It’s well-known that when Buick downsized its full-size C- and B-bodies to front-wheel drive in 1985 and 1986, respectively, they kept the big RWD Estate Wagon around for another few years. While front-wheel drive Electras and LeSabres came in sedan and coupe guise, no wagons were ever offered. If buyers wanted a more efficient, easier to park Buick wagon, they’d have to choose from the smaller Century or Skyhawk wagons. So what if Buick built a front-wheel drive C-body Electra Estate?
I’m not saying they would’ve sold in huge numbers, no wagons did at this point. With its roomy cabin, and upright greenhouse, a C-body wagon would’ve bridged the large gap between the Century and B-body Estate Wagon, left vacant since the demise of the Regal wagon in 1983. I certainly would rather have had one of these than the beached whale 1991 Roadmaster Estate Wagon. Like the timeless Volvo wagons and the vintage-1977 Estate Wagon, I think they could’ve been sold for a few extra years, even beyond their sedan counterpart’s lifespan.
Neat idea, but I wonder if it would have simply been too many wagons at once at a time when wagons were on the way out.
If one was shopping for a longroof in the late ’80s and found themselves standing on a Buick dealer’s lot, thinking to themselves “I need more than a Century, but an Electra is just too much” – and surely one or two people thought that – what other make/model would they have most likely bought instead of our nonexistent C-body wagon?
Probably a minivan, although GM really didn’t have a competitive product compared to the Chrysler Town & Country.
OMG, it looks like a Studebaker Wagonaire!
I like the idea – but the rear says “hearse” to me.
That was my first thought, too. Just a touch more rake to the D pillar would make it quite attractive.
+1
I agree with Mike about the hearse rear. I think the idea of the wagon is a great idea but you would need to slant the rear window like the Century and Electra wagon have. It looks does look Volvoish but to me it resembles the rear of a Volvo 850 wagon more then the 240,740 or 940 wagon
Yes very much the look of a Volvo 940 Electra Estate.
Honestly this made no sense for Buick because the B-body Estate Wagon served every Buick buyer who would have actually wanted a wagon.
There was a wagon concept car on the Auto Show circuit in 1990 called the Oldsmobile Expression. It was quite rounded, with a very low-profile aero nose, but looks like it was based on an H or C platform. So another expression of what “could have been” for a big FWD GM wagon.
Lovely design. An Electra wagon? Not so much.
What an updated Alpine A330 might have looked like in wagon form.
Oldsmobile Crosstour?
The wagon is neat but how about a classy replacement for the El Camino? Electramino?
Didn’t they make a [funeral home] flower car based on the FWD Electra?
Couldn’t find a picture of a FWD Electra flower car, but I found…this…
Ahhhh, my eyes, MY EYES!!!!! 😉
Volvo Brougham? Bro-Vo? Klockau just um, lacrossed into a coma. 🙂
Are there any wagons FWD or better still RWD still made in America?There’s a mental VXR8 Monaro wagon on sale here but I think the 300 wagon has had the chop as I’ve not seen any new ones for a while.
Well, there’s the Cadillac CTS wagon. My Volvo dealer also sells Cadillacs, and I’ve seen one or two on the lot. Nice looking, and about the same size as my V50. They are RWD, with AWD optional.
You can never have too many wagons. And, if any demographic would still have been into wagons in the 1980s, it would have been Buick. They did quite well with the Roadmaster wagon – those things were EXPENSIVE, and GM likely made a lot of money on them.
The FWD design would have made for quite an easy back end to configure for a 3rd row or gobs of underfloor storage. Sure, you could tweak the styling a bit and maybe lengthen the rear end, but I think they should have done something like this.
I might argue that the Roadmaster cost Buick more sales than they gained by alienating a large segment of potential customers. The Roadmaster was a bloated dinosaur of a vehicle that was generally seen as attractive by the belt+suspenders crowd only. Potential Buick buyers did not want guilt by association with that product and turned to other makes with more sophisticated product offerings.
Add another foot of overhang to the back to enlarge the rear side window and it might work. The rear side window is too small compared to the door windows.
Interested in a Mercedes W126 station wagon that was never made ? (by Mercedes, that is)
It’s for sale: http://www.autoscout24.nl/Details.aspx?id=238402810&asrc=st%7Csr
Very tidy, but I agree with the comments that it is a bit too much like a hearse.
That radius-cornered roofline was one of my favorite things about these C-cars (the 98 and Electra, that is — the Cadillac had a more squared-off roofline that I always found less attractive.) I rather like it as a wagon. It is Volvo-like more than hearse-like. It also reminds me a bit of two other very upright-roofed wagons: the early ’90s Camry, and the 2004-08 Accord Tourer (the wagon version of what was sold as the Acura TSX in the US).
The next question is: how would it look with wood siding?
would be a cool cadaver transport.