Junkyard Find: 1973 Buick Century Luxus Wagon
One of the weirder byproducts of Buick’s Malaise Era genetic mixing with distant GM cousin Opel was the Luxus trim level. You could get Luxus badging on a Manta, a Kadett, an Ascona… or a Buick Century wagon. If only Buick had thought to append “Brougham d’Elegance” to this thing’s name… well, another lost opportunity for The General.
I found this well-used example in a Los Angeles junkyard, and in this case— for once— I feel certain that no vintage-wagon aficionados are going to rend their garments and bewail the impending destruction of another piece of our national heritage. This wagon is a straight-up hooptie, right down to the space-saver spare tire (which you know saw speeds in excess of 90 MPH while bolted finger-tight to this 4,227-pound monster).
Luxus. Yes.
I can’t help thinking of Bill Owens’ incredible book Suburbia when I see wagons like this one. You know, a time when life was simple.
Even better than a Century Luxus would have been a Buick Opel Luxus with Isuzu power and a landau roof.
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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Blech. Uuuuugly. Old domestic malais-era behemoth wagons can be kinda cool nowadays, but not this thing. It's hideous. Good riddance. Murilee- were you at Ecology Auto Wrecking or one of the two Pick-A-Parts in Wilminton by any chance? Or the PAP in Sun Valley?
This Buick may have been a hooptie since the Carter Amin. Any 70's era Dertrot car within 5 years. I had a teacher in the early 80's that drove a hooptie late seventies Eldo- torn leather, rotted bumper extenders, sagging headliner, leaking exhaust manifold, cracked dash. Yet these hoopties could keep groaning and chugging for years. Cheap parts and easy do it yo' self.