The Day I Encountered a Series 79 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon

“Starting a 79 calls for a faintly disconcerting procedure; you turn the key and then press the throttle pedal to the floor, thereby activating a vacuum operated starter button. The PNDLR shift quadrant reminds you that this is the Roadmaster is a car from the early days of self-shifting and by the standard of the day the Wagon was exceptionally softly sprung. Buick claimed that it had ‘Four coil-springed wheels and honest heft that levels the miles with majestic smoothness’ but a journalist with Motor Trend grumbled that the Roadmaster ‘heels over in turns like a marshmallow.”

That was my impression of a 1949 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon, possibly the ultimate post-war US ‘Woody’ station wagon that I encountered over ten years ago for Classic Cars magazine. To say it looked utterly incongruous in the UK is on par with saying that Frank Sinatra was quite a decent crooner. For one, there was that grille that resembled Bruce from Jaws smiling in anticipation of a good meal. Then there was the detailing, from the four port holes to the ‘Pilot Centered; fascia reminiscent of a jukebox – not to mention the ‘Permi-Firm’ steering wheel.

Naturally your new Roadmaster was powered by the famous ‘Dynaflash’ 5,247cc OHV straight-eight engine – “Just tap that treadle and hear the deep bass thrum of Fireball power that’s eager for hill and highway.” Two-speed Dynaflow automatic transmission was standard equipment; Buick’s engineers referred to GM’s pioneering Hydra-Matic as “Hydra-Jerk” and developed their own system.

By 1948 your friendly local dealer could tell you that Buick offered the first passenger car available with a torque converter. The new Series 70 Roadmaster line-up consisted of the Model 71 4 door saloon, the Model 76C convertible, the Model 76S Coupe, and the Model 79 Estate Wagon. Of course, any self-respecting Roadmaster driver would have specified the ‘Weather Warden’ heater unit, the ‘Sonomatic’ AM Radio, a roof rack and a pillar mounted spot lamp for seeking wild animals and/or communist agents.

No Buick was available with PAS until 1952 and the drum brakes similarly lacked assistance. What the Roadmaster did offer the owner was the ability to effortlessly cruise over the two-lane blacktops and dirt roads of the USA before the advent of the 1956 Interstate Highway Act.

At $3,550 the Estate Wagon was a highly exclusive machine – in 1949, Buick made just 653 examples, all but 21 for the home market. The Mitchell Body Corporation of Ionia, Michigan created the elaborate maple and elm framed coachwork, with a wooden rear deck and mahogany insert panels.

By 1953 Buick Wagons were all-metal, aside from a vestigial panel on the tailgate. The days of timber-framed transport for the off-duty film star or corporate lawyer was already passing into history. To experience that Model 79 was a privilege – an insight into a world of country clubs and weekends at Lake Tahoe.

As the sales copy put it: “For tweeds or white tie, for fishing trips to formal affairs, this rates top drawer with people who want a quick change artist for their travelling companion.” Plus – who could resist the view of the bonnet mascot through the “Observation Car” windshield?