Never warmed up to the “beached whale” 1991-1996 Buick Estate Wagons? Well, how about a more conservatively styled 1990 Estate Wagon? This pretty scuffed-up 1990 Buick Estate Wagon was spotted by William Rubano. While it’s sure seen better days, I personally prefer these “square” Estate Wagons to the more radical 1991 redesign, like the (1996 Roadmaster Estate Wagon) I recently spotted.
The light-colored Di-Noc and “Estate Wagon” fender badges peg this one as a 1990 model. Although very worn and dirty, this Estate sports the aluminum wheels instead of the more commonly seen wire wheel covers. I feel like white was the most popular color for late-80s Estate Wagons
Like the ’91-’96s, the car’s size is best showcased from the rear-quarter angle. Despite this, the “square” B-body wagons don’t look quite as large. The more vertical rear window make the Estate look taller, helping to offset the car’s width. I’m also a fan of the open rear wheels, which make the car less sled-like.
Yes, the “sheer look” that debuted in ’77 has it all over the whale redesign. Pity about that paltry 307/TH200-4 powertrain. In my neck of the woods the driveability issues, coupled with simply the age and rustproneness of these units, makes it a hard circle to square, if you’ll pardon the pun.
True. Although other than the slowness in climbing hills, I really had no problems with the durability of that combination: the 307/TH200R4 in my ’87 Brougham made it to 175K without a rebuild.
If you were willing to look hard enough, the nearly identical 1980 model could be had in LeSabre or Electra trim with the Buick 350 V8 as an option, presumably coupled with the THM 350. At that time, I believe the not so great Pontiac 301 was standard. But in either case you’d not have to contend with the OBD/eQjet works.
If you want a ’77-’79 you get the prior front end design which is in my view more attractive-looking on the sedan than on the wagon, but I’m pretty sure in that case the Buick 350 V8/THM350 is standard and you could get the Olds 403 V8 engine as an option.
You could get all sorts of engines in these before 1980-81, 350’s of different varieties, 400’s, 403’s, 301’s, etc etc.
Yeah, tons of options. Really amazing in retrospect how many choices there were just in one model.
My father had one with the diesel. It gave him quite good service for the three years he kept it.
So GM was still using that TH-200R4 by the time of the wagons’ last model year in 1990?! Unbelievable.
The 1990 Buick Estate and Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser were also among the last cars sold in the U.S. with carbureted engines.
I read that the 1977-80 models sold with California emissions had the Olds 350 and the one to avoid is the diesel models from 1980-85.
Matt Garrett, a well known Cadillac aficionado, had this to say about the 307/200R4 in the Fleetwood Brougham…
** 1989 also uses the tried and true Oldsmobile 307 4BBL engine. Known for long life, excellent reliability and for the 88-89 years, respectable power. The 307 was the engine used after the HT4100 was deemed a failure in the 82-85 models. **
The complaints about dangerously slow performance are from people who do not keep the EGR passages clear or let the catalytic converter get clogged. It’s a simple matter of making sure the carb is functioning properly, should only need attention once every 5 years or so.
The 307 HO would not be better in these. The HO cams and heads are different, they are non high-swirl which trades off max low end torque for more peak HP. You would have to run the engine at higher speeds to get the same performance and that would kill fuel economy. If you don’t care about fuel economy the 350/350 would be a better choice but of course there is no OD.
Count me in as a fan of the more open rear wheels. Everything looks better than on the Whale generation — the shape, front end, chrome bumpers/grille/mirrors and orientation of the body to the wheels. Love the Turbines.
The Buick Estate Wagon was the closest thing you could get to a Fleetwood Brougham Wagon. You sometimes see these come on market with increasingly insane asking prices.
It’s interesting how many full-size Electras, LeSabres and Estate Wagons from this generation – both as show cars and cars for sale at the same shows – feature those wheels.
I don’t recall these wheels as being that common when these cars were new.
I prefer this to the Whale look, there are a couple of these doing hearse duty locally so they are immaculate.
I’m a Whale fan. But I wouldn’t kick one of these out of bed for eating crackers.
