Comfort, room and power: that’s the rule of thumb for hitting the highway. While the trend in America for the last 25 years has been to use an SUV, those who are at least thirty and older remember the era of the station wagon, a car that could do pretty much everything that the SUV could without resorting to needing a truck chassis to do it. The last great wagons were the 1991-1996 GM B-body wagons, and while the Chevrolet Caprice and the Buick Roadmaster wagons are more well-known, for a couple of years Oldsmobile produced the Custom Cruiser wagon replete with it’s signature Vista roof. Since the only things the cars don’t share are really the gauge panels and some minor trim pieces, all the goodies that bolt to the Caprice will bolt to the Custom Cruiser, like drop spindles and go-fast parts. But finding one of these Olds cruisers is rare, since they only made a few thousand before Olds pulled the plug.

This 1992 Olds is perfect in my eyes. It’s been nicely lowered, and all of the visual mods are tastefully done…I can’t see anything I’d be in a hurry to change at all. The paint is original and the interior looks better than one can expect to find on a used-car lot. This is a true nine-passenger wagon, too, with the reversed rear seat that’s perfect for the little kids. The only fly in the ointment is the engine: instead of the LT-1 350, this Olds is packing a 305, a throwback to the prior generation. It’ll move the car, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. This is one that I’d bring home in half a second if I could afford it…mainly because if I get thrown in the doghouse I can camp in the car in perfect comfort.