Buick turned 50 years old in 1953 and celebrated its birthday in style. The company delayed the release of its new V-8 until this model year, improved the Dynaflow (which some had called “Dyna-slush”), updated its B- and C-body cars for the final time in that styling cycle and released the new Skylark, a sporty-looking, limited-production, factory-customized model.

Buick’s new “Fireball” V-8 displaced 322 cubic inches in its original form, and when installed in the Skylark or Roadmaster, it produced its maximum horsepower of 188 units at 4,000 rpm. For comparison, the V-8 for the Super series, equipped with a two-barrel carburetor and with a compression ratio of 8.0:1, was rated at 170 hp at 4,000 rpm. Performance of the Skylark-Roadmaster engine was better due to a four-barrel carburetor and a higher compression ratio of 8.5:1. The basic engine was used by Buick through 1966. Incidentally, the old 263-cid straight-eight still powered the Special, but it received an improved combustion chamber resulting in slightly higher horsepower.

A “Twin-Turbine Dynaflow” helped deliver 10 percent more torque to the rear wheels. It felt less “slushy” and was also quieter than the original design.

Styling refinements for the 1953 Buick line included a raised front fender and hood line and a taller deck. Oval headlamp bezels, much like those of the 1951 Buick XP-300 concept car, were also included.

The Skylark was inspired by drawings penned by designer Ned Nickles showing a customized 1951 Buick convertible. Buick’s general manager, Ivan Wiles, liked Nickles’ ideas so much he thought a special show car, which was dubbed “Skylark,” should be built for the 1952 auto show circuit. According to the book, “The Buick: A Complete History”, by Terry Dunham and Lawrence Gustin, the prototype was first shown to the public in July of 1952. The Skylark prototype, equipped with Carlo Borrani wire wheels, was claimed to be the “answer to the European sports car,” though how such a big car could be labeled a sports car seems beyond explanation today. However, most of the American public had little familiarity with true sports cars, which handled and performed far differently than any of the heavy “land yachts” of the era. The Skylark had some sporty attributes and evidently that was enough to justify the sports car label. 

A Buick press release said the Skylark would be put into production if there was enough interest shown in it. In reality, though, it was already scheduled for production. The model was announced in October 1952 and production commenced the following January. Deliveries to dealers began some weeks later. Along with the limited-production Oldsmobile Fiesta, Cadillac Eldorado and Chevrolet Corvette convertibles, the Skylark was the focus of its General Motors division’s display at the 1953 GM Motorama. These convertibles were show cars that people could actually take home, unlike the exotic dream cars also on display at the Motorama.

Based on the Roadmaster convertible, the body of the Skylark (Model 76X) received a “chopped” windshield instead of the wraparound type as found on the Fiesta and Eldorado, a lowered and notched beltline and radiused rear wheel openings. A “bomb sight” hood ornament was recessed into the hood and the now-traditional Buick “Ventiports” were deleted from the front fenders. The top of the front seat was lowered to align exactly with the beltline, resulting in a car that appeared dramatically lower as compared to other 1953 Buick models. Indeed, it was about 3 inches lower. Just as GM’s dream cars were predictive of future styling characteristics, the Skylark was, too, since Buick’s 1954 models would get radiused wheel openings and the sweepspear trim. The 1953 Skylark’s special body sat on a Roadmaster chassis with a wheelbase of 127 inches.

Enhancing the sporty look of the production version of the Skylark was a set of 40-spoke, chrome-plated Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels. (These wheels were an extra-cost option for other Buick models.) Its radiused rear wheel openings helped to show off the glittering wheels. Sweeping over the wheel openings was what advertising described as a “rapier styled sweepspear” molding unique to this model. The sweepspear would soon become a calling card appearing in one form or another on Buick’s cars into the 1970s. Its shape helped to highlight the fender line that flowed into the door and the hopped-up quarters.

In addition to the wire wheels, standard equipment for the Skylark included tinted glass, whitewall tires, leather upholstery with narrow pleats, special carpeting, foot-controlled signal-seeking “Selectronic” radio, tinted glass, heater, power brakes, power steering, power seat, power windows, power antenna, power top (which was of synthetic Orlon) and Skylark-scripted door sill plates along with the 188-hp 322 four-barrel V-8 and the Twin-Turbine Dynaflow transmission. Furthermore, the owner’s signature was sealed into the gold-colored emblem placed on the steering wheel hub. With a price tag of $5,000, the special model was priced nearly $1,500 more than a Roadmaster convertible and about $700 more than a Cadillac Series Sixty Special.

One prototype 1953 Skylark hardtop was built (though two have been claimed to have been built) by Buick Engineering in Flint. However, the roofline combined with the dipped beltline appeared awkward, and no production versions were forthcoming.

Sales for the 1953 Buicks were exceptionally strong. A total of 488,805 were sold, the second best output in Buick’s history and over 50 percent more than the number produced for 1952. Of those nearly half-million Buicks, only 1,690 were Skylarks. 

One of those, the car shown here, is owned by Rick Smith, of Longview, Texas. Rick is well-known among restorers of 1950s Cadillacs, though he recently retired from his parts supplying business and sold off most of his parts, parts cars and some of his collection of cars (including another 1953 Skylark) at an auction held in 2018.

Smith has owned this Skylark for more than 20 years, although the opportunity to finally restore the car occurred only about eight years ago. The car came from a Buick dealer in Alabama who drove the car in the 1970s.

The Skylark returned for 1954, but was based on a production body which helped to lower its price. The car’s rear styling was unique to the model, making it a standout. Only 798 were built and the proposed 1955 Skylark never went beyond the drawing board.

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https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1964-buick-lesabre-2-dr

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The post Production Dream Car: 1953 Buick Skylark appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

From 1936 on, Buick skillfully marketed a wily blend of sleek styling cues, straight-line performance and sophisticated, upscale ads that proved irresistible to well-heeled motorists at home and abroad. This fresh, youthful campaign was underpinned by a sturdy, if unremarkable, chassis for the senior editions (Century, Roadmaster and Limited) into which Buick dropped a new and strong push rod, overhead-valve 320-cid straight-eight. The shorter-wheelbased Centuries and the bigger Roadmasters could keep up with anything on the road, and in 1938-’39, they could out accelerate any other standard production automobile.

Becoming a pop culture icon

If you weren’t around during these domestic road cars’ heyday, but have seen your share of ’30s and ’40s movies, you may have the notion Buick owned the road, which was the impression General Motors’ cornerstone division wished to impart. In a shrewd move that caught competitors, including stablemate Cadillac, napping, Flint sent a fleet of Specials, Supers, Centuries, Roadmasters and lengthy Limiteds to Hollywood studios, chiefly Warner Brothers. Catch any Bogie flick and you’ll see Buicks careening down city streets and tearing along country roads, all the while heeling over on their all-coil-spring suspensions. The camera avoids (perhaps at contractual behest of Flint) close-ups of the driver spinning the big steering wheel to cope with a lazy steering gear ratio over winding roads.

But the big cars would move and looked exciting doing so. Edward G. Robinson, George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan — all the featured Warner Brothers contract players — had their Buick moments.

In 1940’s “They Drive By Night,” Ida Lupino offs wealthy husband Alan Hale using a ’40 Roadmaster convertible sedan without even putting it in gear. In 1941’s “High Sierra,” Bogie as “Mad Dog Earle” races up the mountain in a little Plymouth coupe, hotly pursued by a snarling pack of CHP black-and-white Buicks.

In a blend of spy, gangster and comedy genres, 1942’s “All Through the Night” features long, gleaming black Limiteds slinking down sleeping alleys and squealing around nocturnal Manhattan corners. And who could forget the ’40 Limited convertible sedan in “Casablanca”? This chariot has long made the auction rounds, changing hands amongst the sort paying $20,000 for the ruby slippers a 17-year-old Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz.”

As late as 1948, in the hilarious Myrna Loy/Cary Grant “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House,” Grant’s harried advertising executive drives a ’41 Roadmaster convertible. Off screen, Grant took part in street races through sleeping Los Angeles in a ’41 Roadmaster coupe.

You wonder that if more of Japan’s leaders had seen William Wyler’s lushly photographed 1940 adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s “The Letter” — starring Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson and a ’38 Century convertible sedan — that there would not have been a Pearl Harbor. The scenes of the Buick threading serenely through the narrow streets of a Malayan province — horn tapped now and then to clear a path — underscored America’s might that the “sleeping giant” Admiral Yamamoto feared he’d awakened on Dec. 7, 1941. Wishing to make an impression on FDR at Pearl Harbor, General MacArthur arrived in a bright-red ’41 Roadmaster convertible sedan.

Buick’s early highs and lows

Yet only eight years earlier, Buick was in a slump, suffering an image as a stodgy, conservative car, despite the top-line 344-cid Buick Series 90 being as fast as any other mass-produced car. The Series 90 was the target for Packard’s planned front-wheel-drive, 376-cid V-12, which quickly morphed into its 1932 Twin Six after Cadillac released a V-16, to Packard’s chagrin.

Buick had the medium-price field sewn up to the extent of being third in overall sales in 1926, trailing only Ford and Chevrolet. But by the Depression trough year of 1933, Buick tumbled to eighth place as the price range it ruled fell from 1926’s 28 percent market share to a mere 4 percent. Costing a fifth less than its 1933 predecessor, 1934’s Model 40 — with a 93-hp, 233-cid overhead-valve inline eight mounted in a Pontiac frame and with a Chevy body — sparked Buick’s comeback.

It was the brainchild of Harlow “Red” Curtice, accountant by training and salesman by nature, who rose from clerk to president of AC Spark Plug in just 15 years. AC Spark Plug was a GM holding just down the road from Buick’s Flint, Mich., plant. When 40-year-old Curtice became Buick’s general manager in the Depression gloom of Oct. 23, 1933, there was already talk at GM about dropping both Buick, as well as Cadillac.

