(first posted 11/27/2015) It is hard to believe that we here at CC have never gotten around to discussing one of the most polarizing cars of the entire 1950s. But here we are: the 1958 Buick. Is there really anything that can be added to these pictures? Perhaps not, but let’s give it a try anyhow, shall we? It may be the day after Thanksgiving, but there is always room for leftover turkey.
So, where to start. We have to start with the looks. We just have to. Is there a more over-styled, over-decorated car out there anywhere? From a decade which specialized in over-styled and over-decorated, that is saying something.
Buick was the cornerstone of General Motors. Before there was Chevrolet, before there was Cadillac, there was Buick, from an era when a guy named Walter Chrysler ran it. Cadillacs cost more and Chevrolets sold more, but Buick was always the golden child of the company, no more so than when Harlow Curtice, its Divisional General Manager of the 1930s and 40s, became GM’s President in 1953.
Add to Buick’s “Most Favored Division” status the fact that the U.S. was in a serious postwar boom, and a solid upper-middle priced car like Buick became more and more affordable to more and more people. Buick moved from strength to strength in the first half of the ’50s as it brought us a never-ending parade of “new and improved” while selling us more and more cars. By 1955, Buick had bumped Plymouth from its traditional number three sales rank by selling nearly 739,000 cars to proud folks all across the country, proof that they had achieved the American Dream.
It was during the heady time of Buick’s 1955 success that the 1958 car was conceived. Remember when you were a kid playing with your friends? Everything would start out so innocently, but then one thing kind of led to another and before long, something got broken, someone got hurt and everyone got in trouble. This is the automotive version of that all-too-common occurrence. Well, this and the Edsel.
From 1956 through 1958, a combination of a slowing economy, and the cars themselves, did a number on Buick. The still-attractive 1956 model’s sales dropped to a still-healthy 572,000 cars, but divisional higher-ups were probably starting to worry when the all-new 1957 cars only sold 405,000. Even before those sales numbers were in, it is clear that Buick had taken the themes that it had developed during the previous decade about as far as they could go. The rounded shapes, the full wheel cutouts and that familiar Buick face did not come off so well on the ’57 (top), and the styling crew must have known it because the ’58 would receive an extensive restyling that would bear little resemblance to prior cars, although still using the same basic body shell.
GM’s advertising people must have really liked air force bombers, because that was their go-to metaphor when a new, massive design came along. The bold 1942 Oldsmobile had been the B-44 and this car would be the B-58. And quite the bomb this one turned out to be, with Buick dropping to fifth place in sales (behind Oldsmobile) with fewer than 242,000 cars out the door. This showing was not quite as bad as Chrysler’s 50% drop, but then Buick did not have the horrid reputation for quality that Chrysler had developed in 1957. But 1958 Buick sales were down no less than 66% from their 1955 high. Perhaps the Division’s downward trajectory was behind the thirty-six page sales brochure that is really quite spectacular.
If massive is your thing, this is your car. There are few cars that do massive like this one. Even ignoring all of the brightwork (which is not something easily done), this car has a big, hulking bulked-up shape that makes it hard to tell that it is related to the prior year’s car. But yes, let’s move on to the bling.
“Too much?” If anyone in Buick’s design studio had this question come to mind, it is not evident from looking at this car. GM styling chief Harley Earl was nearing the end of a long and illustrious career that went back to the 1920s, and GM’s 1958 line reflected both his taste and his bold personality. But times were changing. A younger generation of stylists was coming who would champion a cleaner look with more sculpting and less brightwork. Earl would retire in 1958 and his influence would linger into some aspects of GM’s 1961 cars, but this car would be the end of the line for the “GM look” that had existed since the dawn of the styled automobile.
When I first saw this car, I expected that it was a mid range Super or Century model, given all of the chrome. But no – this is the Special, Buick’s “value” model, which was as plain as you could get a Buick in 1958. This is the one thing that the ’58 Buick actually got right. Chevrolet and Pontiac were there for the budget-minded, and anyone who wanted to save a few bucks would just have to settle for something less. But this car was a Buick. You want a Buick? You will have to pay for a Buick. And if you pay for a Buick, then you will get something that will prove to the neighbors that you had some real coin to spend. Management, however, must have been traumatized by the Division’s poor sales because plain Jane strippo Buicks would start to appear by 1961 and by the late ’80s, Buicks would be considered little different from any other GM brand.
Wow, we have spent all this time on the looks and have not even touched on the car’s innards. I had no idea that Buick ever had a “B-12,000” engine. Otherwise known as a 364 cubic inch “nailhead” V8. But when you have the capability to measure the number of pounds of thrust behind each piston’s power stroke (who would have figured such a nice, round number?), who needs to know boring things like cubic inches? Especially when all of the competition (including Oldsmobile) has more of them. This Special with the 2 bbl carb was good for 250 horsepower, while the rest of the line (up to and including the Roadmaster and the Limited) got another fifty horses out of a 4 bbl premium gas version.
