Jay Leno’s Buick Roadmaster or Dax Shepard’s Roadmaster Estate Wagon?
Jay Leno’s Buick Roadmaster is a sight to be seen! It is no secret that Jay Leno loves his cars, but the 1955 Buick Roadmaster is exceptionally cool. He had Dax Shepard over to Jay Leno’s garage and compared his Roadmaster Estate Wagon to the classic Roadmaster.
Jay Leno’s Buick Roadmaster and the Roadmaster Estate Wagon
Hometown Buick publishes the original information shared by Buick back in 1950. The 1955 Buick Roadmaster actually started as the Riviera. Buick removed the B-pillar and turned it into a coupe based on the most popular Riviera model. The company produced 738,894 cars in 1995, and this was the statistic for the public models only. Buick often used these vehicles for police cars, ambulances, and other commercial vehicles.
In addition to the 1955 Buick Roadmaster, Buick also offered the 1955 Buick Special (Series 40) and the 1995 Buick Super (Series 50). The lineup also included the 1955 Buick Century (Series 60) in the lineup. Out of all the vehicles, Jay Leno’s Buick Roadmaster was one of 28,071 produced. It was the 1955 Buick Roadmaster 2-door Riviera model. This version cost $3,453 to make.
The 1955 Buick Roadmaster 4-door Sedan was one of 31,717 produced, and a 2-door convertible model only had 4,739 units made that year. As for Shepard’s 1994 four-door Roadmaster Estate Wagon, it is still pretty cool.
The 1955 Buick Roadmaster named Rosebud
According to Throttle Extreme, the 1955 Buick Roadmaster is nicknamed “Rosebud” by Leno himself. He purchased it in 1972 for $350. The Roadmaster was the car Jay and his wife, Mavis, drove on their very first date. It was also the vehicle Jay drove to his first Tonight Show appearance in 1977. So even if Jay Leno’s Buick Roadmaster isn’t the most expensive vehicle in the garage, it certainly means a lot to him.
Leno restored Rosebud in 1973 to its former glory. He painted the Roadmaster in DuPont paint with fresh new wheels, tires, and matching Buick hubcaps. Along with the outside, Leno restored the engine as well. Or, he entirely replaced it. Leno added a 620 hp ZZ572 big-block crate motor and a new transmission.
He added C5 Corvette suspension in the front and C4 Corvette independent suspension in the back plus custom springs. “It’s special to me because it was my first vehicle here in California,” he told Dennis Gage of My Classic Car. “Now it’s better than new because we’ve brought it into the 21st century.”
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According to an old article from CNBC, the price of 1955 Roadmasters went up in value just because people found out about Jay Leno’s Buick Roadmaster. In the video linked, world-renowned automotive appraiser Donald Osborne discussed the Roadmaster. Apparently, just the act of owning one made the value jump over 750%. That would make the price around $180,000 back in 2016 when this was filmed. If it went up for sale today, it would likely be even more.
So while Dax Shepard has a pretty cool 1994 four-door Roadmaster Estate Wagon, Jay Leno’s Buick Roadmaster steals the show. Classic cars don’t get any less cool as time goes on, and Jay Leno and Rosebud are proof. Better luck next time, Dax.
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