1948 Special from Sweden

Hi everyone, I thought it was time to introduce myself and show some pics of my 1948 Buick Special. My name is Per Ornberg and I’m from Sweden and I have been visiting this excellent Buick forum since I became a member in 2003, the same year I bought my first Buick. It was a 1941 Buick Special Sedanette with the dual carb. But it turns out that the 248 straight eight was in very bad shape with a huge gas and oil consumption and the gas price is very high here in Sweden and the costs to renovate a 248 is not pleasant so I change the whole driveline to a 327 Chevy and 350 auto trans with a caprice rear axle mounted in a k-link. I drove the car with this set-up for 5 years and it run real good. Then I sold the 41 and bought this 1948 Special Sedanette. The engine in this one runs just fine and I will keep it original this time. The only “modification” I will do is to convert it to 12 volt and change the coil springs to air suspension (and dropped spindles) but that’s an easy fix if I will return to coils sometime in the future. No damage done to the chassis. I just happen to love the slammed look of this fastback body style.

Here’s my 1941 Special just before I sold it.

Another photo

My present 1948 Special

Best regards

Per Ornberg

Sweden

Very nice Per. Was it difficult to get the Chev drivetrain in the '41? Just wondering.

Thanks for sharing...those older fastbacks are very cool.

Per, the 48 is really nice. It would be a shame to alter the suspension to make it "slammed" in my opinion. But it's your car.

Hi John and thanks for your comment. I like to hear everybody’s opinion. When converting for air suspension I didn’t have to chop or cut anything but just replace the coil springs with airbags. These old Buick’s is like they where prepared for airride. I fabricate new bolt-on brackets and drill some holes for the air hose and that’s about it. I can go back to original suspension any time I like. It’s like putting on some aftermarket wheels on your car and you can always go back. I did it on my previous 41 and I like the way it rides very much.

Per Ornberg

Modifications like that are no problem Per. I have changed many a wheel on car's I've owned with the same reasoning. But I made my comment because I like the stance the 48 has and I think the slammed look sort of takes away from the car. This is just my own opinion however, and I realize that everyone is free to pursue their car to fit their needs.

Since this is an airbag ride, do you raise the car up when driving it?

John, I haven’t installed the air suspension system yet but I’m working on it right now. The system allows you to set and save your preferred ride height in the systems memory. So I can ride higher or lower then original if I want and the ride is very soft and comfortable.

Per Ornberg

Very nice car..

I love so much the fastback..

Congratulations for this purchase !

Thanks a lot Mimie, you have a very nice Buick too

Hello my friend Rafa and thanks. I didn’t know that you where a member on this site. You must show your excellent 48 here too