Buick Estate is a nameplate that was used by Buick, denoting its full-size station wagon line. Initially marketed from 1940 to 1964, it was again sold from 1970 to 1996. The Estate nameplate was dually derived from the term country estate in wealthy suburban areas and an estate car, the British term for a station wagon. Serving as the flagship station wagon line of General Motors, the Buick Estate was slotted slightly above its Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser divisional counterpart; both competed against the Chrysler Town & Country and the Mercury Colony Park. During its first production, the Estate was initially a wood-paneled vehicle; from 1970 to 1996, nearly all examples were sold with simulated exterior wood paneling (though technically an option).
For much of its model life, the Buick Estate was produced using GM B platform as the station wagon counterpart of Buick sedans; the larger GM C platform from 1949–1953, then again from 1971–1976 (the longest and heaviest Buick vehicles ever built). In line with other brands having a wagon-associated moniker, Estate became adopted by other Buick wagons (regardless of size), with the exceptions of the 1964–1972 Buick Sport Wagon and the 1982–1989 Buick Skyhawk station wagon.
The Buick Roadmaster Estate (alongside its Chevrolet Caprice counterpart) was the last full-size station wagon to remain in production and the last to offer exterior woodgrain trim. Following the 1996 model year, Buick retired both the Roadmaster and Century Estate wagons, ending the use of the Estate nameplate. Buick did not market another station wagon in the United States until 2018, when it rebranded the Opel Insignia B Country Tourer as the Buick Regal TourX.
1940s
The first Buick Estate station wagon was a large-bodied wheelbase GM C platform Buick Super introduced mid-year for 1940 only with a wooden body, the same year the wooden-body station wagon Packard One-Ten was first introduced. The 1940 Super Estate was very exclusive and was installed with the second largest engine offered at the time, with a retail price of US$1,242 ($ in dollars ) while the limousine Buick Limited manufactured 1,739 for a listed retail price of US$2,199 ($ in dollars ) with similar length and interior comfort. The appearance of the wood panels using both mahogany panels with oak trim was different from other wagons that used one source of wood. Production totals record that 495 found buyers at the same time the 4-door Touring Sedan sold 95,875 and 4,764 convertible coupes were made. Earlier in 1934 a two-door shooting brake was offered on the Buick Series 50 by special request. In 1942 all GM vehicles had an appearance upgrade where the trailing edge of the front fender was extended across the front doors that was called "Airfoil" accented by parallel chrome strips on the front and rear fenders on Buick vehicles. In later years the character line of the "Airfoil" feature was accented with a stainless-steel strip that evolved into the Buick Sweepspear for several decades.
The introduction of a station wagon was a novel body style as GM first introduced it in 1939 for the Chevrolet Master, 1940 for the Oldsmobile Series 60 and 1937 for the Pontiac Streamliner and all used wooden body panels for the passenger compartment. 1935 was the year the Chevrolet Suburban carryall/panel truck was built with an all-steel body on a truck-based chassis and offered a choice of side-hinged rear panel doors, or a rear tailgate/lift window could be selected for cargo area access while only offering two side mounted doors,1936 to 2010 Chevrolet Suburban – My Autoworld resembling a cargo van that could seat up to eight passengers. 1937 was also the year Packard first offered a station wagon on the junior series Packard Six Model 115-C. Buick and Packard had a professional rivalry and the introduction of the Packard Station Wagon was an opportunity Buick leadership saw to offer one for Buick. In 1946 the Willys Jeep Station Wagon was introduced with a similar passenger accommodation and load carrying capability.
For 1941 and 1942, Buick switched to the GM B platform Special continuing to offer the wheelbase while the Oldsmobile Series 60 continued to use the shortest A-body. 1940 is also the year the station wagon returned to Packard on the luxurious Packard One-Twenty which also had a wheelbase. The retail price for the Special Estate was US$1,463 ($ in dollars ) and a similar production total of 838 were produced, while the Touring Sedan made 91,138. In 1941 the Chrysler Windsor Town & Country station wagon was introduced shortly thereafter.
Later after automobile production resumed at the end of World War II, the Estate returned to Buick's C platform Super and Roadmaster for the 1946–49 model years and a long tradition of contracting the station wagon body style was provided by Ionia Manufacturing, also known as Mitchell-Bentley Corporation that today is called, Mitchell Corporation, which built all Buick station wagon bodies between 1946 and 1964 instead of GM's Fisher Body.
The 1946 Super Estate was listed at US$2,594 ($ in dollars ) and production total of 786 were produced while still offering the wheelbase. Packard didn't offer a competitive appearance station wagon until 1948 with the Packard Station Sedan.
For the 1947 model year, the Estate Station Wagon body style was offered on both the Super and Roadmaster models, with the Super being the more modestly equipped and the Roadmaster being the luxury version, while both offered the wooden body panels.
1950s
The 1950 through 1953 Estate continued using the Super and Roadmaster "C" platform, then in 1954 to 1958 it was offered on the shorter B platform Century and Special, with all steel bodies, shared with the Oldsmobile 88.
Due to the high maintenance required of the genuine wood veneer panels requiring a coat of varnish to keep the durability and appearance, the use of wood gradually decreased until 1950 when it was not much more than window surround for the exterior while more modestly used inside where the wood was protected from the elements. The Estate for 1950 was offered on the Super and Roadmaster, while the Roadmaster was offered with two trim packages called Model 79 Estate Wagon and the Model 79R Deluxe Estate Wagon, the latter offering leather upholstery, a carpeted cargo area and the first time power windows and power adjustable front seat were available.
