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The first `55 4 Dr HT - Concept


progoofoff

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After the 1955 Motorama tour, it spent the next 17 years in CA as a driver. Then back to MI and driven two more years. The last 37 years it has been in a warehouse. It has been in the same family since the tour.

Now, in NC and is being disassembled for complete restoration.

One photo shows the original color scheme. The photo was taken for the 1955 Motorama show.

. GM required that it be repainted before selling it to an employee.

It has all the factory options and appears to be identical to the 63 series that went into production with the exception of the rear quarters being a bit longer. It has a series designation of 68.

Bob

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Edited by progoofoff (see edit history)
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  • 3 weeks later...

'XP-' numbers are General Motors 'eXperimental Production' codes given to special projects, pre-production engineering programs, and the concept cars built over the decades. For example, the Motorama concept car; the 1955 LaSalle II Roadster was XP-34 and SO# 2220.

To my knowledge, there is no comprehensive XP list, even at GM... tho I have a pretty good list going after some years of research. Some well-known concept cars I have been unable to document the XP# for... others seemingly cannot escape theirs.

Also, I believe some SO# cars did NOT get an XP number.... which is why I inquired about your vehicle.

Tho some sources define 'SO' as 'special order'... your car's plate spells it out 'Shop Order' tho, causing me to wonder if that's meaningful or not. I've seen references to other cars with a stamped SO plate, tho to date I've never heard tell of any XP stampings.

To coincide with 1950s numbers, which were in the 19xx - 2xxx range in mid-decade, I wonder if your SO# --if consistent with the other known SO #s-- is '2572', and the 'CW 6' is a prefix with other meaning. Either it is... or a 'Shop Order' & 'Special Order' are 2 different things.

Good luck with your project, Bob!

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Hi Bob,

I don't get on the Buick forums too often although I regularly contribute to the Centurion forum.

I've been meaning to put a post on here because of the amazing cars you own. The Landau is an incredible piece of Buick history that really hasn't received its due recognition and now this incredible '55 Century 4 door hardtop concept car has found its way into your stable.

Something has really made me wonder though. I've noted that it is called a Model 68 and yet a Model 68 already existed in the '55 Buick line-up. That was the Century 2 door sedan that was solely built for the California Highway Patrol and Buick production records show that 270 of them were built.

It seems odd that they would put the same model number on a concept car. I wonder if they actually pulled one of those 2 door sedans and reworked it into a 4 door hardtop? Considering how different the cars are, that seems highly unlikely but it seems equally unlikely that the two totally different cars share the same model number.

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I wasn`t aware of the series 68 number being used on different vehicles.

It is unlikley a 2Dr Sedan body was used. It is more likely a 2Dr HT body was modified for it`s creation since the windshields are the same on the 2 and 4Dr HTs.

The 68 number was replaced and 63 was used in the production models.

Thanks for pointing this out,

Bob

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You're absolutely right, Mike. Highway Patrol utilized a number of the 55 Century 2 door sedans in the program and good, close-up shots clearly reveal them as Centurys. I have often wondered how these unique cars were actually utilized unless the CHP leased or rented some of these cars to the production company. They sure weren't going to get them from the local Buick dealers!

Buicks certainly received a lot of air play in that series and I was astounded to see Chief Dan Matthews (Broderick Crawford) driving a '56 Super 4 door hardtop in one episode. I never remembered that happening.

While you probably won't remember me, I talked to you at Batavia in the car wash area as my Aunt and Uncle owned a '55 Model 48 such as yours and it was a real bare bones Special with three on the tree, no power options and even black wall tires and hubcaps. The only extras were: tinted glass, Sonomatic and the very unique tri-tone paint scheme -- bright yellow body, white roof and cocoa brown beneath the sweep spear. Your beautiful car brought back a lot of memories and it was a real pleasure talking with you.

And I feel certain that you're right, Bob, that a Century 2 door sedan would not have been used for your concept 4 door hardtop. They must have assigned the Model 68 to it prior to building the Model 68 2 door sedans for the CHP. It just looked very strange to know that two entirely different Model 68s DO exist and apparently nobody at Buick ever realized it.

Bob Alberini (BCA 3038)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know Mike likes it when there is no wrong answer so ...... I have seen them both ways on my and others original paint 54 cars but more unpainted than painted. The last picture shows respray over original. As with lots of other paint issues, I think the plant where the car was produced had something to do with it. Personally, I think unpainted should be the answer. And like Ben, I will qualify my answer with "this is the way they did it in 54" Of course we all know that the 1954 Buick was so BEAUTIFUL and nice that it influenced thousands the next year and created such a flood of new buyers in 55 that the plants could hardly produce the 55's fast enough. In other words, they were going down the assembly line so fast the whole car may have only caught a misting of paint period.:D:):D

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Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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I have some with no paint, some paint, some primer, all paint but I have found no paint UNDER the tags so: some plants may have masked the tag or maybe the paint just did not stick to the aluminum. I like the look of unpainted and too much paint on that tag will obscure the stampings.

Willie

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Guest Rob McDonald

Oooo, red. It's a primal response, something to do with hunting and fighting and a lady's lipstick. I had a really red car, once. It wasn't actually very good but it's the only one of my ex-cars that I frequently dream about.

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