• The Buick Roadmaster is a throwback to a time when large wagons dominated the roads.
• Due to an LS3 V-8 crate engine, this wagon has gone from old-man spec to Grandpa, Destroyer of Tires.
• This public sale ends on Sunday, February 19.
The Buick Roadmaster Property Wagon was born previous. When it was launched in 1991, it was already an anachronism. The solar was setting on these wood-paneled ocean liners on wheels, and this Buick was a body-on-frame relic of household transportation from the times earlier than the arrival of the minivan, the popularization of the SUV, and the rise of the fashionable crossover. And but, as we speak, these Roadmasters are having fun with a newfound reputation, notably when completed up like this instance, up for auction on Bring a Trailer—which, like Automobile and Driver, is a part of Hearst Autos. This behemoth wagon seems inventory, proper all the way down to its whitewall tires. It’s not. Boy howdy, is it not.
What photographer and Automobile and Driver contributor James Lipman has created right here is an M80 in a Werther’s Unique wrapper. Underneath the aircraft-carrier-sized hood of this white whale is a 6.2-liter LS3 E-Rod Chevrolet crate engine. Matched to an upgraded four-speed computerized transmission, the V-8 was manufacturing unit rated at 430 horsepower and 424 pound-feet of torque. In case you hear carefully, you may hear the usual 205-series 15-inch rear tires whimpering in anticipatory concern.
Turning Roadmaster wagons into sizzling rods is a complete subculture, one which Automobile and Driver has beforehand explored, together with this very instance. There are definitely wilder builds on the market, however Lipman says his dream was to create a Roadmaster than regarded factory-spec however packed the facility of a crate V-8. The engine improve almost doubles the 260 horsepower of the Roadmaster’s normal LT5 V-8. Upgrading each the motor and a extra trendy four-speed computerized to deal with the additional output was comparatively simple, as GM automobiles of this period are pretty modular.
The remainder of the wagon is standard-issue, with recliner-soft beige leather-based inside, a vista roof, and a rear-facing third-row seat. A barely lowered entrance suspension is the one clue as to this Buick’s hidden skills—that and the burly exhaust observe. There are blemishes right here and there all through, however total this can be a very well-preserved piece of steer-with-one finger American station wagon historical past. It is like a Norman Rockwell portray, if previous Norman had provide you with a bit known as Sick Wagon Burnouts.
Having achieved his goal and loved driving this Roadmaster round, Lipman says it is now time to maneuver on to the following challenge. At this writing, bidding stands at $22,500. Because it sits, this burly Roadmaster wants little apart from a brand new residence. However you may wish to price range for additional tires.