It was installed with the largest engine available in the top-level Roadmaster, which was the Fireball Straight-eight engine that necessitated the long wheelbase. Production numbers for both continued to be modest, with the Super Estate manufacturing 2,480 in comparison to 114,745 Super Riviera Sedan, with a listed retail price of US$2,480 ($ in dollars ) while the Roadmaster Estate and Roadmaster Deluxe Estate had a combined production of 420 and a listed retail price of US$3,433 ($ in dollars ) making the Deluxe Estate the most expensive Buick for that year.
Production numbers of the Estate had remained small since it was introduced, and Buick changed the platform used a few times in an attempt to stimulate sales, and in 1955 the Estate had its most popular year with a combined total of 7,195, with the breakdown of 2,952 Special Estate with the last year of the Fireball Straight-eight engine at a listed retail price of US$2,974 ($ in dollars ) and 4,243 for the Century Special and US$3,175 ($ in dollars ), installing the all-new Fireball V8. "Cordaveen" upholstery began to be installed in various configurations beginning in the mid-1950s with cloth inserts on higher trim packages.
Later during the 50s, the fashionable hardtop body style was introduced on the Century Caballero Estate Wagons that were offered only in 1957 and 1958 and was shared with the Oldsmobile 88 Fiesta hardtop station wagon. The hardtop feature was also offered on the Special Riviera Estate Wagon and sold 6,817 with a listed retail price of US$3,167 ($ in dollars ), while the Century Caballero Estate Wagon sold 10,186 with a listed retail price of US$3,706 ($ in dollars ), leading in sales against the Chrysler New Yorker Town & Country and Mercury Colony Park.
+Buick Estate Production FiguresSuper/SpecialRoadmaster/CenturyYearly Totals19502,4804202,90019512,2126792,89119521,6413592,00019531,8306702,50019541,6501,5633,21319552,9524,2437,205195613,7708,16021,930195713,20010,18623,38619587,0834,45611,539Total46,81830,73677,564
1960s
In 1959 the LeSabre Estate was introduced on the B platform. Beginning in 1959 the intermediate Invicta Estate was offered with a listed retail price of US$3,841 ($ in dollars ) while the junior LeSabre station wagon was listed at US$3,320 ($ in dollars ).
The Estate station wagons received a "Cordaveen" vinyl interior as standard, with the Saran Balfour cloth/Cordaveen combination interior available as an option in several colors. Engines were unchanged from previous years including the standard 250-horsepower 364-cubic-inch V8, no-cost regular fuel 235-horsepower 364 or the four-barrel 300-horsepower option of same engine available at extra cost. The two-speed Turbine Drive Dynaflow automatic transmission was standard equipment on LeSabres and all other full-sized Buicks this year, although a manual transmission was also available. The three Ventiports returned to the side of the front fender denoting the junior-level status in Buick's hierarchy of products offered.
The LeSabre Estate Wagon came standard with the larger 325-horsepower 401 V8 from the Wildcat and Electra 225 models. Replacing the old Dynaflow-based two-speed automatic transmission were two new Super Turbine automatics. The two-speed Super Turbine 300 (shared with the intermediate-sized cars) was available with the standard two-barrel 300 V8 while the three-speed Super Turbine 400 (shared with other big Buicks and Rivieras) was standard with the 300 four-barrel and optional with the standard engine as well as the 401 in the Estate Wagon. The standard transmission with the base 300 two-barrel V8 was a three-speed column shift manual and a four-speed manual was available as an option with either engine. The new ST300 transmission carried over the variable pitch torque converter from the Dynaflow that had been used since the mid-1950s, while the first year for the ST400 featured a fixed-pitch converter. Inside, only minor trim/upholstery revisions were made.
For 1963, the Invicta series had a 6-passenger station wagon as its sole model. Only 3,495 Invicta Estate station wagons were built for 1963, after which the name disappeared, when it was replaced by the Buick Wildcat hardtop coupe or sedan. The Estate Wagon was replaced by the new, smaller A platform Buick Sport Wagon, making the B-body Chevrolet Impala Estate and Pontiac Safari the only full-sized GM station wagons until 1970.
+Buick Estate Production FiguresLeSabreInvictaYearly Totals19598,2865,23113,51719607,5535,07612,62919618,051n/a8,0511962n/a13,74813,74819639,4883,49512,983196410,520n/a10,520Total43,89827,55071,448
1970
The Buick Estate Wagon was reintroduced as the top-level luxury station wagon for GM in 1970 to compete against the Mercury Colony Park and Chrysler New Yorker Town & Country. Buick's first full-sized station wagon since 1964, it was available as a separate series on the B-body LeSabre chassis, sharing their wheelbase, basic body and interior and took the senior position above the Buick Sport Wagon mid-sized station wagon, which was downsized onto the standard length A-body wagon platform for 1970. From 1967 until the Estate returned in 1970, GM's most upscale full-sized station wagon offering simulated woodgrained paneling was the Pontiac Executive Safari station wagon and Chevrolet Caprice Custom Estate. By special request from coachbuilders like ASC and Traditional Coachworks of Chatsworth, California the Cadillac Fleetwood was modified as a station wagon after the donor vehicle was completed.