Tom Wolfe: Did I mention to you I'm pimping out my cars?Hell of a guy indeed. Or he will be as soon as he provides some specs and snaps.
NY Observer: Don't think so.This is my third childhood. I had my second childhood when rock 'n' roll came along--Martha and the Vandellas. Now this is my third; I pimp up cars. One is a 1993 Cadillac DTS. ... The whole interior has been done in white. They took all the stuff out and made it white. I had them paint the rims white. It was kind of like a beige when it arrived, it had a pearly luster to it, it wasn't bad. But I wanted white. The other is a 1996 Buick station wagon. ... It's all white. My wife likes burgundy, so I left a little burgundy. I'm just a hell of a guy, I try to please people.
Until we see Mr. Wolfe's all-white-with-a-touch-of-burgundy-for-the-wife version, feast your eyes on this all-black model, from Frank of Sea Girt, New Jersey's fine collection of Roadmaster Estate Wagons from 1996, the last model year of the last full-sized American wagon [1]:
Tom Wolfe isn't worried [observer.com]
Four '96 RM's - 3 WB4 Wagons and 1 LTD Sedan [cardomain.com]
[1] until the 2005-2008 Dodge Magnum, as Dave and Wikipedia both point out.
if you really, really want to see it, it was the subject of one of the serial drama/car build shows on the speed channel.
http://www.tvshowtracker.com/details/151798966/151961771
Not sure what was worse on those Buick Roadmasters - the styling, the quality of the fit and finish, the reliability, or the poor handling... Just a bad, bad, bad car all around.
I would think the Dodge Magnum, recently discontinued, was the last full size american wagon. It seems Americans don't want full size wagons anymore.
Yeah, I was quoting Wikipedia without credit on the claim, but I lopped off the Magnum reference. Without looking at the specs, I just don't picture the Magnum as a "full-sized" wagon.
But now that I look, though it's actually 20" shorter and 5" narrower, the Magnum's wheelbase is actually 5" longer than the Buick. When in doubt, I'm probably wrong. I'll put a footnote.
That says it's the whiteout Cadillac, not the Roadmaster. Not that I'd actually pay $1.99 either way. I'll just set the TiVo and hope for the best.
I once rented a Dodge Magnum wagon, and while they look big on the outside, they have shockingly little space inside.
My old '87 Volvo 760 wagon had more cargo room than that Magnum wagon. And you could actually get a rear-facing third-row seat in the 760.
The Roadmaster estate wagon is the #9 most collected car of those built in the last 25 years. It is declared a future classic by Motor Trend. It seats 9, holds a ton of stuff and will pull a lot more than a minivan. Not to mention the LT1 corvette motor under the hood. These are great cars.