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March 16, 2023 27 mins
Episode 96: “The Station Wagon Show: Country Squires, Roadmasters, Vista Cruisers, and whatever Clark Griswold drove”

In this episode, producer Phil Tower plus hosts Al Schwinkendorf and John Puhek talk about the much-maligned but now making a comeback station wagon.

We spend the first part of the episode talking about a very rare 1996 Buick Roadmaster that is up for auction on the Hagerty marketplace website.

The 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon was basically a Cadillac with a Buick nameplate. It was decked out with a plush cabin, and a massive V8 and it amazingly offered seating for eight thanks to a collapsible rear-facing third seat. And speaking of what's under the hood, this wagon has a 5.7-liter ‘LT1’ V8 which was also found in the C4 Corvette. Buick stopped making this beastly wagon in 1996, marking the last full-size, body-on-frame, rear-wheel drive station wagon produced by an American automaker

It's interesting to note that station wagons reached their sales peak in 1976 when U.S. sales stood at 972,212 and accounted for 10% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. That same year, there were 62 station wagon models available to American car buyers. You read that correctly… 62 different station wagon models!

We also talk about the amazing Ford Country Squire wagon... Another huge, best seller. And believe it or not, there seems to be a resurgence in wagons so to speak, including the diehards to attend the Radwood Festivals around the country.

And this wouldn't be a show about station wagons if we didn't talk about the iconic and lovably ridiculous Griswold Family Truckster wagon. Oh, yes, we went there.

And then Al decided to reminisce about the amazing HearseFest. Yes, it's really a thing and we have the link so you can learn more about it below.

Michigan's AutoTalk podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Amazon Audio, Spreaker.com, Deezer, and Podcatcher.
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Online links:
1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon on Hagerty Marketplace
HearseFest
Radwood
Griswold Family Truckster
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