The Buick Model 40, or Special, bought Buick some time while Curtice’s staff focused on its next coup — putting a spring in the step of Flint’s senior lines.

Curtice had the right men for the job. Competing for dwindling sales in the Depression meant offering more car for the dollar, so from 1931 on, all Buicks had eight cylinders, as well as overhead valves, which had been a Buick feature since the company’s founding by Scotsman inventor/tinkerer David Dunbar Buick in 1903. The ’31 Buick eights had been designed largely by Ferdinand A. “Dutch” Bower, who resigned as Buick’s chief engineer in 1936 because of poor health.

Dutch Bower joined Curtice in pushing not just for more performance, but a generally more youthful image: “More speed for less money,” as Curtice put it. An approach of this new tack was to court the convertible market for the zesty panache that the sporty model would bring to all Buicks. From 1936 through the close of the ’40s, Buick would continually offer a heavy load of open models, so much so that, to a new generation of entrepreneurs and industrialists, a new Buick convertible was the sign of arrival. This image was reflected in the numerous open Buicks in John O’Hara novels, as well as the aforementioned movies.

From Fireball to speedy Century

Charles A. Chayne, assisted by Bower alumnus John Dolza, became Buick’s chief engineer in 1936. Chayne came to Buick in 1930 from Marmon, where he’d been an engine designer, and before that, an experimental engineer with Lycoming. Chayne had an engineering degree from MIT where he’d instructed automotive engineering. Lifelong auto-holic Chayne went on to serve as GM’s engineering vice president from 1951-’62, during which time he owned and restored one of the six Bugatti Type 41 Royales.

Like the Model 40 and most Buicks since 1903, the new senior engine retained Buick’s now-trademark overhead valves. But Chayne reduced the hoary old motor’s stroke from 5 to 4.31 inches while opening the bore from 3.31 to 3.44 inches. He installed a five-main, fully counterbalanced and forged steel crank, exchanged the cast-iron pistons for aluminum and substituted full-pressure oiling for the old mill’s partial splash.

The chain-driven camshaft worked mechanical tappets, long and solid push rods and rocker arms, and the vertical valves in line. This engine had better oiling than the overhead-valve Chevrolet, where only the main and cam bearings were pressure fed. The Buick’s valve train later cropped up in light- and medium-duty GMC trucks for 1939 and ’41, which had earlier used Pontiac and Oldsmobile flathead sixes. Those attempting absolute speed runs in straight-eight Buicks, as well as ’50s hot rodders using six-cylinder overhead-valve GMC truck engines, discovered the long, heavy push rods and adjacent parts of an overhead-valve valve train meant more reciprocating weight than a flathead (valve en bloc, side valve) or overhead-cam engine. But for most motorists, Buicks were, to borrow from the day’s jazz hit, “That’s a Plenty.”

The new “Fireball” 320-cid inline eight joined a stout chassis now with hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension cloaked in Harley Earl’s new 1936 Fisher bodies shared with other GM divisions. Earl’s new Fisher shells offered better streamlining and sophisticated detailing. Buick’s shortest-wheelbase model, at 122 inches for 1936 and 126 inches for ’37 on, was christened Century, harking to the famous New York Central crack express while suggesting 100 mph (95.6 at GM Proving Grounds). There was irony in Buick invoking the name and glamour of the nation’s, and one of the world’s, most celebrated high-speed — and steam-powered — trains. Because also in 1936, the first production E Series diesel-electric locomotives crawled from the General Motors Electro-Motive Division’s new La Grange, Ill., factory. Established in 1922 to design and market gasoline-electric locomotives, Electro-Motive sold 500 units in its first decade. GM bought E-M in 1930. Each new E Series locomotive was powered by a pair of 900-hp Winton V-12 diesels, GM having bought in 1924 E-M’s supplier, Winton Engine Co., of Cleveland, Ohio — an automaker itself from 1898-1924.

Also in 1930, GM bought Packard Electric Co., of Warren, Ohio, the original firm of Alexander Winton’s nemesis, as a source of automotive ignition wire and equipment, which survives to this day.

The ’36 Buick Century combined Flint’s senior engine with the Model 40 Special’s body from the cowl back, offering, as Curtice proclaimed, “…. a car that meets the secret wish of a vast body of motorists for a generation -— a car of cyclonic performance, yet compact and thrifty and manageable as a small car.” 

Curtice was conveniently overlooking Hudson’s ’33 Essex Terraplane 8, the decade’s quickest car.

Curtice continued, “You’ve never seen anything like it. To be specific (the Century offers) acceleration from 10 to 80 mph in 33 seconds, with a top speed that will crowd 100 anytime the emergency demands it.”

The 1936 Centurys still had curb weights of 3,960 to 4,055 lbs., depending on body style, so lighter cars with strong engines could get the jump on a Century from a standstill, but from 25 to 70 mph, the new Buick was hard to beat. A 21-second 0-60-mph time was good for the day.

 The Century’s price ranged from $1,095 to $1,135 FOB Flint. Of the 180,000 cars Buick built for 1936 — more than three and a half times 1935’s production — 25,980 were Centurys, outselling all models but the bottom-rung Special. Above the Century was the roomier Roadmaster on a 131-inch wheelbase for 1936-’37. For ’38, the Roadmaster was stretched to 133 inches, but from 1939 on, the wheelbase was down to a wieldier 126 inches.

The longest-wheelbase Buick, and the Buick with the most luxury trappings, was the Limited. It rode a wheelbase of 138 inches, again invoking high-speed steam rail glamour. (Diesel-electric locomotives’ appeal was the ability to better overcome inertia (i.e., start under load from rest) than an equally powerful steam locomotive, making diesels naturals for yard and switching duties, as well as not requiring additional water crossing the arid American west.) Like its senior brethren, the lengthy Limited initially shared the 120-hp, 320-cid straight-eight with a 5.45:1 compression ration. At its introductory year of 1936, this engine produced 238 lb.-ft. of torque at only 1,600 rpm. This was good, but Packard’s new junior car, the One-Twenty, owned the upper-medium-price field, pumping out in the same year 120 hp at 3,600 rpm with 225 lb.-ft. of torque at 1,800 rpm from its 6.5:1-compression, 282-cid L-head inline eight. 

The $1,945 Buick Limited of 1936 weighed 700 lbs more than the Century, so in order to offer sprightly acceleration in keeping with Curtice’s youthful ad campaign, it resorted to a necessarily truckier 4.55:1 rear axle, limiting top speed considerably beneath the Century’s 3.9:1 cog.

But it was the Century that was the most popular, and lowest-priced, senior Buick. At $355 less and at 500 fewer pounds than its 1935 counterpart, the Century was perceived as a real bargain, offering the affordable speed of which Curtice boasted.

The new senior Buicks’ rousing performance and trim lines beckoned all strata of society. Edward VIII, soon to become Duke of Windsor, ordered a pair of 1936 sedans: a Limited for himself, a Roadmaster for “the woman I love.” The duke placed repeat Limited orders in 1938 and ’39, the former Mrs. Simpson of Baltimore, Md., apparently satisfied with her Roadmaster. Considering the new Rolls-Royce Phantom III introduced in 1936 cost £3,000, or $15,000 U.S. — enough for seven Limiteds — Edward saved a royal amount of money.

In the years before World War II, Rolls-Royce was annually disassembling a new Buick Limited to glean the latest Detroit production tips, but then the 1920 Buick Six had been the model for the “small horsepower” Rolls-Royce 20 of 1922 — the spiritual grandfather of all subsequent Rolls-Royces — and from 1933 on, Bentley engines (other than the vast 1936-’39 Phantom III V-12). That lasted until the Chrysler-inspired V-8 of 1959. It should be remembered that the 1906-1925 40/50 Ghost, on which Rolls-Royce’s reputation was built, cagily maintained and guarded to this day, was a vast, beautifully finished carriage powered by a 7.6-liter L-head inline six.

Dynaflash in a more beautiful Buick

For 1937, the Buick 320 received a new “Aerobat” carburetor, produced by both Marvel and Stromberg, in a bit of a stretch hyped as “…. similar to the type used in aerobatic aircraft.” Revised cam timing and a modest compression bump to 5.75:1 raised horsepower to 130 units at 3,400 rpm, and torque to 258 lb.-ft. at 2,000 rpm. Though all Buicks, like many successful automobiles and people, became slightly heavier, a ’37 Century could jog from 0-60 mph in 18.5 seconds, 2.5 seconds quicker than in ’36.

There were three new Century models for ’37: a convertible phaeton (the name Flint gave its four-door convertible sedan) and two- and four-door fastback sedans. Only $26 more, the fast/plain-back “sport sedan” exchanged the trunk back touring sedan’s additional room in the boot for a more streamlined rear.

While other Buicks retained 16-inch wheels for a racier lower, racier look, the Century ran even smaller-diameter 15-inch wheels from 1936-’42, most of the domestic industry going to 15 inches for 1941.

All ’36 Buicks shared the new Fisher Body “Turret Top” all-steel roof, eliminating the previous fabric insert. For 1937, the entire body shell was further refined with Fisher’s new all-steel construction throughout and given the trade name “Unibody” despite being mounted on conventional full chassis frames and having nothing to do with unit-body design. Chrysler’s excellent Airflows were box office poison, but their ads rightfully ballyhooed all-steel, unibody construction as being far stronger than conventional bodies, something not lost on a public reading Chrysler’s ads, if not buying their cars. Fisher Body/GM/Buick knew what they were doing when they used that promising, if inaccurate, name for the bucket mill coachwork that would whisk their middle-class clientele to new heights of affordable affluenza. No more wood in Fisher bodies was a big ad spiel, though a naval architect could tell you that, pound for pound, wood is stronger than steel, and better absorbs sound.

