1975 Buick Estate Wagon – Project Profile

You all remember Top Trumps, right? Of course you do. The classic card game where you had to best your opponent by winning each hand based upon numerical data. For those of you that have played, you’ll no doubt recall the sheer joy of producing that certain card which, as long as the correct stat was chosen, was unbeatable. It could be the wingspan of a certain plane for instance, or the power figure for a particular supercar. Well, if the Buick Estate Wagon was involved in a deck then you’d be guaranteed to win any round if you picked its length!

As far as long bois go, the Buick Estate Wagon is up there in terms of sheer size. We have a Volvo 940 estate on fleet, a car that’s considered capacious by many, yet it pales into insignificance when parked next to a Buick Estate Wagon – a car so big they had to name it twice. Those Yanks really do have a penchant for building super massive land yachts, and we love them for it. To put it into figures for you, a-la those good old Top Trumps we just mentioned, the Buick Estate Wagon comes in at just under 6 metres long, whilst our trusty Volvo is a mere 4.8 metres, making the Buick a full metre and change longer!

The Buick Estate actually dates all the way back to 1940 when it was introduced by General Motors as its luxury, full-size station wagon, complimenting the saloons in Buick’s model line-up and remaining in production until ’64, at which point it was superseded by the smaller Sport Wagon.

Reintroduced six years later in 1970, again as Buick’s flagship full-size station wagon, the Estate Wagon, fitted with rather fetching (or retching, depending on your tastes) simulated wood grain exterior trim was marketed as a luxury car. If you’ve ever seen Harold Ramis’ classic 1983 comedy National Lampoon’s Vacation then you’ll no doubt remember the Griswald family car – the Wagon Queen Family Truckster (I smell a The Car’s the Star feature – Ed), which no doubt took inspiration from cars like the Buick Estate Wagon. This time around the Estate lasted until 1990 when the nameplate was dropped in favour of the Buick Roadmaster.

What is it? 

The car we have available for your bidding pleasure is a 1975 Buick Estate Wagon, making it a second-gen variation of the 1970-1990 incarnation. Not only is the car itself big, but the powerplant used to propel its almost two-and-a-half tonne curb weight is a bit of a monster, too; a 7.5-litre Buick 455 V8 to be precise that was initially rated at 350bhp with an utterly ridiculous 510lb ft of torque! Unfortunately though, as the ’70s progressed, emissions regulations would curtail a large chunk of that oomph.

The version of the engine fitted to this car is rated at 220bhp, and yes, we know that’s a ludicrously low figure from such a huge lump but it’s still plenty for effortless cruising, and competently helped along by a smooth three-speed automatic gearbox. Believed to be one of only two examples currently in the UK the car was used as a State Trooper police whip in its native Florida before arriving on UK shores in 2017.

Why is it a project? 

Despite having been recently treated to a whole bunch of mechanical work and flying through its last MOT in March of this year without any advisories, there is potential to improve the exterior and interior as well as modify the car as you see fit. The original blue interior has some significant areas of wear, most noticeably to the front bench seat and the bodywork could also be revamped as it is patinated with some deterioration in places.

What should you look for? 

This 1975 Buick Estate Wagon is currently available on Car & Classic Auctions and that means we’ve done all the hard work for you. Have a read through the highly detailed listing, spend a not inconsiderable amount of time poring over the 276 photos of this behemoth and you should have everything you need in order to chuck in a bid. We’ve been in, around and underneath the car. We’ve studied and photographed the history file and detailed the most important parts in the write-up so you can bid with absolute confidence. But don’t worry if you still have questions though because you can now contact the seller via the auction comments section on the listing. What more could you want?

What should you do with it? 

As we’ve already mentioned, this is a mechanically sorted machine and as such there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot to worry about when it comes to the oily bits. With that in mind we would concentrate on the way the car presents itself. It’s a solid example that has rightfully earned its patina so there’s merit in possibly preserving that where possible whilst concentrating on re-trimming the interior. Let your imagination run wild and create the perfect space for cruising. You could even take advantage of the acres of interior space and turn it into an ultra cool camping wagon fairly easily.

The car also gives off serious lowrider vibes, too, so there is the option to go low and slow with this one. Bin off the tired old suspension and fit some hydraulics, go nuts with a lairy custom paint job and hey presto! You’ll have an incredibly cool and unique slammed station wagon that is guaranteed to steal the show at any, well, car show. Oooh, we legitimately just got a little bit excited…