Buick's brand-new 1936 Roadmaster undercut the cheapest Cadillac sedan by $440 — real luxury-car presence at a price Cadillac couldn't touch.
Median 55 hp across 73 similar cars
Lead trim: Roadmaster 320 cu in Fireball I8
Buick Roadmaster Series 801936–1937
- 0spots by members
- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 0sets it belongs to
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Buick Roadmaster Series 80 yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactBuick's brand-new 1936 Roadmaster undercut the cheapest Cadillac sedan by $440 — real luxury-car presence at a price Cadillac couldn't touch.
The origins of the Roadmaster name date to 1936, when Buick added names to its entire lineup: the Series 40 became the Special, the Series 50 the Super (retired that year), the Series 60 the Century and the Series 90 the Limited, and the Series 80 Roadmaster was new (the 1936 Buick brochure said "It literally named itself the first time a test model leveled out on the open highway"). It was a C-body sedan and four-door convertible (designer Harley Earl) on a 131.0 in wheelbase, 210.3 in long, 75.0 in wide, 4,300–4,500 lb, related to the Cadillac Series 80, 70 and 65, the Buick Limited and the Oldsmobile L-Series. It was introduced in a year when Buick's OHV straight-eights were heavily revised, reducing the engines from four sizes to two: a 233 cu in, 93 hp version for the Special and a 320.2 cu in (5.2 L) engine of 130 hp at 3100 rpm for the other series (the page also says the 1937 revised carburetor and camshaft raised the rating to 130 hp, so no horsepower is entered), with an all-steel "turret top" and hydraulic brakes. For 1937 all Buicks moved to newly restyled bodies (divided horizontal-bar grille, squared fenders), overall height reduced by 1.5 in.
Collectors Spotted in the Buick Roadmaster Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Buick Roadmaster yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
One published trim in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roadmaster 320 cu in Fireball I8 | 1936–1937 | 5.2 L Inline-8 | 130 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
This land-yacht Roadmaster wagon could out-tow plenty of trucks of its day — with the factory package and the right setup, it was rated for 7,000 pounds.
The exhaust on a 1957 Roadmaster ran out through a filler-like opening centered in the rear bumper, right next to the fuel cap.
The 1955 Roadmaster's Dynaflow transmission changed its own stator blade pitch under hard acceleration, a rare mechanical trick for the era.
Buick's non-functional VentiPorts started here in 1949 as a status code: four holes for a Roadmaster, three for lesser Buicks.
New Roadmaster sales were restricted in early 1942 to buyers in occupations the government deemed essential to the war effort.
Only one 1940 Roadmaster is known to have been built as a custom open-front town car, nicknamed the Townmaster.
For 1938, Buick swapped the Roadmaster's rear leaf springs for coils and fitted shock absorbers four times the size of its rivals', a genuinely progressive ride upgrade for the era.
Buick's brand-new 1936 Roadmaster undercut the cheapest Cadillac sedan by $440 — real luxury-car presence at a price Cadillac couldn't touch.
GM patented the humble vent window right here -- 1933's Series 80 cars got the first "No Draft Individually Controlled Ventilation," later renamed Ventiplanes.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
It briefly served as senior sibling to Marquette, a GM companion brand cancelled after just one year.
Nissan hired former BMW engineers to help develop the 510's suspension, which is why period reviewers frequently compared its handling to the BMW 1600/2002.
A Trabant 601 won its class at the 1970 Monte Carlo Rally, with a second 601 right behind it in second.
The 600 was a stopgap: the P50's body over the 601's mechanicals, and for a while its estate was built alongside the new 601 saloon.
The G80 Sport brought a 370 PS twin-turbo 3.3 V6, a mesh grille and copper-tinted chrome with copper stitching to match.
The Vigor was sold only with a five-cylinder engine, an unusual configuration Honda used to fit a longer engine transversely under a short hood.
The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.