Styling for all ’37 Buicks was sleekened and more muscular than the Art Deco style of the ’36 models. This revision was handled by veteran designer Franklin Q. Hershey, recently recruited from the Murphy Body Co. in Pasadena, Calif., which had cloaked many Duesenberg Js. Hershey’s efforts are the reason many buffs today, even those who are not GM fans, appreciate prewar Buicks. The 1937-’38 Buicks share a more solid, unified look. There’s even a club devoted strictly to these two years of Buicks.

As the 1937 Buicks were beckoning doctors, accountants, pharmacists, lawyers and middle management to showrooms, on Dec. 20, 1936, autoworkers in Flint — frustrated by corporate stonewalling and indifference to their serf-like working conditions — organized a sit-down strike that spread like wildfire through GM plants across the nation. Production halted as the most decisive labor struggle of the decade began. Government figures showed half a million workers struck from September 1936 through May 1937. U.S. workers in all industries increasingly used non-violent sit-down strikes to demand fairer, safer, more equitable treatment by chillingly indifferent (and, at best, paternalistic) employers.

By 1938, Buick’s senior eight was up to 141 hp at 3,600 and 269 lb.-ft. of torque at 2,000 rpm, thanks to a trace warmer cam, 6.35:1 compression and a Buick dealership mechanic’s suggestion to dome the pistons, christened Turbulators, in the newly named Dynaflash engines, just in time to combat a sharp recession halving the entire auto industry’s sales. Buick wisely left 1937’s handsome bodies alone, other than bolder horizontal grille bars, a gas cap hidden by a rear fender flap, centered license plates and wraparound taillamp housings, the result ending Packard’s consecutive three years as the Gallup Poll’s Most Beautiful Car. 

GM Proving Grounds staff coaxed a ’38 Century to 103 mph, and a Century coupe held its NHRA class record for 25 years. The 1907-’12 Brush aside, ’38 Buicks and Oldsmobiles were first with cost-saving coil springs at each corner. Buick rode quickly and smoothly to fourth place in sales. 

Not everyone was enamored with Buick’s rear coils, despite being cheaper and reducing unsprung weight. No Buick or Olds of the day was a paragon of high-speed, winding road handling. Yet it wasn’t just straight-line acceleration and reduced prices rescuing Buick from its earlier slump. Recounted veteran auto writer and advertising maven Tim Howell, Red Curtice dropped Campbell-Ewald and let Arthur Kudner handle Buick advertising. Curtice had known Kudner since he’d had the AC account at Erwin Wasey Advertising and knew Kudner had the creativity that Henry Ewald lacked. But when Kudner asked for the Buick account, Curtice replied, “I’m not ready for you yet.”

When the new 320-powered Century, Roadmaster and Limited senior models debuted, Kudner left Erwin Wasey, opening his own agency to handle Buick, courting traditional buyers while targeting the young and upscale (the day’s yuppies). Buick ads became breezy and as informal as a Constance Bennett/Cary Grant farce. One ’38 ad alluding to Buick’s newfound popularity was headlined, “We’re up where we hardly belong.” Another trumpeted, “Make way for the Roadmaster.” Like all ’38 ads, it was bannered, “Best Buy’s Buick,” a play on ’36’s “Buick’s the Buy” and ’37’s “Better Buy Buick” and “It’s Buick again!” For 1939, “Buick’s the Beauty” headlines tried to make the best of the new, mixed-review Buick grille that harkened to the grille on the 193-mph Mercedes Grand Prix racer and hampered Buick’s cooling. All ads omitted any mention of price, instead reminding readers, “Worth its wait in golden moments.”

Through the war and beyond

Curtice, Chayne and Kudner typified a golden era when the auto industry was run by car men, not MBAs. From 1933 through late ’48, when he left to become a GM vice-president, Red Curtice was Buick. Kudner died in 1944, his agency later taking heat from dealers for Buick’s stodgy backsliding in the late ’40s and into the ’50s. Kudner’s agency was replaced by McCann-Erickson in time for 1959’s new names: LeSabre, Invicta and Electra.

Near the end of the Vietnam years, Buick sloganeering fell to “Something to Believe In,” a long way from “So Nice to Come Home To” for returning War II GIs.

Fine-car cynics overlooking nostalgia’s charm point out Buick’s babbitt mains ’til 1947, rod bearings until ’49, torque tube drive and coil springs, the latter giving rise to the derisive “Beauty Rest” suspension by wags attracted to imported MG-TCs and the like. Those owning Centuries and Roadmasters today are well served to find 1939’s rare, no-cost 3.6:1 “economy” rear axle in place of the usual 3.9:1 since no “GMobile” until the ’55 Chevy offered overdrive. In July 1939, a Century coupe with a 3.6:1 axle driven by Mark Light beat 41 other entrants to win the inaugural 200-mile stock car race at Langhorne, Pa. Light claimed he ran the entire short track race in second gear. Whether the Century pacing that year’s Indy 500 also had the 3.6:1 axle is unknown, but a Century could now rush 0-60 mph in 17 seconds.

For 1940, 1939’s grille was opened into a more attractive, cooler-running cloverleaf motif. Century Model 60 and Roadmaster 70 shared the 126-inch wheelbase, but only the Roadmaster received the racy new C-body. The Limited 80 rolled on 133 inches, the Limited 90 140 inches. For 1941 and ’42 only, Buick offered “Compound Carburetion,” a pair of dual throats with progressive linkage, optional on the 248-cid juniors (the Special Model 40 and its sleeker C-body variant Super 50) and standard on the 320-engined seniors. With the big eight’s 7:1 compression, this meant an advertised 165 hp and 3,800 rpm, less inflated than the claims of most other automakers, but enough to best Packard’s claimed 160 hp, and 15 more than Cadillac. When Buick offered a line of Brunn-revised catalog semi-customs, Cadillac insisted on an end to Flint’s one-upmanship, despite only one Brunn Roadmaster “Town-Master,” a sleek ebony town car, being built along with several modestly formalized Limiteds.

Compound Carburetion proved a gas hog just in time for war rationing (to save rubber tires, not yet gas). It also fouled the 10mm spark plugs shared with Cadillac, Chevrolet and Packard, and it also vexed many mechanics. The 320’s compression was lowered to 6.7:1 for ’42, postwar models to 6.6:1, and back to a single dual-barreled carburetor for a claimed 144 hp at 3,600. The ’42 Roadmaster’s wheelbase was stretched 3 inches over the Century to 129 inches, the final year for both Century and Limited, although both names were reprised for 1954 and ’58, respectively.

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The post Inside the Dynaflash appeared first on Old Cars Weekly.

Photos by Al Rogers

Currently tucked among the varied treasures inside the National Auto and Truck Museum in Auburn, Ind., is a 1970 Buick GS 455 that’s a little more grand than others of its ilk. Not that there isn’t anything already grand about the 1970 Buick Gran Sport, a brutish performance car that bucked Buick’s rep for building conservative “doctors cars.” Available with a 315-hp, four-barrel 350-cid V-8 as the GS 350 or either the 350-hp or Stage 1 360-hp 455-cid V-8 as the GS 455, the midsize 1970 Gran Sports showed Buick’s wild side amidst a showroom of earth-tone Electra 225 and LeSabre behemoths. By installing the 350- and 455-cid V-8s from these full-size Buicks into the midsize Skylark, Buick created a tire roaster that could make an Electra 225 or LeSabre blush.

The Buick GS 455 inside NATMUS isn’t just out of character for a Buick, but also for a Gran Sport. It’s hard not to notice its unique Fireglow Red Pearl exterior paint, and then its likewise one-of-a-kind pearl white interior. Indeed, this Buick GS 455 Stage 1 was specially built for go and show.

Buick swings from mild to wild

When Buick brought back the Special name in 1961, it was on a new compact with a small, cast-aluminum-block V-8 good for 155 hp. By 1964 — the year General Motors launched a new midsize A-body line for its Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick divisions — the Special successfully graduated to the new and bigger body. It was the start of even bigger things to come.

During the middle of the Special’s comeback year, Buick added a plusher Skylark Sport Coupe to the compact car line to complement the base Special and better-trimmed Skylark Deluxe. All three were carried over to GM’s new A-body for 1964.

Despite the midsize A-body being a corporate GM platform, each division’s car cleverly resembled its full-size counterpart more so than its corresponding midsize competitor from the other GM divisions. For the 1964 Skylark and Special, that meant a handsomely square profile with a formal roof and body edges tailored to gentle curves, much like the full-size LeSabre and Wildcat, the latter being Buick’s version of a “Super Sport” LeSabre.

With the new A-body redesign of 1964, GM’s bargain and mid-priced brands brought out performance versions. At Chevrolet, that meant the Malibu SS while over at Pontiac, the GTO made its famous debut. Seeing the value of the GTO hype, and already having a performance reputation of its own, Oldsmobile followed suit mid 1964 with the 4-4-2. With performance heating up across the industry and adding more and more sales potential with each increase in horsepower, even Buick — GM’s brand for those seeking luxury and quality without the ostentatiousness of a Cadillac — joined the melee with performance models.

In mid 1965, the Gran Sport option became available on the Riviera, Skylark and Wildcat. The racing heart of the Skylark GS package was a 325-hp “Wildcat” 401-cid V-8 with a 10.25:1 compression ratio and a single four-barrel Carter AFB carburetor. The athletic engine exhaled through dual exhaust, and to give the package added street cred, GS badges were mounted inside and out.

