I’ve been meaning to post this shot by Curtis Perry for some time. I love the faces on this vintage Buick; what a face. But there’s something rather jarring about it having lost its beautiful hood; a bit like a person with a hole in their forehead. And look at how tall that radiator is; it’s almost hard to imagine the hood clearing it.
And what’s going on with that radiator anyway? I cropped the picture (below) and I’m still a bit confused.
There’s some kind of rope or something tying those radiator supports to the front of the radiator. And that horizontal piece the rope attaches to isn’t seen on other images of similar cars. Some kind of jury-rigged support? Odd.
I wonder if those ropes are actually cables that ran to the inside of the car. These Buicks had hoods that opened from either side, with a latch under each side of the dash. You could choose which side you wanted, or open both latches and take the whole thing off. As happened here. I think we can see a bit of the latch just inboard from that fender-top light.
Or I wonder if it was the shortest way to get wiring from one side of the car to the other? What a great car to stare at.
These were wild cars in that the hood was not permanently attached to the body. Pop the latches on both sides and it comes right off.
Yes, the rope is the sun-bleached remains of the old fabric covered wiring harness.
The two separate hood releases were indeed operated by cable from underneath each side of the dashboard. Each side of the inner fenders had two separate latches, mounted on hinges, to retain the hood. The hood itself had four pins that locked into the latches.
The peak sad eyed Buicks had to be the ’53-’54. As a child I wondered who would buy such a sad looking car new. Just what were these people so miserable about that their automobile even reflected it?
As a child I wondered who would buy such a sad looking car new.
go look at the new Hyundai Sonata 🙂
It’s a 1949 Buick. In the 1940s and early ’50s, Buick attempted to modernize it’s classic radiator design from the 1920s and early ’30s, much like Packard did. Shown here: the radiator grill of a ’30 Buick. I can’t say it was a successful adaptation. My dad had a ’50 Buick for many, many years – the year when they went wild with the big-tooth grill!
Looks like it’s ready for Japan with it’s forward mounted fender side view mirror. More like a bulldogs’ face. Not so sad but very loyal. Much better than all the angry Jeeps out there with glowing red eyes.
This ’49 Super is far better looking than the ’50 Super that was in our family. Oh my, what an ugly beast it was, as a kid I was so embarrassed to be seen in that car. I wish my grandmother had bought a year sooner, then we would have had a car similar to this one. The grille is proportionate to the front end of the vehicle, and I think the whole car is much more attractive than the ’50.
I hope this car is saved before it’s too late.
Agreed. After the ’50 they also seemed to figure out the grille better for ’51 and ’52 with the “teeth” no longer covering the bumper. I don’t have a fave but the ’50 is distinctly behind the pack.
Buick’s and Oldsmobile’s from 1949 to about 1957 were very good looking cars. They call this Buick grille the george Washington dollar grin grille. From the first GM two door hardtops to the plebeian four door sedans, these cars looked good to me. Shame this ones in such sad shape. Put a hood on it, paint it silver and install stock wheel covers and it would be perfect.
In addition to the removable hood that could open from either side, Buicks of this vintage had a few other unique features. I recall the radio antenna mounted above the windshield that was connected to a knob inside above the rear view mirror. Turning the knob would swing the entire antenna out of the way when entering a low ceiling garage. Another was the starter button under the gas pedal.
As a kid I rode carpool for several years in a neighbors ‘52 Special. I can still hear the motorboat like soft moan of the Dynaflow Straight 8 as it pulled away from the house.
The swinging antenna turned by a knob wasn’t unique to Buick – stepdown Hudsons were built the same way! I wonder how many other makes/models in this era had this feature?
Saddest of all was the ’54 Olds.
As TornAuto pondered, above — How did this awful design survive all the way to production?
….. but a year later, in ’55, Olds came up with a much more cheery winner!
Catfish mouth of ’56? No thanks.
Apropos of nothing, it’s Guy Lombardo’s convertible somewhere in greater NYC. Really gives an idea of the hood’s contours:
I love Guy Lombardo’s music. I also love these Buick’s, but I just don’t understand what you are getting at?
Stunning car and stunning photograph Mr Perry. Just need to get those pesky telephone lines out of the picture. Hope you don’t object to my dabbling.
Given how shoddily built stuff was back then, I’d say it’s factory.
i like the rounded chrome of the toothy grill. the earlier cars had a flatter less toothy version as evidenced by this shot of my mom in front of her 1946 super convertible.
Cool pic!! Thanks for sharing. It’s always fun to see period pictures.
We just watched Revolutionary Road with Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. They owned a Buick similar to this one. Somehow the sad face grill fit right in with the dismal theme of the movie.