Texaco Car of the Decades

1994 Buick Roadmaster Gran Sport aka The RoadMonster!



3/4 Front View		3/4 Rear View		Interior View		Engine View		Center Console / Floor Shifter Conversion.		That's me & my RoadMonster this summer!


Year	Make	Model	Rating	Decade Ranking

1994	Buick	Roadmaster	4724	1

Description
I am a Buick guy. This car has been rebuilt to represent what Buick Motorsports might have built back in 1994 when Chevrolet reintroduced the Impala SS. Every system has been modified or improved. Everything. Top to bottom. Front to back. She has a modified 5.7 liter Generation II LT1 V8. Performance built 4L60E transmission, with 3000 stall TC. RAISS Ram Air System. 52mm BBK TB. F-Body 3.5" N MAF. Bryan Herter PCM Programming. Meziere Electric Water Pump. Lots of red powdercoating to engine and chassis. UMI Performance rear control arms. Bowtie Overdrives Tubular Trans Crossmember. Metco Driveshaft Safety Loop. 3.73 Posi. Clear Image Automotive Ceramic Coated Tri-Y Headers. Random Technologies 2.5" cats and a Hooker Super Competition Cat Back with Aerochamber Mufflers and an H pipe. I modified the seats into buckets, and installed a center console and floor shifter. Headrests have GS logos. Lots of custom Billet and Polished Stainless parts adorn the engine bay & interior. SSBC Force 10 Calipers, BAER Decelarotors Rotors, Goodridge G-Stop Brake Lines. 18" O-Z Racing (vintage 1994) and Pirelli 285 40 18 tires all around. Bilstein Shocks, Eibach Springs, and Energy Suspension Poly-Graphite Bushings replace every rubber bushing. The exterior is the original Dark Jadestone Metallic Paint. The interior is the original Gray Leather. She is in MINT condition, even though she has over 111K miles and was daily driven for 12 of her 14 years. She has an aftermarket grille with the word BUICK deleted, custom flat hood ornament, and misc custom LT1 & Gran Sport logos and emblems. I tried to make this car look like Buick could have built it, so exterior-wise, she is very much a sleeper ;) We take the RoadMonster to car shows & cruise-ins. It's a lot of fun showing her, because she is so different. In fact, she has won six trophies in the eight shows we entered this year. Two trophies in the "Dare to be Different" Category. She even won First Place for "Best Engine" in a big (500 car) show in July '08. If you want to see more, I have a HUGE website for this car. 19 pages and over 1500 photos at this time. Here it is: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/732699 Please check out my site & leave me a message, & tell me what you think. Thanks for looking at my RoadMonster. I hope you enjoy looking at her. Please vote for The RoadMonster if you think she is worthy. I would LOVE to win a professional sketch of my car. Thanks for looking! Stewart

Submitted by: RoadMonster

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	RoadMonster	I have updated my car's home page if anyone would like to see more. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/732699 Thanks again everybody! Stewart aka RoadMonster 10/21/2008 8:04:02 PM


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	RoadMonster	Hello. Thanks to everyone who supported & voted for my RoadMonster! I thought I'd give you the story behind my car, & explain why I turned an every day all-too-common 1990's GM B-Body into a show car. When we bought the car, it certainly was not planned to be a hobby car. We bought it for transportation. That's it. It was my wife's car. She is really a truck girl, so when she got her truck, I inherited the Roadmaster & it became my daily driver. I had been out of the "car scene" for many years. I drove a 1964 Impala all through high school. I then had several 1950's & 1960's VW Beetles. Then I had a 12 second '66 Olds 442 w/ a built 455 that had a 6-pack, disc brakes all around, etc. I have also had a couple of Buick Rivieras. I had to sell the Olds when our daughter was born, and we purchased a mini-van. That was very sad. Years later I bought a 1941 Chevy Master Deluxe Sport Sedan, & was in the process of a frame-off Street Rod build. Well, I could not afford to complete that car, due to time & money constraints, as a father of two. So, along comes the Roadmaster. I was truly impressed with the car's sheer performance stock. For a big heavy car, it was FAST! It also had leather interior, lots of options, & still got 26 MPG highway! I soon learned that it shared the exact same platform as the mighty Impala SS. I found the Impala SS Forums, and learned a lot. Over the course of 5+ years, this car evolved into what she is today. I have done all work myself. I did a lot of research. Even though it's hard to tell from these pics, I have completely rebuilt the car from top to bottom, & I did most of it while I was still driving it daily. I love the 1990's B-Bodies because they are the last of the full -size GM rear-wheel-drive cars & wagons. They have a history behind them. This chassis has been around since the '70's. When GM added the LT1, they did a good thing. My RoadMonster fondly reminds me of my '64 Impala & '66 442. I am grateful for the car, because it got me back into the car hobby. My brother in law talked me into showing her back in 2006, & ever since, she has earned a lot of respect from other enthusiasts, & has won many trophies. Many people owned 1990's Caprices, 9C1 Police Cars, Olds Custom Cruisers, Impalas, Impala SS's, Roadmaster Wagons, & Roadmaster Sedans. They are a part of American Automotive History! I am proud to own this one, and I thank you all for your support and positive comments. My next project will be a 1920's Buick Hot Rod with a Nailhead for power. Maybe I'll enter that one in this contest some day too. Thanks again everyone! Sincerely, Stewart aka RoadMonster 10/19/2008 2:34:52 PM


