pontiac Safari while we were camping. Around 1973
Our Custom Cruiser
Taken the day it was new. And after a wash by yours truly.
Neat but I’d never trust the clamshell design .
Thanx to David for explaining the proper rear key switch ~ I wondered if there’d be a way to open only glass or lower the gate .
As mentioned, nothing beat the full size Fords, not even my ’68 Chrysler wagon, a stout and reliable beast to be sure but the tail gate is critical to wagon use .
I don’t ever here any wagon hate, they just seem to have largely fallen out of favor .
To me the modern ‘crossover’ is a wagon .
I miss the Vista Cruiser Bar Car on Ed Pasini’s N.F.I.B.M.T. .
-Nate