1954 Special
One of the most distinctive and readily-identifiable styling cues of the 1950s was Buick’s full rear-wheel openings. It sure made them easy to ID as a kid in the early ’60s, trying to make sense of all of the older cars still on the road. But of course, not all of the models had it during those years; it was a steady progression starting in 1953 and ending abruptly after 1957.
Whether it was a positive step and good design is of course a subjective issue. It can be a bit too much on certain body styles, and seems to work better on some models than others. Buick was trying to inject “The European look of wide-open rear wheel wells” (their words) despite their cars being as all-American as it got. And like so many styling affectations of the ’50s, it soon ran its course, to be replaced by the next styling fad.
It all started in 1952 with Buick’s Skylark concept, obviously an attempt to add some sports car zest to a very large convertible. It’s essential to remember that in the early ’50s, sports cars were the hot thing, and they had an outsize influence, for better or for worse.
And by far the most influential of those was the Jaguar XK-120, which arrived in 1948. And there’s a whole lot of it in that Skylark.
Somewhat ironically, the XK-120 was also quite commonly seen with rear wheel spats, but those were more commonly seen on the continent than in the US. Americans preferred the raw and power-exuding look of its rear wheels in the buff.
The full rear-wheel cutouts must have made a rather sudden appearance in the Buick studios in 1952, as Harley Earl’s beloved 1951 LeSabre concept, which he used as a daily driver, very much did not have them.
Nor did the 1951 XP-300 concept, which did predict future Buick front end styling more than the LeSabre.
Earl had the LeSabre updated in 1953 with larger rear wheel openings, although certainly not the full round ones as on the ’52 Skylark and the 1953 production Skylark.
Buick also had another concept in 1953, the Wildcat. It was essentially Buick’s take on the Corvette, with a fiberglass body. Its front end wasn’t exactly very sporty, but did predict future Buicks. And it had almost fully-covered rear wheels.
Until it didn’t. There’s a couple of shots of it that clearly show the Wildcat was remodeled by having its rear wheels cut open.
Yet the restored Wildcat I has the original enclosed rear wheels. In any case, it seems that the fully-exposed rear wheel treatment was competing against the covered one for some time still at Buick, but it soon became apparent who won.
1953:
The production 1953 Skylark was part of a trifecta of high-end showy, limited-production convertibles introduced by GM that year, along with the Olds 98 Fiesta and Cadillac Eldorado. In Buick’s case, it was as part of their 50th birthday; a gaudy cake for themselves, even if it didn’t have candles.
Building it required major re-doing of the Buick Roadmaster convertible, and very few body parts interchanged. Even the windshield was cut down, unlike on the ’52 concept. Lots of custom handwork and lead filler were involved, which helps explain its very lofty price of $5,000, or 50% more than the Roadmaster. That explains why only 1619 were built and sold.
1954:
In 1954, the Skylark reappeared on the new smaller B-Body, which rather blunted its appeal and sales, which shrank to 836. Its wheel openings were even more adventurous, though, now flashing some serious underbody skin, painted in a contrasting color to make sure it wasn’t missed.
It was also the end of the road for the Skylark, in its present incarnation. Too expensive, but not really exclusive enough.
And in 1954, the full rear wheel openings now also appeared on the rest of Buick’s hardtop coupes and convertibles, such as this C-Body Roadmaster Riviera.
And the B-Body Specials and Century.
It’s hard to overstate how popular Buicks were during this era. If one could afford something a bit nicer than the low-price three, a Buick was the thing to have. And in the mid ’50s, that was increasingly possible, especially since a Special wasn’t really much more expensive. This hardtop coupe cost all of 12% more than a Chevy Bel Air coupe, and came with a V8 engine to boot.
But the 1954 sedans and wagons still kept their rear wheels chastely covered.
That was certainly not so on Buick’s 1954 Wildcat II concept, which opened both front and rear fenders about as much as possible. The whole front end is pretty out there, but then this was GM in the mid-50s, trying to outdo the Italians and failing miserably, all-too often. This would be something out of Battista Farina’s bad dreams. In case it’s not obvious, it started out as a Corvette, which of course also proudly showed it rear wheels.
1955:
In 1955, Buick’s open rear wheel well infection expanded, to include the new four-door hardtops.
But the sedans all stayed pat, with one curious exception: the Special two-door sedan. What to make of that? Good question.
As to how well it worked on the big Roadmaster, I’ll let you be the judge. But it certainly made these all very distinctive and readily identifiable. And it certainly didn’t hurt sales, as Buick soared during the first half of the ’50s, from 304k in 1952 to 738k in 1955, increasing market share from 5.0% to 9.5% in those same years. And although sales slipped to 572 in ’56, due to it being a weak market, Buick’s share still increased to 9.9%. That was enough to push Buick from its traditional 4th place overall into third for those two years (’55, ’56), ahead of Plymouth. Do the rear wheel cutouts get part of the credit?