The GS continued on the updated 1966 A-body with more muscular looks that included blacked-out exterior components and the addition of hood scoops. Obviously seeing more potential with the Gran Sport, Buick split the Gran Sport into two lines for 1967 with the addition of the new GS 340 powered by an engine of that displacement. 1967 also marked the arrival of an all-new, truly 400-cid V-8 in the GS 400 that no longer had to skirt GM’s displacement limit. This new 400-cid V-8 had 340 hp, which compared favorably to the standard 335-hp, 400-cid V-8 in that year’s GTO.

The GS 400 maintained the “fast with class” image of the previous Gran Sports by using much of the bright Skylark trim, but the new GS 340 had an increasingly more typical muscle car image with red body stripes on the sides and atop the hood scoops and a red-accented rear deck molding.

By this time, a few savvy racers had noticed the power of the Buick Gran Sport. Among them was Lennie “Pop” Kennedy, who had been racing Buicks since the mid 1950s. He stayed with Buick on the strip through the 1960s and beyond, driving cars sponsored by Reynolds Buick of West Covina, Calif., and gaining the attention of Buick brass as he and fellow racer Jim Bell worked to improve and develop Buick engine components for better quarter-mile times. The pair eventually formed Kenne-Bell to sell those parts.

When the Gran Sport was born, Pop was there, racing the first 1965 GS 400 delivered to the West Coast, likely obtaining it so early because of his past with Buick and success racing their cars. Once Buick’s new 340-hp 400-cid V-8 came out in 1967, Pop raced that engine, too.

When GM restyled the A-body into more of a fastback for 1968, the Gran Sport returned to the exploding muscle car wars. Again, a new engine became available in a Gran Sport when the 260-hp 340 was replaced with a new Buick four-barrel 350-cid V-8 of 280 hp, but the GS 400 was back with no changes to the one-year-old engine. Again, Pop Kennedy raced the new Buick GS 400, running times as fast as 117 mph in 11.40 seconds. Pop’s GS ran some of his experimental hop-up parts for the Buick 400-cid V-8 (notably, better heads, a more efficient intake manifold and a different carburetor). Using Pop’s input and experience, a factory-installed Stage 1 package was offered for the engine of the GS 400 in 1969, as was a more aggressive Stage 2 package that was available over the counter at Buick dealers.

GM divisions moderately updated their A-bodies for 1970, and again Buick paired the new-looking car with a new engine. After the 455-cid V-8-powered Hurst/Olds cars of 1968 and 1969, GM’s 400-cubic-inch limit for its divisions’ intermediates was in the rearview mirror. Now GM divisions were running their largest engines in their midsize muscle cars. At Buick, that meant using the new 455-cid V-8 in the Gran Sport. The car was logically dubbed the GS 455, while the 315-hp GS 350 continued to be offered alongside it.

Without question, 1970 marked the peak of the muscle car era with bright paint options, wild factory graphic and decal packages, top performance engines and catchy acronyms for names, and Buick ran with the best when it introduced its new GSX. Essentially a slightly dechromed GS 455 with front and rear spoilers, select painted trim and a decal package, the GSX was a decidedly youthful and in-your-face Buick that took the GS 455 to the extreme. Available in Saturn Yellow or Apollo White, it could be had with or without the Stage 1 option of the GS 455 upon which it was based.

The new GS 455 and GSX for 1970 offered 350 hp and another 10 hp with the Stage 1 package (a Stage 2 package was again available over the counter). Those numbers may not appear to be competitive against a 425-hp 426 Hemi or a 450-hp LS6 Chevelle SS 454, but with 510 lb.-ft. of torque, the Buick GS 455 Stage 1 could match — and even beat ­— a Hemi GTX or a SS 454. On lists of the fastest muscle cars of all time, Stage 1-equipped 1970 Buick GS 455 cars always rank at or very near the top.

The GS 455 and GS 350 lasted through the 1970-1972 styling cycle and even slightly beyond when GM’s A-body was completely redesigned for 1973, but as with all muscle cars, the power was never as great as it was in the first year of the disco decade.

Pushing go and show

In early September 1969, shortly after the Buick Division of General Motors began minting its new 1970 models, two identical white 1970 GS Stage 1 two-door hardtops were pulled off the assembly line the same day to be converted into show cars for the auto show circuit. The “top dog” Gran Sports were identically optioned and close together in production sequence (their body numbers were just two digits apart). One of these Stage 1 Gran Sports destined for show duty became a GSX show car sometimes mistakenly referred to as a prototype, and the other was converted into a specially painted and trimmed GS 455 intended to “light your fire,” as advertisements generally claimed for the GS. Both made their debut perched atop circular stands at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show, held at the International Amphitheater from Feb. 21 to March 1.

Not surprisingly for show cars, the Shows, Displays and Exhibits Division of Buick had each Gran Sport well-equipped. They both featured the Stage 1 package, an automatic transmission, a console, bucket seats, 3.64 Positraction rear differential, Rallye Ride Control Package, G60-15 Goodyear Polyglas GT tires, chromed five-spoke wheels, tilt steering, power windows, power locks, full instrumentation, power steering, disc brakes, Soft Ray-tinted windshield and the Rallye steering wheel. The GSX show car received the parts unique to the model, although some of them differed from production components, while the GS 455 Stage 1 show car underwent its own changes. Its body color was changed to a one-of-a-kind, bright orange Fireglow Red Pearl color, and the pearl white-upholstered interior received a unique white shag-type carpet with non-production, orange-colored experimental front seat belts that complemented the body color. The tinted glass ­— even the windshield ­­— was also removed from the car and replaced with untinted glass.

“The windows were not tinted, because it was felt that any tinting would not properly demonstrate the appeal of that white interior,” said Alan Oldfield of the Buick Heritage Alliance, which now holds title to the car. “It’s quite striking when you see it.”

A photo of the car at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show shows the interior glowing, and without the window tint, the white is pure and oddly bright without a blue tint cast upon it.

It seems Buick had a thing for metallic orange show cars, and the Fireglow Red Pearl 1970 GS 455 Stage 1 was not its first. In 1966, a Wildcat convertible painted a non-production metallic-orange color appeared on the auto show circuit with an exclusive orange front-and-rear bucket seat interior. Two years later, Buick displayed atop its stands an orange 1968 Riviera and a white 1968 Gran Sport, the latter having a one-of-a-kind white interior with a shag-type white carpet.

Like the preceding orange Buick show cars, the white 1970 GSX and Fireglow Red Pearl Gran Sports were supposed to disappear, but Columbus, Ohio, Buick dealer Len Immke, a rabid fan and collector of Buicks ­— and himself a sponsor of a 1970 GS 455 race car ­— stepped in.

“They were retired and supposed to be crushed,” said Oldfield. “Len Immke convinced Buick to sell the cars to him with the promise that he would not sell them, but one time, when he was out of town, the cars got sold and they went into private hands.”

The first owner of the Fireglow Red Pearl GS reportedly raced it into the 1970s, racking up about 13,000 miles on the odometer. However, he ran steep gears for racing so the actual mileage is likely lower. That owner reportedly raced the car hard enough to blow the original engine and transmission,. Today the car has a replacement engine block with many of the important original components, such as the carburetor and cylinder heads. It still shows about 13,000 miles.

Racing kept the Fireglow Red Pearl GS’s body rust-free, and by the time it went into a collector’s hands, the original paint had cracked and the car’s rock-solid sheet metal deserved a re-spray. The car then swung from owner to owner with one of them replacing the white shag carpet with a production-type black rug. However, the rest of the interior remains original.

In 2023, the car went to its forever home when it was donated by Ralph Jenkins Harding III of Odessa, Texas, to the Buick Heritage Alliance, a non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation of all things Buick, from literature to the cars themselves. The BHA’s literature collection is housed at the AACA Library & Research Center in Hershey, Pa., while it loans its cars to museums across the country. Oldfield said the Fireglow Red Pearl 1970 Buick GS Stage 1 show car will continue its show car duties at NATMUS for the foreseeable future, where it can be seen by all.

MORE INFO

Buick Heritage Alliance
www.buickheritagealliance.org

NATMUS
1000 Gordon M. Buehrig Place
Auburn, IN 46706
260-925-9100
natmus.org

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Story and photos by Rolland Rahr

In the fall of 1990, my husband Peter and I embarked on a driving tour from our home in Waukegan, Ill., to Bar Harbor, Maine. We would be in the eastern United States during the week of the peak fall colors, making it a spectacular time for a road trip. On the way, I mentioned I was considering trading in my ’89 Acura Integra, the car we were driving, for a new Chrysler LeBaron convertible. Peter’s reaction wasn’t favorable. He described the LeBaron as “driving like a pillow on wheels.” He made the throwaway comment, “an old convertible would be a lot more fun.” Like that tune you can’t stop hearing, for the rest of the trip I couldn’t get thoughts about an old convertible out of my head.

Just outside of Ithaca, N.Y., we stopped for gas. I went inside to pay (there were no gas pump credit card readers back then), and on my way out I passed a magazine rack where I saw my first issue of Auto Hunter. Magazine in hand, I returned to the car. We completed the last leg of the trip and arrived at our motel at bedtime. Though exhausted, I couldn’t resist picking up the Auto Hunter before turning out the lights. I was absolutely gob-smacked at what I saw! Prior to that moment, if and when I saw an old car, I believed it was a thrilling fluke of nature. I had no clue an old car hobby even existed!

The shopper immediately transported me back to a Saturday morning in September 1956 when my dad took me with him for the first peek at the 1957 models. I clearly recall the awe I felt as the newspaper pages were slowly peeled off the dealer’s windows to reveal the new cars. 1957 was a remarkable year for all car manufacturers, and all offerings that year looked new and breathtakingly modern. My enthusiasm for cars never waned from that moment.

