Why didn't they give the wagons different front clips?

[TWX]

I know, it's somewhat a rhetorical question.

I just remember the ads for the Roadmaster and how they went on about the features and the like of the car, and then in the closing road-going shot they'd mention how they had a wagon too, but to my mind the wagon was just a rebadged Caprice. At the time I didn't know that at the A-pillar everything was interchangable, nor did I know that the wagon actually came first.

I don't actually remember any ads for the Olds and I see so few of 'em that until I bought the Impala those weren't even ever on my mind.

I just don't understand why, when the Roadmaster Sedan debuted only a year after the wagon, why they didn't either launch the wagon with the same front clip, or why they didn't switch to that front clip at some point later. It doesn't appear to cost any more to make, and they were making a whole lot of them anyway with the sedan being faily popular, so I just don't understand effectively badge-engineering the wagon while making the sedan unique. If anything, leaving the Olds with the panoramic sunroof standard but similar sheet metal to the Caprice and giving the Buick the fancier fenders, hood, grille, lights, and bumper with the sunroof as optional they could have differentiated the products more like GM always did with their FWD cars through the nineties. I've read through the discussions on the swap that I could find on the site and it looks like it's even very straightforward, swapping over, assuming one starts with a parts car, obviously to have built that way from scratch shouldn't have been much different.

[jayoldschool]

because $$$

[TWX]

I really don't see it being a whole lot more expensive though. I presume they built all of the B-bodies on the same assembly line- which means that the machines that bolted fenders down could handle both designs. As for the sheet metal, they were already stamping it for the sedan, and the plastic and rubber parts were already being manufactured as well. I could understand it costing perhaps a few dollars more per car, but not hundreds of dollars more.

[Fred Kiehl]

I believe it has to do with common sense, or severe lack thereof.

[rematar]

Personally, I don't like the front of the sedan, rather it doesn't suit the car in my opinion - more so with the wagons which are quite rounded off. I like the rest of the roady sedan.
The Fleetwood is really sharp with its own look.

[Deadman]

This is part of why Government Motors needed to be bailed-out by the government!

[matthimself456]

No doubt about it. All part of the decades old GM conspiracy to never build a decent product that anyone wants to buy. The RMS front clip had lower drag yielding better MPG's. Since GM is in cahoots with the oil companies they sold the lower MPG one.

[TWX]

My only advice is to generally not credit to conspiracy what one can credit to stupidity...

[chazman44]

I am with rematar, dont like the sedan front end, I think the RMW front end looks like a killer whale coming at you. I would think that the RMW is more aerodynamic and would have less drag. Sorry for you guys, just my IMO

[96SSbbb]

At least the front clips are relatively easy to swap out.