Me and My BuickDiscuss 1941 McLaughlin Buick Roadmaster in the BUICK CLUBS forums; Here's a couple of pictures I took of my '41 at a friend's place, out in the country on Sat. The interior isn't done yet, but got most of the ...
Here's a couple of pictures I took of my '41 at a friend's place, out in the country on Sat. The interior isn't done yet, but got most of the bits together, and got it running well after being off of the road for 30 years or more. Mechanicals were rebuilt, plus lots and lots of body work. The McLaughlin Buicks were Canadian built till '42, after that they were just called Buicks, though in these years there is almost no difference between Canadian and US built Buicks. So mine being a coupe is the same as the US model 76S.
Keith
What a handsome car! Again, there's that long Roadmaster hood on a coupe - very sporting. Does your car have McLaughlin Buick emblems and wheelcovers? Someone told me a long time ago that after 1938, only the export models - those that went to the UK mostly - retained the Canadian badging. True or false?
Rob McDonald 1957 Buick Roadmaster 4-door Riviera, Model 73A, owned since Feb/73 1962 Valiant Signet, basket case but complete
1984 GMC Caballero, rides like a truck, hauls like a car
Rob;
Thanks. There's very little documentation, as all records were destroyed by GM, and most printed copy were simply copies of the US versions, with a Canadian address added, but it is true that after '38 the Canadian models don't have any distinctive badging, though I don't know about the exported cars.
Keith
Interesting that you can corroborate that 1938 was the end-of-the-line for McLaughlin badging in the Canadian market. I heard about this years ago from Vern Bethel, second owner of the maroon Royal Tour 1939 Buick (the other one is black). The car has McLaughlin Buick emblems and wheel covers. He had thought that they'd been custom made for this very special occasion but then he found another identical wheel cover at a swap meet. It was just too much of a coincidence, so he did some research and found that Oshawa-built Buicks headed for England got the full M-B treatment, at least through 1939.
I'm guessing there were few, if any, civilian cars exported to England from Canada or the US, after the war broke out in '39. Comments are encouraged from our UK correspondents, even if it's to tell me I'm full of beans or baloney or whatever they say Over There.
Rob McDonald 1957 Buick Roadmaster 4-door Riviera, Model 73A, owned since Feb/73 1962 Valiant Signet, basket case but complete
1984 GMC Caballero, rides like a truck, hauls like a car
I have met Vern only a few times over the years, as I'm in Toronto, and he's in BC. I was president of the McLaughlin Buick Club for some years.
Though I think that the second Royal Tour is the same maroon colour as Vern's, as I have seen it in the Museum in Ottawa.
Keith
Beware of me and my made-up facts. I depend too much on memory. The photos below confirm that both Buicks are maroon. So is the Lincoln but not the Chrysler. I am making no claims about how many of each were built or still exist. It is nice, though, to view them all in one place, isn't it? Even the Royals didn't get to see that.
West Coast Buick, Ottawa-based Buick, Lincoln, Chrysler
Rob McDonald 1957 Buick Roadmaster 4-door Riviera, Model 73A, owned since Feb/73 1962 Valiant Signet, basket case but complete
1984 GMC Caballero, rides like a truck, hauls like a car
Rob;
Thanks for posting the pictures. I've seen pictures of the Lincoln somewhere before, but never the Chrysler, and it's neat to see them all together like that. Other than the 2 McLaughlins, I have no idea of the fate of the others. Also, I think that I remember reading that there were back up cars for the Lincoln and Chrysler too, but like you commented, relying on memory too much is a risky business!
Keith
Keith, how can you sleep at night knowing you have such a sweet car waiting to go for a ride? It's awesome. The 41's are really looking better and better lately. And I am a total sucker for a maroon Buick.
John C. De Fiore BCA # 3757
56 Super 56R: acquired September 1974
69 GS 400: Convertible Added in 2003
69 Electra Limited 2 dr. bought 1995 or so. Sold March 2009!
78 Estate Wagon: added 10-2008
95 Riviera Supercharged: added May 1998. Sold September 2006
06 Lacrosse CXL Purchased July 4th 2006.
Maroon, WHAT A NEAT COLOR. As a kid dad took me to lots of midget races, there was an Offy, this was in the mid to late 40's that was Maroon, with Gold numbers. #79, and it was a winner often, Chuck Marshall was the driver. Bob Davis was the car owner. We attended many a race in central Il.
KEITH, I gather the difference between a Buick Sport Coupe and an Opera Coupe is that the latter had a folding occasional seat behind the driver. Was that still true in '41? Earlier Sport Coupes often have rumble seats and golf bag doors but those would have been passé by1941. Was there also a 70 series Business Coupe that year, with no division between the trunk and the interior?
Back to the Royal Tour cars for a minute: the Chrysler was shown in Murray Gammon's car museum in downtown Victoria, BC throughout the 1970s and '80s. Interestingly, this was within a couple of miles of where the "West Coast" parade Buick sat for years, in the garage of its long-time second owner. Everyone in the old car hobby in Victoria seems to have known the whereabouts of that Buick, so I wonder if Mr. Gammon (who died in 2008) ever tried to buy it?
Vern Bethel, where the heck are you? We need your first-person experience here. Vern wrote an excellent article for the Buick Bugle in about 1987, which I kept for years but then I donated all of my Bugles - and Automobile Quarterlies - to the Reynolds Alberta Museum in Westaskiwin, Alberta (Reynolds-Alberta Museum). Any of you who've hung onto your back issues, I'd sure appreciate it if you would please scan Vern's story and post it on the thread linked below.
Last edited by Rob McDonald; September 13th, 2012 at 19:36.
Reason: spelling, again
Rob McDonald 1957 Buick Roadmaster 4-door Riviera, Model 73A, owned since Feb/73 1962 Valiant Signet, basket case but complete
1984 GMC Caballero, rides like a truck, hauls like a car
Rob;
I've have to check to be sure, but they're weren't any opera coupes in 1941, nor any business coupes in any other series than the 40 series. I don't think that were any business coupes ever made on the bigger 70 series chassis, though I can't find my "70 years of Buick" right now to check! I may have that article in the Bugle you're asking about, as I think that I still have most of the issues from the eighties.
Keith
DALE, your reference to model 76SX intrigued me, so I went Googling - 1941 buick 76sx - Google Search. I learned that the "X" refers to export cars. That suggests to me that these cars would have been built according to their destination - right-hand drive, maybe a lower compression engine for where only low octane fuel was available, with or without a heater, etc.
KEITH, I also learned that all Roadmaster Sport Coupes were 5-passenger cars, with a full back seat. The "normal" model 46 Special Business Coupe was a fastback, like a Sedanet but without the back seat. Again, I wonder if the trunk was open to the interior, without a bulkhead. Interestingly, there was another Special Business Coupe, modei 41A-44, with a shorter wheelbase and a notchback body shared with Chevrolet. I can't find a photo of that one.
Last edited by Rob McDonald; September 14th, 2012 at 00:05.
Rob McDonald 1957 Buick Roadmaster 4-door Riviera, Model 73A, owned since Feb/73 1962 Valiant Signet, basket case but complete
1984 GMC Caballero, rides like a truck, hauls like a car
I am quite sure the business coupe did have a panel between the passenger compartment and the trunk. It would have been to hard to HEAT without such, IMO.
Dad purchased lots of 41's that were wrecked, and I believe I recall the divider panel.
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