This year has brought much-needed construction for a subway line to the streets around my office building. Mostly, the result has been streets that look busier, but take no longer to traverse. But sometimes, bottlenecks force me onto side streets. These detours usually end in wrath: speed bumps, misplaced trash or recycling bins, and impossible turns back to busy streets. But this side street leads to 1948, in some ways, the end of the automotive past.
Though proud of its spelled-out eight cylinders, the Super was not the Buick for those who cared about power. To make a Super, Buick put the 248-cubic-inch (4 litre), 110 hp straight-8 of the Special (upgraded by 5 horsepower) into the larger, heavier frame and body of the Roadmaster, a 144 hp car. At 4,020 pounds, the Super convertible should comfortably out-drag performers like the Mercedes-Benz 240D. Let’s just say, this is a car for parades and shoreline drives.
It’s Friday morning, just about time to get ready for weekend activities. Most likely, the car is fresh out of the garage, where the battery had been disconnected. Because the roof was open, I could hear the clock ticking like my grandfather’s old glow-in-the-dark alarm clock. But the time is not as indicated.
Buick’s Fireball 8-cylinder engine with Dynaflash combustion chamber design was part of a tradition of OHV Buick engines that went back to the turn of the twentieth century. Louis Chevrolet made his name in Buicks. In 1940, privateers Bill France and Joe Littlejohn (in No. 7) drove Buick Centurys to a 1-2 finish at the Daytona Beach race. For their efforts, the cars were banned, and the domination of Ford continued apace.
By the time this car was made, Buick had made a strong recovery from depression and war. This reflected the logistical acumen of president Harlow Curtice, and improvements to power and ride achieved by Bugatti-collecting engineer Charles Chayne. But most of all, perhaps, Buick’s success reflected the fact that Chayne and Curtice understood that Harley Earl could make cars beautiful, and marketable.
In my memory, Buicks were for church and bridge club, not likely professional athletes’ parking lots. But the first thing I thought about when I saw this car was an anecdote from Ted Williams:
Come to think of it, I did come pretty close to a fight with Jim Tabor when he was with the Red Sox in 1941….Tabor was from Alabama, a strong-built guy, about six foot two, with a trim waist. A lot stronger than I was. We were rookies together in 1939…. I liked him, actually. A sort of tough, rough-hewn guy. I remember we both got new Buicks that first year and when I came back to Boston the next season mine looked newer than when I bought it. The polish on it was thicker than the metal. But gee, you should have seen Tabor’s car. He’d bought a convertible and the top was ripped, there were dents in the fenders, the finish was dull and dirty, it looked like he had driven it through an air raid.
This car is 8 or 9 years newer than the Buick Ted Williams bought when he made it to the big leagues, but, as it turns out, 1948 was the last year for Buick’s prewar chassis. Oldsmobile and Cadillac adopted the new C-body that year, but Buick held out one more year. Nineteen forty-nine would bring venti-ports, hardtops, and fastback sedanets, the future as it was then.
I think the absence of a roof really shows off this design well. The line defining the passenger cabin is sharp and pleasant, like a canoe overturned, but ready to ply the asphalt river.
I’ve never had a car like this. Although its form is sculptural, it seems like a living thing. A sort of automotive dog that wants to go to the beach, or rest in a country club parking lot. I’d hate to disappoint a car like this with my ludicrous short game, or bore it with stops at the grocery store. It’d be like asking Ted Williams to bunt the runner over.
Very nicely restored car. Always admired the Buicks of that period for the sculptured work of art, curves and craftsmanship. And the lines flows like prose. They don’t make ’em like that anymore.
That neighborhood looks familiar; it wouldn’t by chance be in Alhambra, CA would it?
This location definitely has that SoCal bungalow-neighborhood feel to it, doesn’t it? I’d say Alhambra is a good guess, or maybe Pasadena (I need to do a piece on the CCs of Pasadena, there are enough of them around.)
This was photographed in LA, near the County Museum of Art. I work on Wilshire, between Fairfax and San Vicente, and shot the car on a day when there was a bottleneck coming South on Fairfax.
This type of Spanish-plus-bungalow house is, indeed, everywhere here in Southern California–and if you back off the Spanish a little, the entire state.
And when you do, at least make a passing reference to Van Halen please!
I’ve never really paid much attention to Buicks as no one I knew, when growing up, had one. Chevys or Fords? Yes, and an occasional Plymouth, but until my uncle switched to Buicks in the mid 70s….no Buicks aside from a 55 owned by neighbors.
Having said that, postwar Buick styling has struck me as “hit or miss”….both fairly evenly. This is a nice looking car and it has a “just after the war” look about that is pleasant, but that’s it. In black or red I’d be more interested, but this green is just “okay”.
What’s the deal/story on those “tiny” lights set into the rear fenders? Aircraft inspired?
I don’t think they are wired, Howard. They’re reflectors. Harley probably had them put there so the width of the Buick would be discernible from behind at night, given the inboard location of the tail lights (the original ’42 version of this body had tail lamps atop the fenders, and no pods on the cheeks). They may well be aircraft inspired, as you guess, like little jet pods flamed independently to assist in “docking the dirigible”. GM certainly developed that theme over the next 10 years.
My Grandfather had a ’46 sedan (picture) docked in his detached garage in Palmerton, PA for many years. It was the only car he owned in our 18 years on the planet together. He was never as comfortable behind the wheel as he was using the band saw in his butcher shop, and apparently had problems sensing where the fenders ended; the Buick had creases along its flanks, and, according to my Dad, a grille from a ’48 after Grandpop broke the original’s front teeth before I was born.
The knee action shocks were in need of new seals, so it rocked and wallowed on its centerline as Grandpop worked the gears and carefully trimmed direction, trying to keep the gunsight ornament pointed properly; from the back seat, a kid could never get it locked on to a target for long.
The Buick was passed around our extended family for almost 30 years but was seldom used because its handling was so nautical, eventually being sold off somewhere outside of Denver.
“docking the dirigible” Hey guys!, I found a new euphemism!! 🙂
I like the clock that matches the speedometer right down to the fake odometer dials.
Definitely, definitely not a Roadmaster, but still a beautiful car.
Probably my favorite of Convertible Week! Buick was “lucky” in that this body was introduced in 1942 right before the War suspended car production, so when they came back, they still looked “new”! on a side note, in 1949 Buick’s Special and Cadillac’s “75” stayed with thier “pre War” bodies. IIR, only the “As and “C”s were new.
A beautiful car. The older I get, the more I like Buicks. (Insert joke here). Except for a certain late model Lacrosse, anyway.
These late 40s models are some that I am less familiar with, but don’t they just exude class? A nicely written piece on a great car.
What a glorious, wonderful machine in a beautiful color…I feel the same as you, that “living thing” analogy is particularly apt.
I love how the styling cues on this carried forward to so many later models.
A beautiful car and a nice tip of the cap to Teddie Ballgame. The stats don’t tell the whole story for Williams. In the prime of his career he was called to serve in World War 2 and again in Korea. I think that whenever his stats are discussed this should be noted. They’d have been even more impressive had his baseball career not been interrupted twice, and he did it all without steroids. They don’t make them like Ted Williams anymore.
My 12-or-so years in New England were enough to re-infect me with baseball enthusiasm. I’m happy to report that projections for the missed years of the Splendid Splinter, as well as the Yankee Clipper, Rapid Robert, the Hebrew Hammer, and many others, are abundant. One example: http://joeposnanski.com/playing-with-numbers/
Buick managed the immediate postwar seller’s market like a champ. Prior to the war, Specials, both A and B bodied Series 40, had been the best-selling series bread-‘n-butter for the division. Postwar, with the massive, pent-up demand and limited resources to build cars, Buick management restricted the output of base Specials through 1949, supplied the more expensive Supers and Roadmasters to a highly receptive market. Waiting lists at full-list price plus premiums (and bribes) were the order of the day in 1946-48 to get new cars, especially desirable Buicks and Cadillacs. Warmed-over ’42’s as ’49 Specials finally ended with the early introduction all-new ’50 B-body Specials. GM smiled all the way to the banks!