1955 brought the Wildcat III concept, essentially a preview of coming attractions. Not as wild as number 2, but still showing plenty of skin inside those big fender cutouts.
1956:
1956 was the breakthrough year, when every Buick sported “The European look of wide-open rear wheel wells”, even the station wagons.
And the big Roadmaster sedan.
Joseph Dennis caught this fine ’56 Roadmaster Riviera coupe on the go.
The rear wheel cutout looks even bigger on the B-Body Special and Century, to the point where it doesn’t work so well for me.
It looks just a bit too much like a certain 1955 Chevy. Or thousands of them.
Of course Chevy was doing something almost as big on their 1955 Nomad. Almost.
Buick’s concept car for 1956 was the Centurion, still showing off its wheels, but no more inner fenders. Now it was showing off (or scorching) its passengers under the glass bubble.
1957:
1957 was the finale to the open rear wheel era at Buick. The new C-Body Roadmaster wore them proudly.
Although apparently not everyone was a fan. These must be the biggest aftermarket rear fender skirts ever.
The hardtop Century Caballero Estate Wagon was the flashiest member of the junior Buicks.
The least flashiest was the Special two door sedan, still looking a bit too much like a hot rod.
1958:
Harley Earl pulled out all the stops for the ’58 Buick, but the rear wheel cutouts reverted back to industry norms. The end of an era. This Limited convertible was an attempt to once again compete with Cadillac Eldorado, which had bigger than typical rear wheel cutouts, but came off over-wrought.
The “plain” Roadmaster had plenty of gingerbread too, but no more exposed wheels.
And of course that applied to the Special also. Undoubtedly that was done to prepare buyers for the all-new 1959 cars.
These were previewed by the two Buick Skylark IIIs, designed by Ned Nickles and executed by Pininfarina. The first of them was designed in the summer of 1957 already, and it clearly previews the 1959 Buicks, except for the rear end styling details.
The second version had a plainer front end, but its rear end predicted the production version almost perfectly.
And thus ended “The European look of wide-open rear wheel wells”. European sports cars were passé, and it was now jets and rockets that informed the GM stylists.
Great write up Paul! But the red sedan on page 2 is a 4 door, not a two door.
I’m not sure what you’re getting at. There’s a composite picture of a two door and four door sedan together, the two door has the full openings and the four doesn’t. I put them together to show the difference.
I would suspect that Virgil Exner’s 1951 Chrysler K-310 may have had some influence. It was the kind of voluptuous, big-boned car with looks that would be highly translatable to Buick. But I certainly see that Jaguar influence, which was probably noticed by Exner as well.
I will confess that Buick’s open-wheel era is hit or miss for me. Cars like the convertibles and hardtops, especially with the wire wheels, look right. But many of them, particularly with the overly plain wheelcovers Buick was using in most of those years made the cars look fat(ter). But they were certainly a bold styling statement.
I always found it interesting that it was Oldsmobile and not Buick that resurrected the look in 1965, with wheel openings every bit as big and bold as Buick had done a decade earlier.
Undoubtedly the XK-120 wasn’t the sole influence. It would be impossibly to nail down any single one. The 1948 Cisitalia by PF was also very influential, as well as other sports cars. It was associated with sporty cars, in any case.
The Buick Y job often see with the rear wheels covered also sported open rear wheel. I do not think Virgil’s design had any influence. Just one man’s opinion.
Love your essay. Indeed, for the slight upcharge from a Chevy, one could have a Buick Special. I remember a candy store/soda fountain owner in my neighborhood in The Bronx who in 1954 exclaimed to his customers (of which I was an 11-yr-old) that his dream was to have “A big Buick Special.” That is how people saw these Buicks which, of course, contributed to the sales of them.
These cars and their wheel opening didn’t really strike me as unusual when they were more common on the road, but in hindsight it’s wonderful to see the chronology and gallery of evolution. It must have been a real pain to check the rear tire pressures on the heavily skirted cars, in the days of full service stations. Pull forward a foot or two for the valve stem to be accessible in one side, then do the same, perhaps backwards for the other side. Today, when aerodynamics (or style) warrant a little reduction in lower body drag, it seems the wheels themselves are skirted with full wheel covers (Tesla, Prius, etc). Some of that Skylark style would be nice to see on a future GM EV.
Very informative essay on one of GM’s styling “tricks” that made people believe its cars represented the latest-and greatest. The full-wheel openings did make the Buicks seem sportier and more youthful than their Oldsmobile counterparts.
Chrysler featured a full-wheel opening on the 1955 Imperial, and then restyled it slightly for 1956 by flattening the top, when the fins were added to the car.
