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Late 1956 Special with 1957 trim


Budd

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A Buick owner in Sweden reached out to me this morning to try and figure out a 1956 Buick model 43 with a trim code that does not match 1956's. He worked with SMS first to try and figure it out, and they were stumped. Mikael sent me a photo of his cowl tag, showing Trim No. 416 -- which for 1956's, doesn't exist. He also sent photos of the car showing Green Cloth on Green Cordoveen, which should have been trim code 412. On a hunch, I had him send me the VIN to see if he was an early (Oct 55) or late (Sep 56) car, and his VIN decodes to one of the last 1956 models to roll off the Wilmington line in late Sept 1956. 1957 models would start production 1 week later. Looking at the 1957 trim code list, and indeed -- they have a 416 trim code that is Green Cloth / Green Cordoveen.

I'll attach some photos for you to look for yourselves. It appears, purely guessing here, that the factory made a mistake and put a 1957 interior trim into a 1956 Model in late Sept, 1956 at the end of production.

Does anyone have a Dealer Color Album for 1957 that can show what the cloth pattern looks like for Trim code 416 ?

Cheers,

Budd

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Well by the evidence of the trim in the photos, it obviously exists. There were always changes in the model years. There are many well documented cases of other Buick models and years that had trim and other accessories added later in production. It all boils down to if someone is using the latest revision of a particular chart or book.

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I agree -- a mystery for sure. I was just discussing with the owner that we have conflicting information in the source manuals. One more clue I have found is that the 1956 Buick Master Chassis and Body Parts SUPPLEMENT denotes trim code 416 marked with a hash mark (#) -- which states "Parts marked thus (#) are either added, model application changed, or change points added." This is dated Oct 1956. There are a number of other trim codes listed that don't belong for 1956 listed there with hash marks (they don't belong that I am aware of, looking at my 1956 Dealer Color Album and factory order sheets -- dated Feb 1956 -- none of them are listed). Mikael's car was built late September 1956.

The 1940-1963 Master Body Parts book does list 416 for 1956, and does not list it for 1957. Some sheet's list it for 1957, but Pete's DCA does not list it!

So -- the later revision documentation pieces list trim code 416 for 1956, whereas the earlier revisions do not. The car is legitimate --that is a factory cowl tag and the interior is unaltered.

Budd

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Edited by Budd (see edit history)
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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Cuba Libre

-Lancemb, have you any idea of what 416 looked like in the 56:s?

We have also come to the conclusion that this is reupholstered, but we have not got any info about 416 in a 1956 Special. /owner

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  • 2 years later...

I have been told by previous owner it should be original, but I cant confirm it.

and its green not black as #633 should be. I found black fabric and red cordaveen from SMS. Do you or somebody have pictures of -56 Century fabrics and interiors ?

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Thanks Leif !

So my Buick design is same as It should be (Century) only things are that green fabric, it should be black as #633 trim and sitting bench are all fabric without cordaveen at front.

Maybe those are redone, don't know, but now I can do new upholstery as it was originally :o

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Considering that the models for 57 had interior changes made to the transmission hump and interior width etc., the line workers could not of just installed 57 seats in a 56 model. With that established, the theory of someone re-upholstering the car with available fabric at one time or another is my favorite pick. The trim code number is a mystery though.

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