posted by William Rubano
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: The Half-Timbered Estate
– Posted on January 12, 2021
posted by William Rubano
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There used to be a lot of these in my area, most of them really well cared-for. And did it seem to anyone else like 80% of production for these was painted white?
Yep, and the other 50% were police cruisers.
Not sure I saw a Buick police cruiser after Dan Matthews retired.
bring back “longer-lower-wider.”
Toss in the whitewalls & skirts as well.
The Roadmaster wagon was exactly the same as the Caprice…just a different grille. The Roadmaster sedan had its own unique sheet metal
“Roadmaster wagon was exactly the same as the Caprice”
No, it was not. Buick had the “vista roof” glass above the 2nd row seats.
Weird thing is that the distinct Buick front clip used only on the sedans fits on the wagon just fine; you’ll find several so fitted if you do a Google image search. Why didn’t they do this at the factory? (yes, I know the sedans arrived a year after the wagons, but that doesn’t excuse not switching starting the second year). Apparently the Cadillac Fleetwood front clip fits on the wagons too.
Still has its rubber bumpers on the chrome side trim. That’s rare.
Wasn’t there some little game played around the C pillar that differentiated them?
Yes! I was going to mention this. The Caprice wagon had a cargo area/3rd row seat area window that started immediately behind the rear doors, whereas the Roadmaster had an exposed, body-color-painted section behind it as well, resulting in a wider-appearing C pillar, with a curve rather than a straight corner at the lower front edge of the glass. The really weird one was the Olds Custom Cruiser which used the Roadmaster setup in 1991 and the Caprice setup in 1992. I would have never noticed any of this had it not been noted in an earlier CC writeup of the Custom Cruiser.
The dashboards were a bit different too, especially after they were redesigned to fit a passenger airbag. And the Buick (and Olds) had a sunroof over the rear seat that wasn’t available on the Caprice.
Is wood paneling on cars or wagons an American thing? Personally I cant stand it. If memory serves me I don’t recall seeing it on cars made in other countries.
Mainly yes, although some Japanese models from the 70s also had it, such as the civic or the skyline wagon.