In this age of sport bucket seats, well-stocked center consoles, and passenger-swallowing minivans, the six-seater sedan is a scarce breed. Today's selection pales in comparison with the genre's heyday of yore when sedans were sedans, ready to carry an entire family reunion, along with a year's worth of luggage, anywhere the sweeping chrome grille and queen-bed-size hood was pointed (as long as the 8-mpg V-8 underneath was kept fed).
Today's six seaters may not match those behemoths in sheer girth, but in terms of safety, efficiency, reliability, and creature comforts, yesterday's sedans can't hold a 10-watt bulb to today's lot. To judge the current large six-seater sedans, we've gathered a sampling that shows the eclectic mix available. Included are the Buick Roadmaster Limited, Chrysler New Yorker, Mercury Grand Marquis LS, and the newest arrival, Toyota Avalon XLS.
All four are classified by the EPA as large vehicles, though the group is split between V-8 rear- drivers (Buick and Mercury) and V-6 front-drivers (Chrysler and Toyota). The Chrysler and Toyota use unibody construction, while the other two feature a body-on-frame design. In an interesting twist of modern auto manufacturing, two of this group are built outside of U.S. borders-and neither is the one you'd expect; the New Yorker and Grand Marquis are shipped down from plants in Ontario, Canada, while the Avalon is built among the green hills of Georgetown, Kentucky. The Roadmaster hails from Arlington, Texas.
The Buick, Chrysler, and Toyota all base in the $25,500-$27,000 price range, with as-tested prices coming in around $29,000-$30,500. The Mercury, in contrast, is the price leader of the group with a base of $22,690 and a test price of $26,850.
The Roadmaster shares its platform with Cadillac's Fleetwood. Its styling is appropriately conser-vative, or as one editor noted, "It's as traditional as an Ohio Elks Lodge, and about as exciting to look at." Yet, with exterior accoutrement such as opera lights, chrome wheels, and whitewall tires, it still appeals to buyers with an appetite for the good ol' days. This year's model is almost unchanged from '94, with the exception of a new radio, larger, hinged outside rear-view mirrors, and new side molding.
The New Yorker is entering its third year as a member of Chrysler's popular LH sedan line. It shares an extended wheelbase and pleasingly contoured sheetmetal with the top-of-the-line LHS; but with a front bench seat and chrome trim, the New Yorker is better targeted toward American-car buyers. Its contemporary lines, coupled with Chrysler's swoopy cab-forward design make it the most stylistically appealing of the four.
The Grand Marquis has held its current platform since the '79 model year-although it received all-new sheetmetal in '92. It splits the difference between the obviously traditional trappings of the Buick and the more modern signatures of the Chrysler and Toyota. For '95, the Grand Marquis has received a minor freshening, with a new grille, taillamps, and front and rear bumper fascias, a slightly reshaped decklid, and a redesigned interior.
Toyota's flagship four-door, the Avalon, is new for '95 and represents the first six-passenger sedan sold in the U.S.A. by a Japanese company. Built on an extended Camry platform, the Avalon boasts a 4-inch longer wheelbase, making it the roomiest Japanese car ever to be offered here. The Avalon's conservative faux-Lexus styling, though, drew a range of reactions from our editors, from "tastefully contemporary" to "just plain bland."