Big Red Roadmaster: 1994 Buick Roadmaster LT1

Touted by some automotive magazines of the era as grandma’s Corvette sedan, or similar descriptions, Buick put a Chevy small-block 350 LT1 in both the sedan and wagon versions of the Roadmaster beginning in 1994. It was a stroke of genius: 80 more horsepower, while also having a tiny bump in MPG at the same time. This 1994 Buick Roadmaster can be found posted here on craigslist in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the seller is asking $9,500. Here is the original listing.

An 8-second 0-60 time in a two-ton luxury car isn’t anything to crow about today (crow about, who says that anymore?!), but in 1994, it was quite an achievement. The new-for-’94 drivetrain also bumped the MPG ratings by around 1 MPG, which isn’t much, but when has a vehicle company offered more power and more MPG at the same time? At least in the 1990s, now it’s commonplace, even without a battery pack to turn this Roadmaster into a gas/electric hybrid.

I don’t know if I’ve seen a red Roadmaster before, and the seller says this is Medium Garnet Red. I can’t find that color in any of the brochures or color charts that I found, but I’m guessing there were different names for the same color, as is sometimes the case. Page 43 of this 1994 Buick brochure shows the colors that were available, at least when the brochure was printed. I would have guessed this was Ruby Red. Some nice factory-correct white wall tires would sure dress this car up a bit, but these black wall tires are said to be new. The top trim Gran Sport had body side moldings with black inserts, as I think these are. The other models had body-color moldings with “bright” inserts.

Buick offered the eighth-generation Roadmaster for the 1991 through 1996 model years, and then they were gone. Another reason I guessed this was Ruby Red Metallic paint is that a red interior was only available on that version of Buick’s red in 1994, according to page 40 of that brochure. Also on page 40, it says that the “Gran Sport” model has standard “reclining leather/cloth buckets,” so I’m assuming a buyer could choose either leather or cloth, depending on their preference. I don’t see any Gran Sport or any other special trim level badging. A leather-wrapped steering wheel was also only available on the Gran Sport model. The back seat looks perfect, as does the huge trunk compartment. We don’t get to see any underside photos, but the seller says there is “no damage/corrosion, stored winters.” They say that there were “very few” previous owners, and they all took exceptional care of this car.

Here’s the big deal. While not big in displacement, for the time, this was the engine you wanted, a Chevrolet 350-cu.in. OHV LT1 V8, which was rated at 260 horsepower and 335 lb-ft of torque. Backed by a Turbo-Hydramatic 4L60-E four-speed automatic sending power to the rear wheels, the seller says everything works down to the cold AC and cruise control. It has a new fuel pump, which is sometimes an issue on these cars, according to forums, so it’s nice to read that it’s been changed. It also has a new battery, new tires, the throttle body and MAS were cleaned, and more. Have any of you owned or driven this era Roadmaster?