One ad in the Auto Hunter particularly intrigued me. The text read “1962 Buick Murta Convertible.” I knew “Murta” was a mistake, and guessed it was likely an “Invicta.” Puzzled over how such a mistake could have been made, I picked up pen and paper and wrote “Murta“ in the fanciest, most exaggerated style I could, and there it was! I concluded whoever set the type for the ad misread the seller’s information, and thus “Invicta” became “Murta.” The curious ad and Peter’s comment about buying an old car piqued my curiosity sufficiently to make me want to see the car. My appreciation for 1962 Buicks began when I saw them new and thought they were the most beautiful Buicks ever. With smooth but sculpted body sides, front fenders that swept back aft of the headlamps and the rearward-slanting tail, the car looked like it was in motion. Peter was excited as well as his grandfather only drove Buicks, and he loved Grandad.

We revised our itinerary so we could see the car the day before beginning our return to Illinois. We arrived at Jadon Isuzu in Beverly, Mass., Friday afternoon around 3 p.m. and examined the car in as much detail as one who has never bought an old car, and wasn’t mechanically inclined, could do. It wore shiny white paint, had a black top showing some wear but no rips or tears, had a white interior with factory bucket seats and was obviously well cared for. The odometer showed 88,000 miles. I was immediately hooked.

We left the dealer, went for coffee, talked a lot and decided to go for it, but it was going to be complicated. We somehow had to come up with $5,500, get the car plated and then drive it 1,200 miles, all within 48 hours. A cash advance on our credit card solved the money problem, but finding a bank that could do a cash advance, let alone one of this size, proved difficult. Finally, cash in hand, we returned to the dealer around 5:30 p.m. and by 6:15 p.m. were on our way back to the motel.

The plan we hatched included Peter flying back to Illinois the next day (Saturday) to take care of the paperwork and obtain the license plates, then flying back to Boston to return to the dealer before closing. This was complicated by the 2 p.m. closing time for the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. This scheme was only possible because Peter, who was a flight attendant for American Airlines, could fly standby at no cost, loads permitting. With light loads on the 11:30 a.m. flight to Chicago as well as the 2 p.m. return flight to Boston, I dropped Peter off at Logan International Airport in Boston at 10:30 a.m. At 5:30 p.m. I picked him up. We arrived at the dealer at 5:50 p.m., 10 minutes before closing.

We left the dealer around 6:15 p.m. Peter drove the Integra; I drove the Buick. About two miles from the dealer, I pulled off to the side of the road. There was a problem with the transmission. We went searching for a pay phone and about 10 minutes later, connected with our salesman who, thankfully, was still there. I explained the transmission wasn’t shifting through the gears. After a pregnant pause and some background chatter, our salesman explained the virtue of the Dynaflow transmission: there is no shift! I had no idea there was such a thing. In every other car I’d ever driven with an automatic, there was always a slight jerk as the transmission shifted though its gears. I was in the habit of listening and anticipating the change in gears, and this transmission didn’t do that. Satisfied with the explanation, but still a little apprehensive, we got back on the road. We stopped at a motel for the night where we experienced “PAOC” (public appreciation of old cars) for the first time. We left early Sunday morning and arrived back in Illinois about 10 hours later without so much as a hiccup. Once we finagled the car into the garage, we completely crashed. It had been a long, exciting weekend and we were glad to be home.

A new chapter in Murta’s story

What we didn’t know then was that “Murta’s Tale” had only just begun. The next chapter began with a trip to “The Buick Whisperer,” a mechanic in Chicago who was regarded by several fellow Buick owners we’d met as a Buick expert. We had him do all the usual stuff you do when first acquiring a 28-year-old car: gas tank, fuel lines, brakes, cooling, etc. While in the shop I mentioned the one disappointment with the car: the lack of air conditioning. The whisperer’s reply was “no problem—I can make that happen.” He explained he’d recently purchased a ’62 LeSabre parts car and had everything needed to convert our car. We turned the car over to him in February 1991 and by March 1992, the dash had been partially disassembled and parts removed from the parts car, but that was all. After many, many phone calls and the engagement of a lawyer and a towing company, we showed up at his shop on a Saturday morning in February and extricated the car. The interior was stuffed with parts from our partially disassembled car. The car went to Custom Automotive Refinishing, a Milwaukee body shop, based on referrals from car club members. Chris Tesch, the owner, took pity on us and agreed to complete the work. After meeting with Chris and seeing the incredible body and paint work he did, we decided to change gears, scrapping the air conditioning plans in favor of a complete bare metal repaint. We decided to change from Arctic White to Cardinal Red (a ’62 Buick color) and changed the top from black to white. Our inexperience with old cars had unfortunately led us to buy a car with bondo along the bottom of all quarter panels, just behind the wheels, and in the rocker panels. It was the right decision.

While the car was in Milwaukee, a fellow club member, who had previously done good mechanical work for us on a different car, and who was willing to do the work in Milwaukee, convinced us to let him redo the top half of the engine. We left it in his (assumed) capable hands only to discover a year later the engine (top half removed) had been left exposed to the elements and needed a full rebuild as a result. We learned, to our surprise, the mechanic had up and moved, without notice, to Minneapolis, after having found love. He left all manner of unfinished business behind, including our disassembled, uncovered engine.

Chris relocated the business to Muskego, about 20 miles west of Milwaukee, and our car went with him. The engine rebuilding was to be done by a friend of Chris’s, “Scott #1,” so the engine went to his shop where it would stay for two years.

In May 1993 I bought a ’62 Imperial with the intention of driving it to our club’s Grand Invitational in New Hope, Pa., in July 1994. One thing led to another and we decided to change gears and have Chris do a full repaint on the Imperial, leaving the Buick on the back burner.

During the time the engine was at Scott #1’s shop, it was determined the scope of work needed to expand into a total rebuild. The engine work was ultimately completed only to discover afterward the transmission had lost reverse. Scott #1 arranged with a different shop to rebuild the transmission, a task that took over a year as it was done as time permitted. The car was returned to Chris sometime in late 1996. Unfortunately, it was determined there were still problems with the engine, and that some of the work Scott #1 did was faulty, but by that time he had moved away. A second mechanic, Scott #2, was located and the car went to him. At this time, for many reasons, our priorities changed, and the project was pushed even farther to the back burner.

I became a casualty of the recession in 2008 when my job at Bang & Olufsen was eliminated due to an across-the-board, 10-percent workforce reduction. For the next three years, I struggled to land a permanent job. The Buick went unattended during that period as I didn’t have the money to push the project forward. This was a difficult time and at some point, I frankly gave up on ever seeing the car again and mentally wrote it off.

In July of 2011, I received a call completely out of the blue from Chris, who nicely but firmly pushed me to make a decision about the car. He offered to buy it if I couldn’t support its completion. I anguished for several days over what to do, and ultimately decided to borrow against my IRA to have Chris finish it. Thankfully, two months later, I started a new job that would become permanent, and two months after that, I drove the car home. It was in the garage for the first time since February 1992—19 years later! The story didn’t end here, however.

From the moment I got the car back, and during the next five years, the car exhibited noise that sounded like bad lifters, and it overheated after even short distances, losing coolant with no apparent leaks. I drove the car very little as a result. The decision was made to replace the lifters and tappets. While somewhat diminished, the noise persisted and after further detective work, the noise was determined to be coming from the fuel pump. Upon removal, it was discovered a spacer had been installed upside down. A new fuel pump and spacer were properly installed, and the noise was gone! The overheating, however, was not. A friend, Mike Bishop, who was a GM exec and car club buddy, directed me to Castle Chevrolet in Elk Grove Village, Ill., and I credit them for solving the overheating problem. Another water pump and a new thermostat were installed. The radiator was re-cored. The five-blade fan was replaced with a six-blade version. A radiator shroud, which came as factory equipment only for factory air-conditioned cars, was sourced and installed. It still overheated. A decision to go to the next level was made and the heads and intake manifold were removed. Upon close examination, it was discovered the valve seals installed were too small for the valves, and as a result the extra friction caused a lot of extra heat, leading to overheating and coolant loss. New, correct valves and seals were installed, as well as hardened valve seats. Mechanic Scott #2 had not installed them, as he told me at the time they were not available. I’m happy to say that did the trick!

Now, a lot of money later, the car is running wonderfully, and it’s surprisingly quick! It doesn’t overheat, purrs like the wildcat it is (it does have the 401 Wildcat engine) and sounds like it just rolled off the showroom floor. It’s an absolute joy to drive. It was a long and expensive journey, but worth it in the end. And, oh, that Dynaflow!

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In the course of a 2004 estate dispersal, a long-hidden stash of General Motors-sourced photos showing GM Styling Shop Order (SO) cars from the 1950s came to light. The GM Photographic 8×10-inch prints of specially modified cars were among the many vintage treasures, automotive and otherwise, stored away at a historic farmstead near Romeo, Mich.

The rural property had been the residence of the late Waino (“Wayne”) Husko. Before retirement, Husko had been a supervisor in the Mechanical Engineering Development Group at the GM Tech Center.

Husko’s automotive collectibles comprised several cars, including a Packard Twelve town car originally owned by Dodge Brothers co-founder Horace Dodge’s son.

Also found stored in a building on Husko’s property was the only 1963 Corvette Sting Ray Z06 convertible built. Husko was the one-off’s original owner—it was built to his specification by the St. Louis Corvette Plant! (The amazing story of how the Z06 was found in—and sold out of—the Husko estate is recounted in the 2010 book, “The Corvette in the Barn.”)

The Old Cars reader who acquired Husko’s hoard of GM SO car images in 2004 recently began offering them on eBay. Old Cars Editor Angelo Van Bogart spotted the listings and obtained several photos featuring Cadillacs and Buicks with GM Styling special design features. The cars’ respective Shop Order numbers are pencilled on the photos’ backs.