One reason Buick sales boomed in 1954 and 1955 was the introduction of longer loan terms for brand-new vehicles. When loans were extended beyond the then-normal 24-month period, customers could buy more expensive cars. The big beneficiary of this move was the Buick Special, which, as the article notes, was priced just above the “low-price three.” All-new styling for 1954, along with the extension of Buick’s new ohv V-8 to the Special, added to Buick’s allure.
The hardest hit in 1954 was Plymouth, which featured dumpy styling for 1954, and was not price competitive with Chevrolet and Ford.
Looked good on Sgt. Dan Matthew’s ’55.
Thank you for an informative article, with outstanding pictures.
Another exception to the 1955 sedan = closed wheel cutouts: the Buicks built for the California Highway Patrol, which also appeared on television.
The 1955 Buicks on the “Highway Patrol” TV show were genuine CHP cars, with full rear wheel cutouts. The TV show’s stylized badge was applied over the CHP badge on the doors. For 1955, the show was sanctioned by the CHP which provided technical assistance including patrol cars and an officer specially assigned to accompany production. In subsequent years, ZIV Productions was on their own and cars varied; 1956 Buicks, 1957 Mercurys and Dodges, 1958-1959 Dodges. From 1957 on, promotional consideration was provided to Chrysler, so most non-“police” cars were Chrysler products.
The 1955 Buick CHP cars were specially ordered, 2-door Century sedans not otherwise available, with four portholes, powered by 321CI, 236HP (gross) V8s. Of the 270 purchased, half came with Dynaflow automatics with a 3.4:1 final drive, the other half with three-speed manuals with a 3.90:1. A Motor Trend test of a Dynaflow car went zero-to-60 in under ten seconds.
The CHP did have clout with the carmakers in those days. In 1965, Dodge, which had supplied CHP cars for years by then, made a special uncatalogued version of the Polara with a slightly stretched wheelbase to meet CHP specifications.
The “Highway Patrol” TV show is a joy to watch for old car fans. Most episodes are now on YouTube, quite a change from when the series could be had only by buying expensive, privately-burned DVDs or VHS tapes, often not optimum in quality (but some of the YouTube videos are derived from those same DVDs).
This photo is from a 2014 issue of Special Interest Autos. This restored car is a genuine CHP retiree, not a movie car or a tribute car (most of which are inaccurate, with three portholes, and some are two-door hardtops). The restorer/owner of the car later sold it, and it has since been displayed by its subsequent owner in many auto and police shows and CHP reunions.
Great article, Paul. I don’t know what it is about Buicks of this era…I’m a FoMoCo guy, but there is definitely something appealing about them, even the wretched ’58s.
Thank you for a walk through some eye candy.
’50s Buicks were mostly gone in salt country when I became car conscious in the early ’70s. Learning about them later, the open rear wheel years really stood out, it was contrary to just about all other American cars.
You can’t argue that it wasn’t a success for Buick, the sales speak for themselves. The distinctive look may have been part of that success.
Interestingly, it was sister Division Oldsmobile that took up the open rear wheel look with enthusiasm in the mid ’60s while Buick had mostly partially enclosed openings.
When Olds thought it was a Buick….
One of the owners of the establishment where I worked during high school had 65 and 67 coupes with those huge wheel openings. Both distinctive looking, handsome cars. They needed attractive wheel covers for the right look.
I am not a fan of round wheel arches. Of course there are exceptions, like the XK120. Most modern cars have RWAs, and for them it is OK to have them (or maybe it is just I do not care much).
Classics with a good design usually do NOT have round wheel arches. It makes them more characterful. A car looks better without RWAs. Good examples are these Buicks, they it look slightly weird. It also might have to do that the rear wheels are set too far back.
I would like to see an in-depth article on four door hardtop station wagons..they appeared, then went away fast, long before hardtops went away, even before the period where it seemed that the four door hardtop would make all the four door sedans go away except for cheap cars..did they creak too much? Fall apart much too quickly? What happened? I have never read anything about that.
I have always loved these, with that full length curved spear trim that dives to the rocker and then back up over the rear wheel. The ones where they raised the bottom point to the axle center instead of the rocker don’t look nearly as good to me.
As a kid I built a Revell kit of the ’56 Century hardtop, blue and white, which I loved. I was fascinated by the flattened ‘dagmars’….
Absolutely fabulous editorial, plus an amazing gallery shown the cars in special configurations most readers never knew about their existence.
The conclusion is quite clear: all cars in 2 doors and pseudo coupe bodywork looks greater in fully open rear wheels’ well (guardabarro, in Spanish) just to be seen how ridiculous the same car could become with the addition of fenderskirts (pollerita, in Spanish).
Large 4 Door sedans and even station wagons can suit very well the skirts, but fully open wheels wells are definitely the appropriated ones for all 2 Doors. And yet fenderskirts look even more disastrous in 2 door’s fastbacks.
Thank you so much for a great article!!