I dunno about you, but I find this 1994 Buick Roadmaster Limited Sedan, offered on Facebook Marketplace in Sebago, Maine, to be pretty cool indeed. It’s a sleeper, on sale for $14,700 or whatever the traffic will bear. Thanks to Jack M for the listing. The owner, who informs us for whatever reason that he’s 62 years old, retooled this Roadmaster into the Gran Sport version that never existed. If Buick had built an answer to the Impala SS (on the same basic body), it would be this guy’s car. The odometer shows 132,000 miles, but that’s probably irrelevant given the complete mechanical makeover here.
“Every system on the car has been modified, upgraded, perfected and improved,” we’re told. There’s too much to list, but he gives us a list anyway: “Engine: It’s a modified GEN II LT1 V8, Ram-Air. 3.5” MAF. 52mm throttle body, 1.6 roller rockers, Meziere electric water pump. Exhaust: Clear Image automotive Tri-Y headers, Random Technology 2.5″ high-flow cats, Hooker super-competition cat-back exhaust w/H-pipe. Drivetrain: Built 4L60E. Edge 3000 stall TC, Bowtie overdrives, tubular X-member, Eaton posi w/ 3.73s. Suspension: Eibach springs, Bilstein shocks. New fuel pump and regulator.”
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OK, it’s quite a car, and probably goes like stink, despite its size. I still retain a vivid memory of driving a black Impala SS down to Washington, D.C. And while it drank fuel at a prodigious rate, it was exhilarating to pilot such a big car so fast. This one has everything an SS had, and then some. I hope the electronic dashboard still works.
The car looks great in photos. The engine installation is show-ready, and the Roadmaster itself is in spiffy condition, with lovely upholstery and paint, plus a clean undercarriage. I’m not sure I’d choose those particular wheels. “No leaks,” the owner says. “I have a big box of extra parts as well as Buick center caps for these OZ wheels.”
The Roadmaster model was introduced in 1936, and it had several incarnations (my favorite being the 1949-1953 version) before going dormant for 33 years. The Roadmaster was brought back for the 1991 model year. The Roadmaster four-door sedan (on the full-size B platform) entered the lineup in 1992, and was the first rear-drive Buick since 1985. There were also Cadillac and Chevrolet versions of the body style, which is brilliant at right-sizing a big vehicle.
Your Roadmaster was going to be a V8, initially in 5.0 and 5.7-liter small-block versions offering 170 and 180 horsepower. For 1994, however, the Roadmaster got the 5.7-liter sequential point fuel-injected LT1, good for 260 horsepower and a slight fuel economy bump (to 17 mpg city/25 mpg highway). In this guise, the Roadmaster could hit 108 mph.
It’s not immediately clear what the output of this sleeper is, but probably well over 300 horsepower. A standard Impala SS made 260 horsepower, essentially the same as a Roadmaster with the 5.7-liter engine.
It’s no doubt true you couldn’t build your own Roadmaster Gran Sport for this kind of money, which is just under what Classic.com says a good-condition 1994 Chevrolet Impala is worth ($16,000). So if you’ve been dreaming about a big, comfortable muscle car that hides what it’s capable of, dream no more. The owner’s nickname for the car is “RoadMonster.”
The hardware alone is worth the asking price. Nice sedan!