The Harlow Curtice 1960 Electra 225 Convertible

[Centurion]

Many of you have seen or heard about the special GM Styling 1960 Electra 225 convertible built for retired General Motors President Harlow Curtice. Curtice was Buick's most-celebrated General Manager, and Buick Division remained his favorite even after he ascended to the presidency of the corporation.

I saw this car in 1978 at the Buick 75th Anniversary National Meet in Flint. When it entered the parking lot at the Buick Administration Building, I was speaking with Bob Alberini, whom I had met for the first time. We took a glance at the car and concluded that someone had "ruined" a perfectly good 1960 Buick convertible with a backyard customizing job. The car was finished in a light blue color, and little did we realize that this was, in fact, a very special one-off factory custom. A couple of years ago, I borrowed Gary Klecka's slides from that particular meet, and I was pleased to see that the light blue convertible was captured in one of his photos of the fabulous Buick parade through downtown Flint. (That parade was truly one of the most awesome scenes I've ever experienced.)

I neither heard about nor saw anything regarding this Buick for a number of years. Finally, Bob Alberini mailed me the photos below, taken August 27, 1988 at a BCA Meet hosted by the Central Indiana Chapter in Indianapolis. The car was now finished in white, and Bob noted that the car carried special "GM Styling" emblems on the front fenters, unique front fender ventiports and decklid emblem, and rear quarters that were constructed of fiberglass.



A couple of years later, "Collectible Automobile" published a fine article covering the 1959 and 1960 Buicks, and the article included the photos below of some 1960 Buick styling studies. In retrospect, the front-end styling of these cars looked more Pontiac or Oldsmobile than Buick, but it was clear that the Harlow Curtice convertible shared much of its rear styling theme with these styling models.



Others of you may have better photos or more information about the Harlow Curtice car. I also recently obtained an e-mail address for the current owner, and will invite him to contribute any further information or history about this unique Buick.

[Centurion]

Here are some statements that the car's current owner has posted on another forum, as part of a topic regarding missing Cadillac dream cars from the 1950's:

"I have a 1960 Buick Electra 225 convertible that was a GM Styling Studio car built for Harlow Curtice. The build tag under the hood identifies it as a special order, and GM's files contain a picture of this car taken on the roof of the Argonaut Building in Detroit when it was first completed. It was apparently Mr. Curtice's last personal car, and GM sold it in 1962 following his death. The tailfins, taillights, emblems, rear quarter panels and interior are unique to this car -- the front end and the mechanicals are stock '60 Electra."

"Sorry, I have no pictures in E-mailable form. The car was featured on the cover of Old Cars Weekly in 2001, and a picture of it also appeared in AutoWeek several years ago -- both times as a result of people who happened to see the car, took pictures and sent them into the magazines, unknown to me at the time. Someone told me that the car was pictured in Buick Magazine (the monthly magazine that was sent to all Buick owners) early in 1960, with a group of GM executives gathered around it at an auto show (possibly Motorama), but I have not personally seen this article. One of my future spare time projects is to visit the AACA library and see if they have a set of old Buick Magazines, and see if I can locate the article."

"Yes, it was on display at the Gast Museum from 1992 until the Museum closed in 1998."

[WQ59B]

I saw it at the Gast Museum in PA back in late '93. It was white with the "GM Styling" emblems then. I have a pic or 2 I snapped. It's a sharp car, tho IMHO the 'straightness' of the strong horizontal taillights seems ever so slightly 'out of step' with the fluid lines of a '60. Is it then verified that the car has a fiberglas rear clip? I assume it's fiberglas bonded to the stock '60 sheetmetal, cut away where neccessary for the special design.

Seems Curtice possibly preferred the sharp delta fins of the '59 over the 'worn down' fins of '60. Sounds like a man of extremely discriminating taste, eh, Brian?

[70 Electra]

I had a chance to meet and speak with the current owner during the Flint 2003 Centennial meet. Unfortunately, he didn't bring the car, but had a neat photo album. It's quite an interesting piece of history, and is modified far more than a quick look would suggest.

I've hounded him a few times for pictures in order to include this interesting car in my 1960 Buick website. As he pointed out to you, he does not have digital images.

A good friend of mine remembers seeing this car in the Detroit area back when it was light blue. (I think he told me this was in the late eighties or early nineties.) When he saw it, it was on its way to the Auburn auction where it was subsequently sold. It did not resurface for many years afterwards.

I find it interesting that Curtice would have kept this car until his (untimely) death. The fact that GM took it back suggested the retired Curtice had the car on loan and did not actually "own" it.

I was also puzzled by the fiberglass construction, as it seems this was usually reserved for quickie jobs and non-driving concept cars. This car, in contrast, was apparently driven quite a bit. Since Curtice lived in Flint until his death in 62, maybe some of our old-timer Flint residents remember seeing it?

[Centurion]

Greg, thanks as always for your contribution here. I hope that we might someday obtain some high-quality digital images and additional historical information about the car. I, too, will be interested to learn whether anyone in the Flint area remembers the car from its early years.

I have e-mailed the car's owner, but have not yet received a reply.

Greg, have you collected any of the Buick Magazines from the 1960 model year? Yikes, now that I think about it, I have some from the fall of 1959 that I should check. It would be most interesting to locate the cover photo that the owner has described.

[70 Electra]

I have most of the issues of Buick magazine that would cover 1960 models, and don't see anything about the Curtice car. Since it was a prediction of the 1961 taillamp styling, it would see odd that it would be publicly promoted in a magazine during the 1960 model year. Perhaps in a later issue?

[Centurion]

Greg, the early 1960 model year Buick magazines in my collection make no mention of this car.

I have received a very positive response from the car's owner, and he promises to provide us with some additional information when he returns from a business trip.