Classic Buick barge gives plenty of bangs for your buck

FOR the past two weeks, I’ve been working out in Jackson, Wyoming, USA.

It’s a photography gig. A friend and I do this stuff once a year. It’s fun. Well, mostly fun.

Here in the vast mid-West, every view is a mind-blowing fairytale vista.

Massive, jagged, snow-capped peaks, crystal clear rivers and piercing azure blue skies. The whole place looks like a Disney backdrop.

It’s also home to more millionaires than anywhere else in the USA. Fact.

These moneyed folk might move here for the stunning scenery and amazing roads but I suspect the state’s zero rate income tax has more bearing.

But the wealth is well hidden. You can catch a glimpse of vast ranch houses tucked away behind dense aspen tree plantations, but it’s all pretty well cloaked.

It’s the same with the cars. Downtown Jackson is a massive truck-fest with Ford F-150s and Chevrolet Silverados clogging up the parking spaces.

People round here tell me the F-150 is the multi-billionaire’s car of choice – low profile and indestructible.

But I don’t need to drive an F-150 or a Silverado because I’ve previously owned the former and currently own the latter.

No, what I’ve really been itching to drive is my photographer friend’s 1995 Buick Roadmaster which has been sitting in our hotel car park unused for the past fortnight, gathering leaves.

He lives over here, in case you were wondering. And yes, he’s a bit off-beat.

What is a Buick Roadmaster, you ask?

Simples. It’s a pre-MPV station wagon. At nearly 19 feet long, the Roadmaster is undeniably mahoosive – lots of power, too.

Underneath, it uses a GM truck chassis (like two parallel railway lines – and the same thickness) with the body bolted to it, in old-school fashion.

Importantly, from ’94 onwards, the Roadmaster received a 5.7 V8 LT1 motor, usually found in the sportier Chevrolet Corvette.

Fitted with durable cast iron cylinder heads and softer cams for more torque, this motor can still churn out a respectable 280bhp. Cheeky.

Trust me, it’s way nicer to drive than you are probably imagining. Considering its 23 years and 100,000-mile odo’ reading, this barge wafts along at 80mph with practically zero wind or road noise.

The engine woofles and burbles away at barely tickover and the surprisingly firm suspension soaks up the bumps like a well-damped limo.

Yep, the steering is a bit trucklike and the brakes are a bit under servo-d but because the La-Z-Boy-style front seats are so comfy, you can forgive this old girl those criticisms.

Man, they’re comfy.

Like big vinyl-covered marshmallows.

Over here, with this car costing a depreciation-free £5,000, you could forgive it a lot of things. Yes, it’s a bit juicy at 19mpg but that’s on a par with – if not better – than all those trucks that clog up the Wyoming roads. And, at the price, it’s forgivable.

Granted, owning one in the UK would present its challenges. Parking at Tesco on a Saturday would be tricky but hey, they do home deliveries don’t they?

Such a lot of car for so little money – such wood-panelled presence, such tuning potential.

Such an ability to be used as a posh, carpeted tent with both rows of back seats folded flat.

It’s so big inside, a sheet of 8x4 fits flat in the back.

I’m seriously tempted – eBay and Craig’s List are dangerous tools in this situation.

I know it’s not exactly in line with the UN’s scientific research findings on global warming but there’s nothing like a final hurrah is there?

And isn’t it considered green to recycle?

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