Knowing the author is somewhat partial to Buicks, Angelo invited us to see what we could find about the two modified 1955 Buick convertibles—one a Roadmaster and the other a Century— illustrated in the Husko photos he obtained. The results of our research are reflected in this article.

The nature of GM Shop Order jobs

Shop Order (SO) cars were built or modified in GM Stying’s dedicated fabrication shops. These behind-the-curtain operations primarily supported Styling’s design studio needs, while additionally providing their specific services to other GM organizations.

SO numbers were primarily used to help GM accountants track project costs, and they weren’t just for vehicles. Styling’s fabrication shops built “bucks” for clay models, crafted auto show displays and executed numerous other GM special projects requiring hands-on skills.

A Shop Order vehicle typically has a special tag stamped with its SO number affixed to its firewall at upper right.

The most widely known SO cars were the 1953-1961 GM Motorama concept cars, completely hand-built customs that previewed potential styling and engineering advances. Many were also assigned “XP” numbers by GM Engineering, when experimental technical features were significantly included.

Other SO cars included production models modified for auto-show display. Such specials might have custom exterior paint and trim, and/or special interior trim and details. Some also show-cased experimental engineering features.

SO cars were also done for important personages outside of GM. Some were built for heads of state. SO 2597, a 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 limousine, was modified for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and apparently further worked over by the coachbuilding firm Hess & Eisenhardt. (The car would be primarily used by Eisenhower’s wife, Mamie, during his administration).

Multiple specially modified SO Cadillacs, Buicks and at least one Chevrolet station wagon were delivered to Great Britain’s Edward, Duke of Windsor. Some SO individual customs were for entertainers—singer and Chevrolet pitch-person Dinah Shore among them.

Perhaps the least-known SO cars were those done for GM board members, senior executives and, occasionally, their family members. The 1955 Buicks we’ll momentarily discuss here were in this category.

SO cars modified from production models were assembled by their parent divisions before being transported to GM Styling for customization. Many divisional plants were equipped to spray special-order colors, although Styling did have its own paint shop.

In addition to non-production paint, individual SO cars might require the creation of special emblems, moldings and accessories. These were designed in the Styling studios, which released parts lists and design drawings to the shops for follow-through. Custom interior trim patterns and fabrics were handled by the “Trim Room” experts.

We don’t know when the Shop Order tracking methodology was introduced at GM. But Styling’s long tradition of building special cars for special people began not long after GM President Alfred P. Sloan brought California coachbuilder Harley J. Earl into GM early in 1927, having chosen him to establish a centralized design resource within the corporation. Earl’s resulting “Art & Colour” group was soon taking form. (After 1936, the now-larger design domain over which Earl ruled would be known as GM Styling.)

During 1928, the small group of stylists and technical engineers Earl had added to his fledgling Art & Colour staff designed and built a custom LaSalle “Sedan Cabriolet” for Lawrence J. Fisher, General Manager of Cadillac. Innovative both in appearance and construction, the low-slung and sleekly styled full custom was essentially the grand-daddy of all GM Styling Shop Order vehicles to come.

By the early 1950s, Shop Order projects were rapidly proliferating, and the Section’s expanded fabrication areas were humming with activity. By this time, these now included paint, metal and wood shops; hammer, milling and plastic/plaster rooms; drafting and engineering services; interior engineering; and fabric cutting and sewing rooms. These resources gave Styling the capability “to design, engineer and build cars … in a hurry,” the late GM Engineering Manager Ken Pickering told podcaster Kevin Walsh in 2015.

It was within the GM Styling and GM Engineering shops that GM’s first slate of seven Motorama concept cars were created for the traveling show’s fantastic 1953 tour. GM Research stepped in to help, when needed.

Harlow H. Curtice: A ‘Buick Man’

It was also during 1953 that Harlow H. Curtice became General Motors president. After taking the helm at the then-struggling Buick Division two decades before, Curtice had legendarily saved the make from its near-fatal Great Depression woes. He lead a regenerated Buick brand to record sales in 1940 and 1941, following up by propelling the division to tremendous feats of military production for Allied forces in World War II.

When Curtice became a GM Executive Vice-President in 1948, his office was moved to the corporation’s Detroit headquarters, but he remained a Buick man at heart. He kept his family residence in Flint, Buick’s hometown, even after becoming president of GM in 1953.

When TIME Magazine named Curtice its “1955 Man of the Year,” its biography of him noted, “He [Curtice] lives in a relatively modest red brick corner house, with a three-car garage. In the garage: his wife’s Buick Roadmaster convertible, daughter Dorothy Anne’s Buick Century convertible, and his personal, flashy Buick Skylark convertible, now being hopped up with a new experimental engine and transmission.” (Curtice’s Buicks were usually personalized and often equipped with advanced features for him to test.)

When we saw Angelo’s photos of SO 2505, we recalled TIME’s mention of Dorothy Anne’s Century convertible. Initially, we thought we could be looking at her car. However, zooming in on the SO Buick’s custom deck-lid emblem revealed it was monogrammed “MLB.”

A quick web search informed us that the Curtices’ eldest daughter, Mary Lelia, 24, had married Robert C. Bishop in November 1954, and so by 1955, her initials were, indeed, “MLB.”

The question then became, could there have been more than one 1955 Century convertible for the Curtice daughters? We emailed scans of Angelo’s Buick images to Christo Datini, manager of GM Design Archive & Special Collections, asking for help.

Christo responded that he’d found the originals of the prints obtained by Angelo, as well as a few others in the series, in the GM Photographic archives.

In regards to the SO 1955 Century images, Christo wrote, “The photographer’s notes indicate that this series depicts two 1955 Century convertibles for Harlow Curtice’s two daughters. Their SO numbers are 2503 and 2505.”

Christo’s input strongly infers that it was Dorothy Anne, 23 years old and a college student in 1955, who received the SO 2503 Century. (The third Curtice daughter, Catherine Dale, then 17, apparently didn’t receive a custom 1955 Buick convertible.)

Christo attached additional images from the GM Photographic shoot, most of them interior views. He also copied for us the internal 1955 Shop Orders index page listing the cars. The line entries for both 2503 and 2505 are annotated “Mr. Curtice’s Daughter,” confirming the intended recipients.

GM Photographic’s Neil Madler shot the “go-around” of the Curtice daughters’ SO Century convertibles on March 30, 1955. We assume the sister cars were delivered soon after.

These 1955 SO cars were completed after the annually recurring rush to build Motorama cars. The Buicks were also finished in the midst of GM Styling’s move to the new General Motors Technical Center in Warren.

Construction had began on the Tech Center campus in 1949, and GM Engineering operations were settling into their new quarters there by 1951-’52. GM Research and Process Development followed, as their buildings were completed. The beautiful and spacious buildings housing Styling’s studios and fabrication ancillaries were among the last to be occupied. By late 1954, Styling’s transfer to Warren was reportedly nearly complete.

However, the March 1955 images of the SO Centurys appear to have been taken in Styling’s 11th-floor photo studio/viewing auditorium at the GM Research Building—aka “Argonaut Building.” (The 11th floor’s special ceiling lights are reflected on a rear bumper in one of the photos, and the turntable upon which SO 2025 was positioned was another built-in feature.)Located behind the GM headquarters building in Detroit’s New Center area, the building had been Styling’s home since 1937.

In Madler’s black-and-white images, SO 2505 appears to be painted a medium metallic color. It may be a custom hue, but we can’t say for sure. Nor do we know if both SO Centurys were the same color.

Christo also scanned the projects’ original “Styling Section Parts List” sheet which documents that both cars had the same exterior modifications. It lists the specially designed exterior features shared by the two Buicks, complete with Styling’s drawing numbers. A typed notation states that the cars were “same as production except as listed.”

The list confirmed special features we’d noted, and our comments on them follow:

• The custom sweepspear moldings on the SO twins are more slender than production ’55 Buicks. Their nearly flat surface and thin cross-section echoes the cast sweepspears of Buick’s 1953 Skylark. (Standard 1955 sweepspear trim pieces were stamped stainless, with a broader profile and a raised ridge in cross-section.)

• The SO Centurys’ series scripts are completely different than those of production models, and are placed higher on the rear quarters.

• The list confirms that the bright rocker-panel moldings were specified for the two SO cars.

• The far-forward placement of the rearview mirrors atop the front fenders reflects 1950s European sports/racing influences. Custom chromed moulding strips visually connect the mirrors to production headlamp bezels.

• Although a non-production grille was specified for both Centurys, SO 2025’s grille is of the production design. Its finish does appear less reflective than chrome; perhaps it had an anodized gold surface.

• A Buick crest is incorporated into the grille center badge in place of the production 1955 tri-color disc.

• The wire wheels are of the “Skylark” type optional on 1955 Buicks.

• A custom ornament/lift ensemble is seen on the production deck lid. The emblem somewhat anticipates the 1956 design. The monogram letters are laid out around the center of the emblem. (The parts list verifies that separate sets of letters were ordered for the two cars.)

The Century exterior views suggest that Madler used SO 2025 to represent both daughters’ cars for the exteriors portion of his shoot.

The interior photos, taken in a different setting than the exteriors, may show SO 2023. We cannot be certain if both cars had the same custom interior design, but it seems likely so.

Here, we noted the non-production sew patterns for the contrasting-color pleated seat inserts, along with a custom appearance for sidewall and door trim pads. The interior was richly detailed; even the seat side-trim panels look to be custom designs.

A third custom Buick

Additionally included among Angelo’s photos was a single GM Photographic print of another SO 1955 Buick, this one a Roadmaster convertible. Signed “Johnson” and dated March 3, 1955, this Buick convertible is identified as SO 2471. The photos of it look to have been taken in a fabrication shop area, also likely in the GM Research Building.