For my money, the ’77-’90, but especially ’80-’90, Estate Wagon was the best looking of the GM wagons following the downsize. Similar to the C/D body DeVille/Fleetwood Brougham, my choice would be a 1980, combining the redesigned ’80 front end, which I think came off better on the wagon than on the sedans, but retaining the option for the Buick 350 and Turbo 350 transmission and no computer.
I think the ’78-’91 Country Squire and Colony Park are ever so-slightly better looking, but I do like these a lot, with the Custom Cruiser a reasonably close 3rd place finisher.
Compare with that white Chevy in the background to see what has gone wrong (or at least changed) in car styling over the years. I’d Really Rather Have the Buick.
In this part of the automotive world that Buick is a 70s leftover 90s cars were a much more modern shape and spec.
The whale was on top gear US and did not impress other than with how much water it could hold.
It is so fitting this car has NY plates. When I moved from TX to Albany, NY in ’91 for an apprenticeship program, I remember seeing one Suburban a year. That was notable because even before the American SUV boom, the Suburban was the “National Car of Texas” (see the Texas Monthly if that doesn’t make sense). But in NY, these land barges were definitely still the family truckster of choice, only replaced later in the 90s by minivans.
(And you haven’t lived on the edge until you’ve driven from Albany to Long Island via the Bronx in a clapped out Country Squire with bad shocks during rush hour on Friday. Know what I’m sayin’?)
Nice. Driving a land barge through the Boogie Down Bronx is the only way to do it.
Know what you mean. I had relatives who moved from Texas to Philly in the late 90s. They had 2 Suburbans. Everyone in Philly thought they were nuts.
Nice Motorhead reference in the headline, intentional I hope!
Was this car part of a driving by braille program?
Or maybe it was Sgt. Murtagh’s replacement for his wife’s Custom Cruiser he destroyed.
HA! I forgot about that, Oldsmobile and GMC sponsored a few of the cars in that movie, the Custom Cruiser, and I think Riggs/Murtaugh were driving a 98(as a detectives car?) plus of course Riggs “pulling down a house” with a GMC 3500…..
I think Murtaugh’s wife did get a Roadmaster wagon in the 3rd one if I recall, there was a good number of GM cars in that one too.
Yeah she did get a Roadmaster. Their daughter Rianne drove a Saturn SC2.
Nice photo as I spot an older Subie behind the wagon, dating back to the 70’s.
I’ll have mine with a chevy impala nametag and a 350/350 combination. Ran very well. For fuel economy it would certainly have been better if I had the later 305/700r4 combination but I digress. Sure ran good and was full of truck parts such as wheel bearings, shocks, u joints etc. Always a sucker I let a kid with a hard luck story talk me out of it. One of 2-3 cars I would love to have back.
I have had a couple of B-body wagons. My last one was a 1990 Olds Custom Cruiser which was destroyed in a garage fire a few years ago. I really liked the car, but I didn’t like the 307 Olds. It was not strong on the flats and hills were always a workout. It was very torquey, but a very narrow powerband with no to end power (it had 140 hp at 3200 RPM). The ’84 Parisienne with the Chevy 305 was a much better performing engine in my opinion, although it would be sluggish by today’s standards too. It at least had some top end power and felt more peppy. I had a Olds 403 that I planned to swap into my car before it was destroyed.
The box wagons are much better styled than the rounded wagons, although I still like both. The biggest advantage of the 91+ wagons is the superior engine and drivetrain. Much of the rest of the car’s were cheapened when the two were compared side by side.
I also MUCH preferred Di-noc free wagons over those with Di-noc. The Buick had nice classy exterior styling, nicer than my Olds. But the Buick pillow-top velour seats, and acres of fake wood were terrible interiors. My Olds had a combo of HD cloth/vinyl that was very durable, simple and nice looking. Plus the Olds had a full gauge cluster as option (my wagon had it, although the gauges were not great).
My car started life as a flower car in a funeral home. Here are some photos of it near the end of it’s life.
http://pic70.picturetrail.com/VOL1832/12153464/23360042/407560961.jpg
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/23360042
What a sad story and what a lousy way to lose a car you like. Great picture. I hope that, if you want another one, you find it at some point.
