September 23, 2020

Compact Roadmaster: 1994 Buick Century Wagon

DailyTurismo Modern Classic 'Murica, Buick, Century, V6, Wagon, Woodie 2

I saw this next car and thought to myself; another 3-row, 8-passenger, wood paneled Buick station wagon from the mid 90s, must be a Roadmaster…except that it didn’t have the space ship styling or the longitudinally mounted V8 engine. Could it be possible that Buick thought the market for 8 passenger station wagons was so great in 1994 that they needed to offer multiple levels of wagonness. This wasn’t 1965…what were they thinking? I’m not sure, but what am I sure of is that I love the idea of an A-body with transverse mounted Buick V6 that was designed in the 1970s (this generation lasted from 1982-1996) was still available for sale in 1994 with wood sides and a set of rear facing jump seats. Find this 1994 Buick Century Wagon offered for $2,850 in Somers, CT via craigslist. Tip from Cory.

From the seller:

1994 Buick Century Woodside Wagon
condition: excellent
cylinders: 6 cylinders
drive: fwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 119000
paint color: blue
size: full-size
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
type: wagon

A clean 1994 Buick Century Wood Side Wagon with the third bench seat in back. Only 119K miles on this cream-puff. All intact, runs and starts great. (A little breakup/misfire when goosed to high rpm, so may need plugs and/or tuneup.) Has a V6 side mount motor and Front Wheel Drive. Has been sitting for 2 years in garage. A dark Teal Blue with wood grain trim. Good tires, really clean interior, low miles, clean carpets throughout. A rare find in this kind of condition.

I drove car back from South Hadley MA, no problems, rides nice, quiet, comfortable driver. Great as family car. Has radio and cassette player. It’s an antique as it is 27 years old now. Cheap to insure if you want to put on road. Not many of these wagons around. Only noticeable rust on driver side fender with wood trim lifting. Amazingly clean interior. You can buy and drive this wagon home. Price is a little negotiable,

See a better way to haul around the family in style? tips@dailyturismo.com

Wow, someone was pretty handsy with that steering wheel.

I still get flashbacks and familiar feelings of nausea when I see these wagons with rear-facing 3rd row seats. I spent much of my youth sitting on one of these disorienting torture benches as everything in the world receded from sight at 60 mph… everything except tailgaters ready to park in my lap.

In the 80s, my family had a Malibu wagon followed by a Celebrity wagon, both with rear-facing 3rd row seats. As the younger of 2 kids, I was relegated to the far back once it was determined that my sister and I couldn’t share the regular front-facing back seat without squabbling over whose turn it was to listen to the “Thriller” or “Purple Rain” cassettes in our knockoff Walkmans. Drawing a dividing line down the middle of the seat didn’t work because it just served as a line to cross to provoke more conflict.

My parent’s never-ending road trip headaches were finally extinguished by one Mr. Lee Iacocca, who I presume they still worship to this day. They finally got smart and purchased the extended version of the Dodge Caravan in May of 1987. It was silver with wood paneling and tinted windows and it provided a dedicated forward-facing bench seat for each obnoxious child. Problem solved. Peace on Earth. Eventually that van became mine to drive in high school, but that’s many other stories for another day…

I love this Buick wagon, but I would never put any passengers in that rear-facing seat if I owned it. With distracted drivers today, you’re just asking for trouble. There are too many rear-end collisions because everyone is playing with their phone or touchscreen dash. Plus, I wouldn’t want to clean up the barf when the kids get carsick (it’s no coincidence that these rear-facing seats are always covered in vinyl and not cloth).