Angelo’s photo, and additional images of the car provided by Christo, show but one non-stock exterior anomaly—SO 2471 lacked the broad bright trim panel aft of the rear wheelhouse that was seen on production 1955 Roadmasters.

Subtle distinctions identifying SO 2471 as a Roadmaster include its gold-toned badge beneath the door Ventipane (vent window), gold-toned hood ornament and specific wheel covers, distinguished by stamped-in center “spinners.” Both Roadmasters and Supers had four front fender Ventiports (portholes) in 1955.

The Roadmaster is two-toned, with the darker color below the sweepspear. Again, we don’t know if it was painted production colors.

Interior photos of SO 2471 show a full custom interior, beautifully turned out in a monochromatic scheme. The seat insert shape here resembles that of certain future Buicks.

We wondered, was SO 2471 the 1955 Roadmaster convertible Mrs. Curtice drove, as mentioned in TIME? In this instance, there would be no clear-cut answer, it turned out.

Photographer Johnson logged the car as a “1955 Buick Roadmaster for Ned Nickles,” Christo told us. Buick’s chief designer from the late 1940s into the mid ’50s, Nickles is known to have had other SO Buicks built for his use—perhaps most famously, his 1948 Roadmaster convertible equipped with the forerunner of Buick’s famous “portholes.” Alternately, Christo noted, the Roadmaster could have been photographed, “… for a project [Nickles] managed.”

Christo additionally noted that SO 2471 is not listed on the archives’ SO cars index, adding that, except for the Curtice daughters’ 1955 Century convertibles, no other 1955 Buicks are manifested. Possibly, then, Mrs. Curtice’s ’55 Roadmaster was factory-stock.

Where are they now?

None of the three SO 1955 Buicks discussed here are known to have survived. The very few SO Buicks evolved from production models that are still with us include SO 2308, the Motorama-veteran 1954 Buick Landau that features 1930s classic car inspirations; SO 90022, the spectacular 1956 Century X convertible built for future GM Styling chief William Mitchell; and SO 90681, the extraordinarily unique 1960 Electra 225 convertible presented by GM Styling to Harlow Curtice after his 1958 retirement. A fair number of SO individual custom Cadillacs are also still with us.

The wonderful 1950s Motorama experimental cars saved by super collector Joe Bortz are the undoubtedly the most widely known and most coveted examples of SO concept-car specials extant.

During his 2015 podcast interview, Ken Pickering recalled that, after Harley Earl retired in late 1958, Earl’s personal file room in the Tech Center basement was “cleaned out” on Mitchell’s orders, to make space for a secretive Corvette design studio. Could it be the Husko SO prints were rescued from destruction at the time Earl’s files were discarded? We’ll never know, but we’re glad that he somehow saved them, and through another care-taker, some were passed to Angelo to be presented here.

Author’s note: Our special thanks to GM Design Archive & Special Collections Manager Christo Datini for providing the additional photos and documentation that helped us tell the stories, at least as far as presented here, of three Buicks that may have otherwise remained lost to history.

Editor’s note: Author Terry V. Boyce began serving on the Old Cars staff in 1974 and was editor into 1978.

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For more than a decade I served on the Eyes on Design car show vehicle selection committee alongside Joe Tonietto, among others. During one of our monthly meetings, Joe pulled me aside to share pictures of his current restoration project, a rough 1958 Buick Century Caballero station wagon that he’d rescued. The previous owner wanted to get it into hands that would restore the car rather than scrap it.

Joe said his plan was to restore the Buick to best-in-class level, then campaign it in every major Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) event. To say he reached his goal for the classic ’58 Buick wagon is an understatement. He earned AACA First Junior and First Senior awards in 2019 and the following year, he was awarded the club’s top honor with the prestigious AACA Zenith Award, which the club presents to the finest restored vehicle shown at an AACA Nationals event the previous year.

Starting in 2016, the AACA began awarding its coveted Zenith Award. The winner is chosen each year from the more than 2,800 cars, trucks and motorcycles shown at AACA Nationals events across the United States. Two Zenith Award contenders are nominated from each AACA Nationals show by the AACA National Awards judging team. From this small pool, the car with the “restoration of the year” is selected as the AACA Zenith Award winner.

“Despite tough competition from each of the vehicles nominated, the Buick Caballero station wagon exemplified the Zenith Award as the finest restoration of the year and will wear that title well,” stated Tom Cox, AACA Board VP and the originator of the Zenith Award program upon Joe’s win with his 1958 Buick Century Caballero. “That determination was borne out by competing car owners as well. The competing cars and owners were first-class—a real testament to the fine spirit of the hobby.”

The new 1958 Buicks

Advertised as “The Air-Born B-58 Buick,” the 1958 Buick models were adorned with more chrome and stainless-steel trim than any other production car—ever! From the 160 chrome squares in the “Fashion-Aire Dynastar Grille” to the heating and ventilation controls and simulated jet exhaust outlets in the rear bumper, Jet Age influence was everywhere in the design. The Century Caballero was the latest and greatest Buick station wagon, being poised at the top of its three-tiered station wagon offerings that year, which included the entry-level Special Model 49 pillared-window Estate Wagon, the Special Riviera (hardtop) Model 49D Estate Wagon and the top-line Century Caballero station wagon. The B-58 Buick station wagons were the latest in a long line of Buick station wagons that went back to 1940, the first year that the automaker offered a wagon. In 1940, the Buick Estate Wagon was only offered in the Super line and had a wood body supplied by Hercules or the Ionia Manufacturing Co. Buick station wagons would continue to have at least partially wooded bodies until 1954, when Buick station wagon bodies became entirely constructed of steel. In stride with the baby boom, Buick station wagon production continued to rise through the mid 1950s as families grew and the prices dropped when Buick wagons went from partial wood construction to all steel.

When Buicks received all-new bodies for 1957, a station wagon returned and now offered the option of hardtop styling. By now, all of these Buick station wagon bodies were built by the Ionia Manufacturing Co., which modified Buick four-door bodies into station wagons and placed them on the 122-inch-wheelbase sedan chassis. Buick named its top station wagon, which was part of its mid-level Century series, “Caballero,” the Spanish word for gentleman. As the most expensive station wagon in the General Motors line, and coming from Buick—GM’s second-highest-priced division—the well-appointed Caballero earned its name.

For 1958, all Buick bodies received noticeable updates such as quad headlamps, die-cast chrome squares instead of vertical bars in a new grille and a revised lower front bumper. The tailfin treatment was also updated with new and bigger chromed end caps on the quarter panels and a bulkier rear bumper treatment. A wide, new missile-shaped swatch of bright stainless trim dressed the rear fenders (and rear doors on four-doors), and this trim was in addition to a traditional Buick full-length trim sweep. The end result was a bold and bulky-looking Buick bedecked in brightwork—perfectly in tune with the last General Motors vehicles built under GM’s Vice-President of Styling, Harley Earl. Of the massive-looking GM cars of 1958, Buick was most bedazzled with chrome and stainless trim, earning it the title of “The Chrome King.”

There is an oft-told tale of Earl’s approval of the 1958 Buick exterior ornamentation scheme. Initially presented with three different trim options from which he was to select one production scheme, Earl asked to see all three trim packages together on a Century Caballero station wagon. When he saw all three proposals combined on the Caballero, Earl dictated that the ’58 Buicks would incorporate all three of the exterior styling packages! Whether the story is fact or fiction remains unclear more than 65 years later.

Powering 1958 Buicks was a one-year-old 364-cid V-8 that Buick named the B-12000 for the 12,000 pounds of thrust “behind every piston as it is fired,” Buick said. This vertical-valve V-8 engine had a 10:1 compression ratio and 300 hp with four-barrel carburetion in the Buick Limited, Roadmaster 75, Super and Century series, and a 9.5:1 compression ratio and 250 hp with two-barrel carburetion in the Special models. B-12000 engines backed by an automatic transmission received Buick’s new Flight Pitch Dynaflow transmission touted by Buick as giving smooth and exact response in an instant, as well as Buick’s Rotoflow Torque-Tube Drive that “transmits drive thrust directly from rear wheels in a solid power lockup.”

As a part of the Century series, the top-line Caballero station wagon had the 300-hp V-8 and a more luxurious and well-appointed interior than the Special Estate Wagons. As such, the Caballero boasted premium floor and rear compartment carpets, molded door armrests and a padded upper dash. Interior upholstery was usually Buick’s Cordaveen material offered in six two-tone combinations.

In its second and final year of production, 4,456 copies of the four-door hardtop Century Caballero station wagons were sold, making it the best-selling Buick station wagon that year despite being the most expensive station wagon at a $3,831 base price. Buick sold 3,420 Special Riviera Estate Wagons (49D) that year at $3,261 and 3,663 Special Estate Wagons (Model 49) at $3,145. These production figures were down significantly from 1957, owing to the recession that struck the U.S. economy in 1958. When a Buick station wagon returned for 1959 on a new body, all were of a pillared side window design.

Saving a chrome king

“‘Suggestions? – a free ’58 Buick Caballero’ was the title of the station wagon forum thread that started our journey with this 1958 Caballero,” recalled Joe. The question had been posted to an online forum by a member who hoped to keep the rare Caballero from being scrapped. The thread solicited ideas and interest in the project from multiple members, but Joe was the first to indicate he was interested in the car.

Joe’s Caballero had last been registered in 1972, but little else is known about its history. It sat outside and uncovered near Santa Fe, N.M., from 1990 until Joe acquired it in 2014. It had obviously been used as a desert off-road adventurer, as evidenced by significant rock damage on all of its lower body panels and fuel tank, Joe says. He recalls the interior was in typical, southwest desert dried-out “potato chip” condition; the paint was almost completely sun-scorched; and the transmission was missing. Only one piece of glass—the unavailable curved liftgate glass—was present.