Definitely shared your experience with the 307…I’ll never understand why they didn’t make either the 307 HO model the standard model or just put 305s in. I doubt it would have affected mileage at all; perhaps with the added HP it wouldn’t have had to downshift on hills and would have GAINED mpg.
I like the appearance of Di-Noc wagons if they’re still intact. But, if nature takes its toll, there are few things less attractive than peeling Di-Noc. Sort of similar to the vinyl roof experience.
It was a sad way to see the old car go. It literally was noting but a charred chassis afterwards. The fire was so hot it melted anything that was aluminum. The car was a bad loss, but the garage fire took our home which was much worse of course.
I owned a ’93 Suburban at the same time, and the 350 TBI engine that it had would have been an awesome powertrain in these box wagons. GM offered them in 1987 in pickups, they could have done the same in the B-body line if they cared. My ‘Burb was much heavier but had a ton more power and fuel economy was only slightly worse then the Olds wagon. I am sure that 350 in the light b-body would have got at least the same MPG’s as the 307.
As I mentioned in the whale post, there is simply way, way too much simulated wood on the side of this wagon. It should accent the paintwork, not slather it on like panelling in a 1960’s rec room!
Adding to that the trim around it is atrocious. The whale had a nicer contrasting simulated wood strip, but my vote for best in that is teh 1968 caprice which had metal “buttons” ina ddition to teh trim strip.
“But the Buick pillow-top velour seats, and acres of fake wood…”
I remember those insides, once I saw a demo derby Buick wagon and still had the plasti-wood, and the driver’s pillowed seat.
Looks like she was loaded up too, I spy Vigilite fiber optics, alloy wheels, cornering lamps, too bad, it does look menacing though, you could probably park this beast in crowded parking lot and no one would still park around it.
My father’s employer liked to use B-body wagons for his salesmen because they could securely lock parts inside (when doing parts deliveries) and the cars could easily tow 5000lbs which made them a no brainer for towing lawn and garden equipment out to customers. Most of them got turned into rolling bill boards with “JOHN DEERE – HENRY IMPLEMENT CO.” painted all over them but one old Pontiac Parisienne escaped that fate. It was colored and optioned like the car pictured below.
My Dad’s employer was generous with lending out his vehicles and I got to drive it a few times. I am positive it must have had the factory towing setup because it was the best handling B-body I ever slid behind the wheel of and the acceleration was decent with the gearing that it had. This Buick was nice in its day but that Pontiac will always be the B-body I will long for.
That pic is a contrast with the B body and the Prius in front.
I drove cab while in university, and the B body wagon was the best of the fleet. I preferred the Olds or Buick versions for the simple reason that the power window switches were on the armrest, rather than on the door itself — and that made operating all four much easier.
Nine legal seats meant lots of coin when taking home drunken students . . .
Love the Buick B – body wagon -Buick had best wheels, and they make the wagon. However let’s not leave out Pontiac – They upped the game with the Bonneville Grand Safari with the Valencia interior (there was one on ebay recently- killer-pretty & SO 70s).
This interior is rivaled only by the ’75-76 Cadillac plaid and velour Castilian-like interiors.
The Valencia interior option on the Pontiacs looked so inviting. Soft and comfortable, while still looking like a car seat and not a living room chair. I agree though, so 70s.
It’s really too bad that thing got dinged up, it was obviously garaged judging by the chrome, good paint and intact woodgrain, and probably didn’t look anything like that even five years ago. Unfortunately cars can’t pick their owners and this one got an idiot. I bet it had a pristine velour interior and the current owner has drink stains all over it and the driver’s seat is dingy and torn. What a waste!
i own a 96 Roadmaster wagon and I used to have an 87 Buick. I do prefer the styling on the boxy’s, but there is no comparison with the drivetrains. The 96 has plenty of power in any situation and pretty decent mpg, with the easy starting and consistent drivability of a modern fuel injected engine. The 87…didn’t. While the 96 seats are more comfortable and the swing up tailgate glass is convenient, the door panels and dash are noticably less solid than the old boxy’s. My dream would be to put an LT1 or LS1 in a boxy and have the best of both worlds.
George, Jr. had one.
That looks more like a Malibu Classic Wagon that Dubya is pimping…..
I think you’re right. Looks a little smaller. Chin don.