Buick Estate is a nameplate that was used by the Buick division of General Motors, denoting its luxury full-size station wagon from 1940 to 1964 and from 1970 to 1996. The Estate nameplate was derived from the term country estate in wealthy suburban areas and estate car, the British term for a station wagon.
For much of its model life the Buick Estate was produced using GM B platform as the station wagon counterpart of Buick sedans; it was offered on the GM C platform from 1949–1953, then again from 1971–1976. With the exception of the prewar Buick Limited limousine, the Estate was the largest vehicle of the Buick line, combining the luxury features of Buick sedans with cargo-carrying capabilities. In line with other brands having a wagon-associated moniker, Estate became adopted by other Buick wagons (regardless of size), with the exceptions of the 1964–1972 Buick Sport Wagon and the 1982–1989 Buick Skyhawk station wagon.
Starting with model year 1947 until 1964, the Estate was offered as a station wagon on two model lines. When it returned in 1970, it was the senior station wagon to the Sport Wagon, then the name was again used on two different models in 1973 when the Sport Wagon was replaced with the intermediate-sized Buick Century Estate.
As the Cadillac Division did not offer a factory-produced station wagon in North America until 2010 (the Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon), the Buick Estate served as the flagship station wagon entry from General Motors, slotted slightly above its Oldsmobile divisional counterpart, the Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser beginning in 1971. Competing against the Chrysler Town & Country and the Mercury Colony Park, the Estate was originally produced as a wooden-body station wagon ("woodie"); from 1970 to 1996, nearly all examples were fitted with simulated woodgrain exterior trim (though technically optional). The 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate (alongside its Chevrolet Caprice counterpart) was the full-size station wagon to remain in production and the last to offer exterior woodgrain trim. In 1976 American Motors Corporation introduced the Jeep Grand Wagoneer with similar passenger accommodation, luxury standard equipment and a simulated woodgrain appearance built on a dedicated chassis.
Following the 1996 model year, Buick discontinued the Roadmaster Estate and mid-size Century Estate station wagons, ending the use of the nameplate. Buick would not market another station wagon in the United States until 2018, rebranding the Opel Insignia as the Buick Regal TourX.
1940s
The first Buick Estate station wagon was a large-bodied wheelbase GM C platform Buick Super introduced mid-year only for 1940 with a wooden body, the same year the wooden-body station wagon Packard One-Ten was first introduced. The 1940 Super Estate was very exclusive, and was installed with the second largest engine offered at the time, with a retail price of US$1,242 ($ in dollars ) while the limousine Buick Limited manufactured 1,739 for a listed retail price of US$2,199 ($ in dollars ) with similar length and interior comfort. The appearance of the wood panels using both mahogany panels with oak trim was different from other wagons that used one source of wood. Production totals record that 495 found buyers at the same time the 4-door Touring Sedan sold 95,875 and 4,764 convertible coupes were made. Earlier in 1934 a two-door shooting brake was offered on the Buick Series 50 by special request. In 1942 all GM vehicles had an appearance upgrade where the trailing edge of the front fender was extended across the front doors that was called "Airfoil" accented by parallel chrome strips on the front and rear fenders on Buick vehicles. In later years the character line of the "Airfoil" feature was accented with a stainless steel strip that evolved into the Buick Sweepspear for several decades.