“If only this car could talk…” Joe ponders. “The 4-1/2-year restoration effort included body removal followed by replacement or repair of all damaged metal. The engine and [a different] transmission were rebuilt, and the electrical, suspension, steering and interior systems were completely renewed.”

The car sports its original color scheme inside and out and retains its original engine. Major metal repairs, paint, plating, engine machining/assembly and driveline refurbishment were completed by a team of highly skilled professionals, Joe says. The balance of the restoration, including interior fabrication and installation, fabrication of replacements for “unavailable” components and all assembly was completed by Joe and a few of his trusted friends.

In addition to its accolades on the AACA show circuit, the car has won multiple class awards at concours d’elegance events and achieved Senior Gold status at the Buick Club of America’s 2019 national meet. 

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Bill Hitchcock knew the judges missed one little flaw.

It was two summers ago in Lisle, Ill., outside of Chicago and Hitchock was having his stellar 1964 LeSabre sport coupe judged in the Archival Class for all-original cars at the big Buick National Meet. He knew that if the judges looked hard enough, the could find at least one thing that would get him docked a point.

“They have a 400-point scoring system and they put two judges on this car and it got what’s called the Elite Award, which is 385 points or higher,” Hitchcock recalled. “I had to request my score from Nationals and I got it in the mail, and I got 400 out of 400. They couldn’t find anything wrong.

“Well, the one thing that they missed was the oil filter was a NAPA. It wasn’t an AC filter, but it was turned and they couldn’t read the NAPA on it!”

Given that it batted .1000 in front of eagle-eyed Buick judges, it wouldn’t be a stretch to call Hitchcock’s amazing Buick the best original ’64 LeSabre in existence — and maybe the best of its kind period, restored or not. Somehow, the car has passed through a long string of owners around the country and remained in near-perfect condition. There doesn’t seem to be any particular rhyme or reason for while a big, family cruiser — meant to be a cushy family hauler and daily transportation — would be so pampered its whole life. The LeSabre currently shows just 33,000 miles and change on the clock, and Hitchcock is responsible for about 2,000 of those in the short time he has had it.

“It was owned by collectors from day one,” he chuckles. “That’s the difference with this one. It just never got driven.”

As thrilled as Hitchcock is to have finally given the LeSabre a permanent home, he actually missed a chance to land it earlier. Somehow, fate just seemed to insist that he and the car hooked up.

“I tell people the car found me,” says. “I live in Milwaukee, and in 2017 we had the Buick Nationals in Milwaukee. And an individual from Indianapolis named Todd Jaworski called me and had two Buicks he wanted to bring up from Indianapolis and he had only one trailer, and he asked me which one of these I wanted to store. I said I got room, I’ll take the LeSabre and store if for you.”

“Well, he took it to the show and he wanted to sell it, but nobody would buy it. So he ended up coming back to my house and we almost made a deal for it, but it wound up falling through, and instead of going back to Indianapolis, he took it up to the Lake Superior Region and put it in a building. Fast froward to 2022 and now the Buick National are bing held in Lyle, Ill., and I’m about call him because I have a big neon sign that fits his ’54 convertible, and the phone rings and it’s him! He asked if I still had the sign and I said yes. I said do you still have the LeSabre and he said yes. So we worked a deal where he brought the car to my house. This car was in my garage twice, it was the only time I had seen it and I bought it!”

THE LESABRE LEGACY

The long-running LeSabre nameplate debuted for the 1959 model year as the lowest-priced offering Invicta and Electra series, but by 1961 its status was elevated with the introduction of the bottom-tier Special line. The first-gen LeSabre proved to be extremely popular wherever it was positioned and wound up being Buick’s top seller from 1959 through 1964.

By 1961, GM made the LeSabre slimmer, and sleeker, and the car remained a strong seller. A big redesign was in the way in 1965, but 1964 models still got a mild refresh that included a handsome new stamped grille in front. A narrow bright bodyside molding decorated the back third of the body, with the series signature residing above it, near the fender end.

Standard goodies on the LeSabres included electric windshield wipers; Step-On parking brake; padded instrument panel; directional signals; front and rear armrests; dual sun shades; courtesy lights; dual horns and cloth upholstery. Cloth and vinyl trim was optional. The convertible was trimmed in all-vinyl, with front bucket seats optional. A Custom trim package option included full-length bright bodyside moldings, with a brushed metallic insert.

Also new for 1964 was the 300-cid V-8 rated at 210 hp. It replaced the old 401-cid “Nailhead” V-8. A 250-hp version with four-barrel carburetion was also optional. A three-speed manual on the tree was standard with a four-speed on the options list. A two-speed Super Turbine 300 automatic transmission could be mated with the two-barrel 300 V-8. A three-speed Super Turbine 400 came with the four-barrel versions and the 401-cid V-8 that was still used in the Estate Wagon.

Inside, the LeSabres were tough to beat. Leg and headroom were spacious, and the seats were soft and inviting — worthy of a high-end 1960s “cocktail cruiser.” passengers were met with ample brightwork, lots of room and living room chair comfort. The huge instrument panel was clean and uncluttered, with two large round gauges serving a variety of functions, all set back under a padded dash surround.

Buyers could order their ’64 LeSabre as a four-door hardtop or sedan, two-door sport coupe or two-door convertible. The two station wagons were technically grouped in their own series and were trimmed as LeSabres and equipped with the Wildcat’s chassis and power trains. The LeSabre four-door sedan was by far the most popular of all Buicks for 1964 with 56,729 produced. Hitchcock’s car was one of 24,177 sport coupes built for the model year and would have carried a base price of $3,061 before any of the accessory boxes were checked.

Hitchcock’s LeSabre still carries its original 300-cid V-8 mated to an automatic transmission. “It’s the Wildcat 355. It’s 355 ft.-lbs. of torque and 250 hp,” he notes.

 “Then it has the Super Turbine transmission; power steering; power brakes; power windows; power seats; power antenna; power seats; power antenna; vacuum-operated trunk; console; bucket seats; tinted glass in the front; no air – for a California car that seems unusual. And it’s still got the original floor mats!”

Buyers and GM brass all seemed to remain fond of the LeSabre through many generations. The name first appeared in 1959 and held down the fort as Buick’s lynch-pin mid-level full-size do-everything machine. Buick never really deviated from the formula of a plush, full-size, rear-drive heavyweight available in multiple body sizes that appeal to a wide-range of buyers (at least those not looking for a compact economy car). The LeSabre finally bowed out in 2005 after a run of 46 consecutive years.

33,000 MILES … AND COUNTING

Hitchcock inevitably has to retell the ownership history of his ’64 when show-goers stop and take the time to understand how pristine and unusual his big Buick hardtop is. He is still a little incredulous himself at how the car has sailed so cleanly through so many garages without a scratch.

“The very first guy was in Los Angeles. He bought it and I think he tried to fake it as a Wildcat to his wife because it’s got all the cool stuff [like a Wildcat],” he says. “It’s got power windows, the bucket seats, all that…As near as I can tell, he owned the car for 29 years, and then he sold it to a guy on the East Coast who is kind of famous, named Captain Jim Brown. He took it from California on a trailer to Virginia where he lived. And he wound up with first places in National Antique Automobile Club of America [shows], and then he got up in years and he sold it in 1999 with 29,000 miles on it. At that point I lost some of the history on it. It resurfaced in Carlisle and Hershey, out in Pennsylvania, and then it disappeared for a while and it wound up in a Raleigh auction, where [the last owner] bought it.”

“The guy I bought it from had it 6 years and put 109 miles on it. But everybody that owned this car has treated it as a show car — until me! I’m the guy who has taken it from trailer queen to highway driver. It’s got 33,000 miles on it now.”

Even for the most discerning eyeballs, it would be hard to find a flaw on Hitchcock’s baby. It simply looks like a brand new car from bumper to bumper, inside and out. He doesn’t blame people who seem skeptical when they see the LeSabre for the first time and find out the car has never really been touched, other than cleaning and routine maintenance.

“If you look close at the paint, it’s not perfect!” he laughs. “It’s factory paint. They weren’t perfect. But the thing is it’s never really been out in the sun.”

The only thing Hitchcock says he’s done to the Buick is swap out the deteriorating bias-ply tires for some radials so he can safely drive it. For all its wonderful “time capsule” qualities, he says he bought the full-size coupe to drive and enjoy, not just admire.

“This is just what I call a turn-key car. You just get in it and go,” he says. “With the bias tires it drifted all over the road. With the radials it’s straight and true. It shifts flawlessly. I’ve never driven it above 75 mph, I like to keep it at 60, 65 … It’s got that annoying speed alert buzzer when you go too fast. But it drives beautifully. It doesn’t sway much… It’s got a little bit of a heavy-duty suspension to it.”

“So yes, I’m going to continue driving it. It’s just a really nice car, and I’m going to enjoy it.”

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While out and about at the 2023 Iola Car Show we spotted this beauty of a Skylark.

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Adam Bernard went from a Mini to “maxi” comfort and curb appeal with his ’63 Riviera.

“I’ve had a 1972 Mini for 25 years but it was always more of an urban runabout–and I wanted a design icon for long-distance driving. I found this almost original (repainted once in the original Arctic White) first-year Riviera about an hour from home in 2010 with 94,000 miles and have been enjoying it ever since (now at about 110,000 miles). The interior is showing a bit of wear, but I did have the original radio rebuilt the A/C which still blows cold, and if you look closely you’ll see the optional flip-down purse hook right next to the glovebox. Although wood trim was not offered in 1963, one of the previous owners added a suitably tasteful kit sometime in the past. Alas, the vacuum-operated cruise control no longer engages–but dig those aircraft-inspired slider controls!”

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