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	bmwis-doo-doo	Your comment has been deemed inappropriate by the Texaco Moderator and has been taken down. 10/3/2008 4:04:13 PM


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	92RMSJMM2	i would like to be the first to appologize to the texaco staff for my portion of the arguments 10/2/2008 7:55:51 PM


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	attack eagle	92... I'm sorry I hit a nerve with my critique of why the buick is not and should not be a car of the 90s. Here are some critiques that you asked for. Isn;t that what we are voting on? A car that is an ICON of the 90s? when you hear Buick Roadmaster, do you think 90s? or 50's? A 94 Dodge Caravan is more a 90's Icon than the Buick above, no disrespect intended. 1: becasue it's sister car was much more so an icon of the 90's. Caprices were cheap and everywhere, Like Skylark92 said. The mental concept (what if buick had built a new GNX or GN stage 1 based on the caprice or IMpala SS, but better?) was decent... BUT: it lacks execution other than interior floor shifter (for an automatic no less). It should have been either YELLOW or white like the GN stage1, or Darth vader Black on black like my favorite 80s car, the GNX, and the car it is rebadging/cloning- the prototype Impala SS. It should have had a traditional Buick powerplant, backed with a 5 or 6 speed transmission to up the anti and make it 'real buick performance' It should have been dechromed and de logo'd on the trunk. I mena c'mon a 455 6 speed buick roadmaster, completely blacked out and dechromed, with black interior and bucket seats instead of split bench, would be a car I would vote for in a heartbeat. Not to mention the wheels that are styled after German DTM Wheels. complete conflict of styles. Could have been fitted with Vette Wheels for a real 'GM' look, which would also have been along the 'factory Buick prototype' theme the owner states he was going for. 2: For various reasons I feel the buick with an LT1, no matter how many Summit racing catalog bolt ons (some red paint, intake with red filtersocks), the engine has on it, just isn't that car that either screams performance or luxury, and certainly not both... though I guess it is emblematic of the lazyboy on wheels ride and interior styling that US cars were known for in those days. 3: I like the BMW or the 300zx as real 90's icons... the BMW ended in 95 but the styling was used in the e38 7 series so stylistically it is a true 90's car. the 300zx was another car that brought new 'modern' styling to American streets along with quality. Someone asked why BMWs spend so much time in the shop... to use a common internet quote I must say "ORLY?" They are 350k cars without anything more than basic maintenance... where as most 250k mile b-bodies are thoroughly worn out: engine, interior, chassis, and exterior by that time in my experience. My e34 has spent less time in the Shop than any other car i or my family have ever owned, including a B body, A Chevy pickup, a lincoln towncar, etc. And it is far older... with far more luxury and far more computer controls than the Buick. The sunroof alone has more computers that the entire interior if the Buick. AS to where my car is, I figured a US car that has been featured as far abroad as an English BMW magazine,and was picked one of the 10 most beautiful e34s has gotten enough exposure and glory, and my forum brother wanted to enter his 540i6, a very special car that was (and is) very deserving of the title. Especially as it would outbrake a vette when introduced. You can always look up my nick on the internet and find tons of pictures, if you want to see a 17 year old wagon that makes the roadmaster, caprice, MB and Volvo wagons of the early 90s look like complete poop... and it still pulls down 26 mpg @ 80 mph (the legal limit) on it's 192K M50, and runs 135 mph without feeling like a cessna about to takeoff, or being as loud as a windstorm. And yes, there was one part that went bad on my BMW after 187k miles! The GM automatic which I replaced with a 3 month older, 250k mile zf 5 speed and diff out of a car that was tboned :) The car is much much better and faster now that crappy GM 4L30e box is dumpstered. So would the buick if he ever decided to change it to really reflect the traditional Buick value of 'performance with luxury' 10/2/2008 7:00:59 PM

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