A '57 Buick

[TC Chris]

Posting this for Greg, our Buick guy.

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It's a handsome old boat. My '57 was a Super 2-dr. hardtop, a rusty Michigan car but it started and ran and I've always wished I had kept it from the junkyard. Mine was lacking the grill bar that said "1957" but a few years later I found one in the trash at curbside. It lives in my shop now. From the old car, I kept the working radio and the steering wheel center emblem. I've always since had an irrational affection for the '57.

When I went to TN at the end of 1969, I needed a cheap, modest vehicle for local use. I looked at a '54 Buick 4-dr. I was nervous about a vehicle that old so I settled on the '62 Corvair. That car was a real trooper, agile and reliable, and it probably got 2X the gas mileage of the old Buick. I had a lead foot in those days, a serious lead foot, and the gas mileage was still in the 20s. I advanced the timing and ran premium gas.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

That is a nice old Special, Chris. Just as a matter of trivia, the headlamp rings on Special and Century in '57 were chromed. The rings on Super and Roadmaster were painted except the outside front edge, which was chrome. The taillight housings and the bumpers, front and rear, were different between the "junior" Series and the "senior" Series. The paint in the sweepspear on all models except Roadmaster 75 was red. On the 75 Series it could be red or black, depending on body color. Wheels on all models was red, except, again, Roadmaster 75. They could also be black on that Series. Kelsey-Hayes wires were a dealer-installed option on 1957 Buicks. These wheels were also a 20-point mandatory deduction in Buick National judging until 1995 when Art Wright presented factory documentation for this option and got the mandatory deduction deducted from National judging standards. Wire wheels were not available on Roadmaster 75 due to interference between the hub of the wheels and the finned aluminum brake drums. Other Series used steel front brake drums. A 1/4" spacer between the wheels and brake drums fixed that. Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels neither add nor subtract points due to the fact they were available from the dealer. The dealer would sell them to you for your "58 as well, so most judges won't count off for K-H wires on a '58 Buick. Art refused to restore a 1955 to1957 Buick unless it left his shop on K-H wires.....

Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels correct for those old Buicks used tubes. Current production (reproduction) offers them in tube and tubeless models. You will get a 10-point gig in Buick judging if you have tubeless wires on your old Buick. While Buicks on steel wheels had tubeless tires starting in 1954, the wires used tubes. K-H wires are "technically" correct for my '63 due to their being available thru the dealer back in the day. You would be hard-pressed to convince a show judge of their originality in actual practice. Now, if you could produce a document from a dealer that said they supplied the K-H tubeless wires for your '63 Electra..........

The Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels Buick used were not unique to Buick. Cadillac and Oldsmobile used them, Ford used them, Packard, Chrysler, Kaiser and maybe others. The bolt patterns and hubcaps were different, but the wheels were all pretty much the same. Packard used the same bolt pattern and offset on their wheels as Buick.

[Ken Doyle]

The ad calls it a Century, but it's not, it's a Special. I believe the Century had 4 ventiports on the front fender and the Special has 3.

Am I correct?

[William]

I believe the Century, Super, and Roadmaster had 4. What say you, Greg?

Bill

[TC Chris]

The text of the ad does say that it's a Special and not a Century. Not sure why it shows up that way.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Yep, Specials had three mouse holes, portholes, ventiports whatever they were called in specific years. Century had three holes in 1954. The reason the upper series got four holes was because they had four-barrel carburetors. Four holes signified cars with the big engine. When Wildcat came out, they were built on Electra chassis and had three "ventiports" and the "B" body. And the big engine......

[electra225]

Had the Buick Chris linked been a Century, it would have stainless trim on the doors around the windows and would have a stainless lip on the drip rail. Four door sedan Century's were not common, nor were they popular. 1954 and'55's were fairly often seen. There is disagreement in the Buick club whether Century four door sedans, model 61 were built at all for 1956. I have never seen one. The Riviera Sport Sedan (four door hardtop) was the big deal in the Century line, particularly 1956. "Highway Patrol" used both 1957 and 1958 model 61's on their show. I know where there is a '58, never saw a '57 up close that I remember. Buick also made standard and deluxe models in each body style in each series. IT might be theoretically possible for a '57 or '58 Century four door sedan to appear without the trim on the doors and roof rails. It is also possible for a Special to be seen equipped with these features. Buick pretty much quit making the standard and deluxe body trim, but used the deluxe and custom nomenclature for interior packages. This all starts making more sense starting with the 1959 models.

[TC Chris]

My '57 Super 2-dr hardtop had a little SS flap above the door glass--it flipped up when the door opened.

Chris Campbell