Description
The Buick today presents as shown in the photographs. Some of the turquoise paint has faded and one or two small areas have flaked or chipped but none of this takes away from the almost outrageous Art Deco styling and detailing of this car. From the hooded headlight cowls with inset blue jewels to those fabulous Ventiports. Genuinely, this Buick isn't from just a different era, it`s from a different world. Indeed, the patina, in my belief, is totally in keeping with character of the car and to re-paint it would be a great shame. The styling continues inside the cabin with a typical 1940`s dash, large steering wheel and a full set of dials and named buttons. The original cloth trim is showing some wear especially to the seat base in the front and as such has been loosely covered with Mexican blankets. To recover would not be a big or expensive job but obviously would be to personal taste and hence why I have not taken this step. The headlining was replaced 10 years ago and rear carpets more recently. Turn the ignition switch, push the button and the straight-8 fires up immediately sounding smooth yet purposeful. Select 1st and the beast glides forward sedately changing up easily via the column change to 3rd (top) and you are already cruising at 30-35MPH. On the open road, the Buick is quite sensational with great road-holding, positive steering and not surprisingly, huge road presence! It is a big car but even around the lanes of the UK is totally manageable with firm brakes and excellent all round visibility.
A few more important details:
I can't seem to open the rear trunk (boot) and the keys don't work in the doors or ignition. The ignition can be turned on without the keys so that’s fine, and the petrol cap key works.
I don’t know what happened here as the keys worked when I bought it a couple of years ago. I think a dedicated locksmith can fix this.
There's a spare wheel and a ton of spare parts in the boot.
I use this as a daily driver, it runs absolutely perfectly, I regularly drive it on the M25. It has a brand new starter motor & starts immediately on the button, the engine is unusually quiet and smooth!
The breaks are great, some of the dash instruments don’t work but all the crucial stuff does, lights are great with the dip beam foot switch, indicators great, heater works, map light etc. The chrome is slightly pitted in parts with some minor rust spots, paint looks great from a distance but could do with some touch ups, interior roof is nice, seats are covered with Mexican blankets as are worn. Daily driver, runs perfectly, starts immediately on the button, breaks are great, regularly drive it long distances, chrome is slightly pitted with some minor rust spots, paint looks great from a distance but could do with some touch ups, interior roof is nice, seats are covered with Mexican blankets as are worn.
