Wouldn't you really like to have a Buick, a Buick, A Buick?!

[buster poser]

Straight 8. 'Fireball' 8. Pretty cool car.

The Roadmasters are great. But, my coinage and street pounding memories would probably find me looking at something like a '65 Riviera or a '67 GS...my Dad had examples of both when I was a kid.

View attachment 944933

Dad had a 72 project that was my car for a while, proper luxury features of the day; power seats, tilt steering, even a little "speed alert" that would buzz when you hit a predetermined mph, set by a little dial on the cluster.

That era was pretty magic for GM broadly, but man I love that generation of Riviera, specifically the 65 when they ditched the faux vent/bright work along the rear quarter. A Gran Sport just like that one please.

 

[nojazzhere]

Never owned or even "desired" a Buick......but will always have fond memories of my grandmother's 1965 Electra 225 that I learned to drive in. The luxury rivaled that of any Cadillac on the road......the power steering almost responded to telepathic wishes, and the power brakes could be activated by blowing hard toward your feet. The brocade upholstery was beautiful.
One silly example, I had an uncle who was accustomed to driving a VW Beetle convertible, with all its squeaks and rattles. One evening he's taking his wife and my grandmother somewhere in the Buick (which he's not used to) and is driving on the freeway. My grandmother thinks he's driving too fast, and looks at the speedometer.....he's doing NINETY.....and it's so smooth and effortless, he doesn't realize his speed.
BTW.....like Rain Man, my grandmother WAS an excellent driver, and an even better driving teacher. To this day, over fifty-five years later, I still use many driving techniques she taught me, which are completely foreign to most lesser drivers.

 

[Esquire Jones]

My first ride, procured for $500, was a brown 73 Buick Century. The exact same car driven by Tele Savales in Kojak.

That thing did over 110mph and rode so smooooooth. Body by Fischer for those in the know. 350 V8.

When I got my new and improved ride, a 76 Ford Pinto, I gave it to my little brother who drove it for about 4 years to college.

That thing was so ugly it was cool. Great car to be honest. The Pinto? Not so much.

 

[teletina]

Just to mention, live in Europe, never been in USA, never seen a Buick live .

 

[Telekarster]

something like a '65 Riviera

My fondest memory of those old Riv's was taking my index fingernail and running it up the fins of the headlights... them things would ring like bells! LOL!!! Loved doing that... and I can still hear it to this day. Brrrrriiiinnnngggg! Just like that

 

[Toto'sDad]

When I was fourteen years old, all during summer vacation, I washed and polished a beautiful white 53 Buick Roadmaster usually once or twice a month. The automobile, car is too simple a word for the vehicle, was the smoothest riding, quietest driving experience you could imagine. I used to make a few bucks detailing cars, and since I could drive, and it was a different world then, I could pick up the car, and deliver it, sans a driver's license.

Only a 48 Cadillac sedan could compare in smoothness of ride. Those automobiles had something I've never experienced among modern day vehicles. Sure, the modern ones are probably better, but there was something about those old cars that set them apart from what is available today.

 

[Telekarster]

When I was fourteen years old, all during summer vacation, I washed and polished a beautiful white 53 Buick Roadmaster usually once or twice a month. The automobile, car is too simple a word for the vehicle, was the smoothest riding, quietest driving experience you could imagine. I used to make a few bucks detailing cars, and since I could drive, and it was a different world then, I could pick up the car, and deliver it, sans a driver's license.

Only a 48 Cadillac sedan could compare in smoothness of ride. Those automobiles had something I've never experienced among modern day vehicles. Sure, the modern ones are probably better, but there was something about those old cars that set them apart from what is available today.

You are right my man! They were all like floating on a cloud. I also remember washin' and waxin' them babies.... and don't forget the chrome polish.... went through lots and lots of that stuff. Polishin' chrome inside and out. I can't remember the brand name now, but man.... it makes my arms tired just thinking about all that! LOL!!!

 

[Toto'sDad]

You are right my man! They were all like floating on a cloud. I also remember washin' and waxin' them babies.... and don't forget the chrome polish.... went through lots and lots of that stuff. Polishin' chrome inside and out. I can't remember the brand name now, but man.... it makes my arms tired just thinking about all that! LOL!!!

I briefly had a '54 Buick special four door sedan, the backseat was kind of like having a room at the Braidwood Inn! Ah, the chrome polish, nothing known to man would remove the smell from your hands after using it. It was as you say, a required finish to the detail job, as was blacking the tires, carefully avoiding the white sidewalls. I could hustle more money doing car detailing than I could working at a job, which I didn't really learn until the fourteenth summer of my stay on this planet.

 

[Toto'sDad]

Buicks are well known for their ornate grills, and I think the ‘41 was the coolest.

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Out on our walk a couple of evenings ago, we saw one just like the one in the pick, from the sound of it though, it had a modern engine.

 

[Zoso420]

I rather have a GNX

 

[Chud]

I rather have a GNX

Was just looking at those after clicking into this thread.

 

[Cpb2020]

I still have my no frills (with the exception of the small block v8 option) ‘65 Buick Special, which I’ve shown here before. I bought it as my second car after I sold my crumbling ‘68 mustang.

It was all I was able to afford at 16 years old in 1989 that still was fun and different than everything else in my neighborhood.

 

[Telekarster]

Ah, the chrome polish, nothing known to man would remove the smell from your hands after using it.

blacking the tires, carefully avoiding the white sidewalls.

LOL!!!! Yep... that smell.... man, I still have it in my nose! Wow.... and blackening the tires.... I had completely forgot about that one. I remember scrubbing the whitewalls too with something like an SOS pad? Make them babies as white as ghosts! LOL!!!

 

[pbenn]

Buicks are well known for their ornate grills, and I think the ‘41 was the coolest.

View attachment 944944

Wow, that isn't bad. Lots better than the '41 Ford in appearance.

 

[DesmoDog]

Not that it matters I suppose, but the ad campaign was "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick..."

 

[boris bubbanov]

Those old Buicks, most of 'em were smooth riding, smooth running to the extreme.

Yes and no.

Every time we'd look in the Used department at a car dealer, at a low mileage 8 year old Buick, the front end would be a mess (steering wheel shaking like a bucking bronco) or it needed a valve job or the Dynaflow wasn't working right.

Cars from the 1940s and 1950s needed a lot of attention. Attention they often didn't get. My Grandfather's '60 Electra 4 door Hardtop was easily his worst car. I had a gallon of Dupont Acrylic paint in that car's color (gold) for years after that car when to the crush yard.

 

[schmee]

I been jonesin' for a 49 Roadmaster for decades. Dad had one in 54 when we emigrated to WA from CA! I still remember the smell of that grey Mohair upholstery. We had a wreck once, the other guy in a Ford was totaled. The Buick had a slight bend in the bumper. The big radio on the dashboard looked a bit like the grill on the front of the car! Look at the length of that hood! It was like driving a freight train!

 

[Toto'sDad]

Yes and no.

Every time we'd look in the Used department at a car dealer, at a low mileage 8 year old Buick, the front end would be a mess (steering wheel shaking like a bucking bronco) or it needed a valve job or the Dynaflow wasn't working right.

Cars from the 1940s and 1950s needed a lot of attention. Attention they often didn't get. My Grandfather's '60 Electra 4 door Hardtop was easily his worst car. I had a gallon of Dupont Acrylic paint in that car's color (gold) for years after that car when to the crush yard.

I'm sure that can be said for many of the cars of the period you reference. You have to understand from my perspective as a young man at the time, the only Buicks I came into contact with, were great cars, so from my experience Buicks were wonderful. Time would prove you right about them, but foreign cars would show the backwardness of American automobile design in general. Though whether there has been a net gain realized from our abandoning cars of our own making for those of other countries is a bit unclear.

 

[Controller]

Gratuitous photo

 

[Stubee]

Interesting thread! I’ve never owned a Buick but have no qualm with desiring one. They were at one time quite the American car, desired by many. The wealthier ladies around here loved them. My wife did get a 1984 Estate Wagon company car, and while she thought it was a horrible waste of company money I loved that beast! I took it on our spring break trip from MI to St Simon’s Island and it was sure nicer than her own stripper Corolla Wagon. A big boat cruising down the highway with surprising MPG while doing it.