Inside and out, this car exemplifies the quality that GM at the height of its powers built into its products. This is a truly beautiful car. I especially admire the flow of lines in the rear three quarter view. Thanks for the Ted Williams reference, too.
Isn`t this the car from the movie “Rainman”?
I believe the “Rain Man” car was a 1949 Buick Roadmaster. It had 4 ventriports.
…and it was yellow, not green.
I’d note that fastback 2-door sedans preceded 1949 by quite a few years. The photo, found online, is a 1941 Special Sedanet. Of course it didn’t have the Hofmeister kink that appeared on the Buicks in 1949, and on Oldsmobile and Cadillac in 1948.
It’s funny there’s been a couple of recent articles on old Buicks. My neighbour recently rescued a ’46 Buick Super sedan from an elderly fellow’s yard. Despite it not having run in 35 years, he had it humming within weeks. I could hear the strange siren song of a straight eight revving next door and had to have a look. What a stylish and interesting car, even in its dilapidated state. The car just oozes character through its patined black paint and dusty, tattered interior. He was kind enough to take me for a ride last week, broke my record for oldest car rode in by 10 years. While it’s definitely not yet road-worthy, we took it down a rough road and I was amazed at how smooth the ride was. I’ve never been a fan of old Buicks, but this was definitely an eye-opener for me.
I like this video, in the spirit of your neighbor’s revival efforts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwcOzH2Q-EU
Maybe not the greatest, but absolutely beautiful in my mind. And, I love the color – very period correct for this car.
Now, if today’s Buick would get smart and embrace some of its rich history…..
I had to come back for another look. One other thing struck me – this was just about the end of the line for when someone in an expensive car would expect to shift his or her own gears. I am pretty sure that even in 1948, automatic transmissions (or at least semi-autos over at Chrysler) predominated in cars of this class.
I looked it up, Buick started manufacturing the Dynaflow in late 1947, so it was probably optional equipment on this car. It is interesting that the buyer of this car elected to do without. I believe that the 1948 Lincoln was the last car (mid-market or higher) on which an automatic was not offered. The Hydra Matic was a Lincoln option starting in 1949.
If I remember my reading for this piece right, Buick offered Dynaflow for 1948 on the Roadmaster only. It looks like 1948 was the last year that any Buick buyer had to have a manual transmission.
For 1949, all Roadmasters got Dynaflow, and it was an option on the Super (series 50); apparently, the Special skipped 1949. Then, in 1950, Buick kept the smaller 8 at 248 CID for the new Special, upped the engine in the Super to 263, and kept the old 320-inch big engine in the Roadmaster, with Dynaflow standard on the Roadmaster and optional on everything else.
Packard, still hangin’ in there with the flathead straight eight, didn’t introduce its Ultramatic automatic transmission until 1950. There are indeed few if any differences between 1949 and 1950 Packards, but one with the Ultramatic script on the deck lid and only two pedals would have to be a 1950 model.
Good point on the Packard, I had forgotten the Ultramatic, and that it came so comparatively late. IIRC, that was the only automatic designed and built in-house by an independent automaker. All the others used GM’s Hydra Matic or did without.
What an amazing car in an amazing color. I love that green and it sets off the curves perfectly–the classiest pre-war design from a low- or mid-priced make? I’d say so.
And those details! Especially that clock–I LOVE the font. The whole dash, actually.
I actually much prefer these bodies to the “modern” 49s, there’s just no bad line on this and all the trim seems so purposeful, a huge contrast to the port hole laden, wide mouth, spear trimmed 49s.
I doubt many of us are big gamers, I know I barely am(I’ve bought 2 in the last 5 years), but I’m most familiar these Buicks and cars of this period in general from L.A. Noire, which you’re default detective car at the traffic desk is… a Super Sedan! That’s my favorite game just from the cars and full scale 1947 L.A. setting alone.
That big old chrome radio dominating the dash has a modern counterpart: the flat-screen multipurpose display.
Modern carmakers are ashamed of exposed screws, hiding them like indiscretions.
I saw many of these and other Buicks growing in the forties and fifties in a small Pennsylvania town. Industry executives, doctors, small business owners and retired folks all seemed to love driving Buicks. My father would never buy one because as a middle management sales engineer he felt it was above his stature so we drove a 1949 Kaiser for many years. The Kaiser was very Buick like I now realize but without the Buick reputation and sophistication. I remember having a ride in a 1948 Roadmaster sedan (black of course) with a Buick salesman who was related to a playmate. I was always impressed with Buick’s smooth ride and I was fond of the 46 to 48 models as well as the restyled 49. I never really liked the 50 to 1952 models that much. I thought the earlier styles were much sleeker. I did like everything Buick from 1953 to 1958 but the one that bowled me over was the 1959 Buick design that to me was like a jet plane.
I love these cars. My Great-Aunt had a Buick Coupe of this era (I don’t know which model) and although she and it were very old I got to ride in it a few times. I recall it as solid, quiet, and very roomy from the viewpoint of a 5 year old.
It is my belief (unsupported by any actual research) that this era of Buicks is the reason that the Buick division exists today- that is, we all know that Buick’s popularity in China is the reason that the brand was saved while Pontiac was axed and Oldsmobile went to the hangman. My impression is that the late 40’s Buicks would have been the last generation of foreign cars imported into China – the Communists officially took power in October 1949, and few, if any, American, or European cars would have come in after that date. So, these magnificent cars, supposedly the common choice for rich businessmen and ambassadors were the ones that left an impression of beauty, quality, reliability, and power (in all senses of the word) as the choice of Comminist Government Officials. They would have also remained in service for many years as not many Russian Zils et al would have been available to China, and I believe it was not until the mid 60’s that the Chinese built any number of cars themselves.
The Chinese were spared any knowledge of the “imitation” Buicks of the 80’s and 90’s which left U.S. Customers dismissive of the name. I have hopes that GM is wise enough to seize the opportunity to build high quality luxurious Buicks to feed the Chinese market before glow fades, and is also daring enough to export some of said high quality luxury Buicks to the U.S.
Hey, a fella can dream, can’t he!
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor drove Buicks in the UK and France in the 1930’s. There are many references in the biographies and history of the period to their fondness for Buicks (they later owned Cadillacs). I found this picture of them with a 1950 wagon, most likely in Palm Beach. Definitely a prestigious brand around the world for a long time.
Some of these pieces cause me to dig into really old photo albums. My aunt and uncle bought a new 48 Buick convertible. You can just spot it in this photo, parked at their lake cottage. The photo is hand dated 1948 so the car was fairly new at the time. Hey, even I wasn’t on the scene yet. But I vaguely remember they had still had the Buick when my memories were forming. I assume it also is a Super. I’m pretty sure the front windows (only) were hydro-electric. I think you can see the two window buttons hiding just behind the steering wheel on the subject car.
Rich’s piece on the 55 Olds a few days ago also brought back memories of the same family because they bought one of the first new 55 Olds four-door hardtops in our area. Gotta search for a photo…
On Jay Leno’s garage there is a segment on a 1948 Buick that was modified with a late model Corvette engine and custom high performance frame. I think it has 700 hp. An Icon “derelict” , really just a sophisticated rat rod. I would much rather drive and own this beautiful restored Buick. Driving it would allow you to experience the sensations of the past. You could be living out a film noir adventure like Philip Marlowe.
Hello, i’m Mexico. sorry if my english isnt good. I have a buick 1948 and pay for a little paint but the person who did ittake of the defence (the front crome part) and now i dont know how to put ir again in the fron; i cant see where the screws became or if the person who did it, take off some part where to put it.
I hope you can help me to solve my problem