Ever the contrarian, I have concluded that I sort of like this car. I think that Buick carries the excessive jewelry better than did the nearly as overdecorated ’58 Oldsmobile. Really, it’s hard to look at this car and decide what trim to take off. The poor thing would just look naked without all of the brightwork (especially in this color.) Speaking of color, I can’t say that I am really wowed by this car’s combination of Reef Coral paint and its gray and ivory interior trim. But its condition is really nothing short of amazing for a car north of fifty five years old and found sitting in southwestern Michigan this past summer.
OK, it’s not a real unicorn. After all, the Special sedan made up maybe 20% of Buick’s sales that year. It might have been more fun to find one of the two door sedans or one of the handful with the three-speed stick shift instead of one of the two optional versions of Dynaflow that this one has, but sometimes you just have to be happy with what you get.
A few cars from the 1950s have become icons of the decade. The ’57 Chevy (for its ubiquity) and the ’59 Cadillac (for its finny excess) come to mind. Even in the category of ’50s failures, the Edsel hogged all of the (in)glory. But only one gets the booby prize as the car that combines 1950s kitsch and gaudiness (to a fabulously wretched degree) while at the same time being unloved and almost obscure. The 1958 Buick mated space-age flash to the conservatism of the Eisenhower years. But the “Air-born B-58” made a hard landing in 1958, and remains mired in pretty much that same spot today, neither rehabilitated nor reviled in the popular imagination.
Personally, I really think that it could use some chrome portholes on the fenders.
Further reading
1958 Oldsmobile (Laurence Jones)
1958 Oldsmobile (J P Cavanaugh)
1952 Buick Super (J P Cavanaugh)
Don’t think I’ve ever before seen the Quadrajet or any other described as a “master carburetor”.
I could see maybe in a 3×2 setup there would be something called a “master carburetor”, but that’s about it.
Mmmm…no, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it used in that context, either.
’58 Buick = one of my favorites. So discouraging to see it being trashed all the time. If you don’t see the genius of this design, I can’t help you. It is featured in more pop culture art and images than any other Buick–for a reason. It is the “Gothic cathedral” of automobiles.
And while I don’t like to criticize cars that others may like, I’ll risk starting an internecine Buick religious war by saying this ’58 is sleek and sharp compared to the “bullfrogs” of the early ’50s. Performs better too. A quarter million new-car buyers said, “This is the car I want above all others!”
GM proudly displays the new rear styling of the ’58 in this press release photo.
Bullfrogs? Well, 488,800+ car buyers in 1953 said that “[Buick] is the car I want above all others!” Those who drive “Gothic cathedrals” shouldn’t throw stones. 🙂
As you might have guessed, I like my ’53, as do most people who see it in person.
I’ve always dug 1958 Buicks (and Oldsmobiles), though I can understand why some people don’t. Shrinking violets they’re not, so they do make a *very* bold statement. Maximum sized maximum jet age wearing maximum brightwork. It cannot be ignored. They upped the ante, but arrived at a time when the general buying public was leaning back the other way. And then Virgil Exner and crew managed to tug the styling lead enough to get GM to abandon the reheated 1958 designs they were planning to serve up for ’59 and start from scratch… by the time the 1959 cars were brewed, Chrysler was already losing the trail and heading for the weeds. And as much as I love 1959-60 GM cars, they were mostly an evolutionary dead end that was quickly left behind for all new 61’s.
I didn’t live in this era, but can still see how quickly the styles and general automotive climate changed in just a few years. I do think the ’58 Buick *sorta* missed the mark, but target also moved… Quite a few American cars were left high and dry when the tides changed. Edsel, Lincoln/Continental, Studebaker-Packard… DeSoto wilted and bit the dust.
I’m sure the 1958 Buick will continue to be on those oft regurgitated “top 10 worst whatever whatever” lists, just as the Edsel, AMC Pacer, Gremlin, Corvair, etc always are. It’s one of those cars where you either get it, or you don’t. For whatever it’s worth, I think my favorite 1958 Buick feature is the eyebrows over the headlamps… and that grille. The latter was carried over to a car that I might even like slightly better yet: the 1959 Buick.
I have to admit that the rear view in the GM press photo is actually pretty cool.
And for the record, I prefer this car by a mile over the 1957 version.
My father had a ’53 Special 4 dr sedan. Very attractive car with a gray top and white lower body. His ’56 Bel Air wagon was a big turnabout colorwise: laurel green and crocus yellow. He went back to the gray/white combo for his ’58 Estate Wagon: white top with silver mist on the bottom. Those conservative colors helped to mute all the bright work.
I’ve seen tons of photos and plenty of ads (one more for you below), but still hope to catch one of these “in-person” sometime. From some angles, it just seems like a slightly jazzed-up ’58 Chevy, and other angles like someone’s custom car project that got out of hand: