03
From an old people carrier to a surf bums’ beach ride. With barges like the Buick Park Avenue being rather cheap on the used car market, it is easy to imagine that a half-broke surfer dude would buy a car that has a lot of space. No money to fix the broken rear window? Just rivet in a random piece of sheet metal for extra privacy and use the leftover money from the last job to buy nice Trans-Am style wheels, fake wood trim for that old school look and a handful of hobby-related stickers.
05
After the recent modification of a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham I went looking for more GM B-platform cars that could be modified. I found a picture of a Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon and immediately started to modify it. What I came up with is essentially similar to a Chevrolet Nomad: a two-door wagon. Because it looked rather odd with windows, I decided to take the conversion even further by modifying it into a panel van, lowering the car and giving it a wider track. Thanks to the body-on-frame design this shouldn’t be too hard to create in reality.
You don’t like it? Please feel free to enjoy the original picture.
12
Some cars have potential, but nobody ever realizes it. The Buick Reatta is one such vehicle. Based on the FWD E platform, the proportions are far from ideal. Therefore I tried to imagine what it could have looked like, if based on a proper platform: the F platform, for example. It would have been possible for GM to use this platform, but for some reason or another they decided they wanted front wheel drive. I bet the Buick Reatta would have sold a lot better if equipped with a V8 engine and rear wheel drive.