Jump to content

1941 McLaughlin Buick Roadmaster


Buicknutty

Recommended Posts

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.

Keithpost-77136-143139158314_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143139158309_thumb.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rob McDonald

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rob McDonald

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rob McDonald

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

post-59990-143139161584_thumb.jpg

post-59990-143139161587_thumb.jpg

post-59990-14313916159_thumb.jpg

post-59990-143139161592_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Yep, Maroon, great color.

Dale in Indy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a handsome car! Again, there's that long Roadmaster hood on a coupe - very sporting.

Exactly my thoughts . . . I love the coupes with extra long hoods.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rob McDonald

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.

For more ramblings and many good links, go to http://forums.aaca.org/f165/royal-tour-buick-canadas-most-historic-298166.html

Edited by Rob McDonald
spelling, again (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rob McDonald

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.

post-59990-143139170964_thumb.jpg

Edited by Rob McDonald (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Well, I led a group of us from the McLaughlin Buick Club of Canada this weekend on a Fall Tour through some scenic back roads (paved) of the Muskoka region of Ontario, an lovely area noted for its' great fall colours. Here's a few pictures of my car, taken on tour, and a few of my new door panels (with the old armrest, that'll be this week) and the back seat. I'm still waiting on the ashtrays, but the seats at long last are done and in the car. All sewn by by me. A couple of the "in progress" pictures of my back seat, too.

For the door panels though, I broke down and had them professionally redone. Plus one of yours truly with my car.

Nearly 400 miles,and the '41 ran great the whole trip!

Keithpost-77136-14314221248_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142212458_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142212463_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142212466_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142212468_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142212472_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142212475_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142212477_thumb.jpg

Edited by Buicknutty
grammar (see edit history)
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest shadetree77

Lookin' sharp Keith (car and driver both:D)! Glad to hear she's running good for you. It's a great feeling isn't it? Hope to see her in person one day. My Wife is already talking about our first trip to Canada. She's loved Canada the whole time I've known her. She's even tried to get me to move up there before. She spent a short time in Toronto and the surrounding areas on a vacation. In a small cabin on a lake somewhere. Can't remember the name of the town. Anyway, happy motoring my friend!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Rob McDonald

KEITH, it must be very fine to sit on seats that you upholstered yourself. The "sandwich" looks to be much like the construction of fine furniture, with burlap (known as hessian) over steel springs. Then would come a thick layer of cotton stuffing, built-up "hard edges", and a sheet of light canvas (muslin), which would shape any pleats or rolls. Finally the wool cloth, including piping and buttons. Does that sound right? There appears to be no wood in the seats, so the cloth must be held onto the wire spring frames with hog rings. I imagine that makes it tougher to get a smooth, flat finish, compared with setting tacks into wood framing.

What kind of sewing machine did you use? I have my mother-in-law's old treadle Singer, which I'm told is good for sewing upholstery, including vinyl and even leather. The machine's leather drive belt is broken, though, so I've got the challenge of fixing that before I can start torturing cloth and vinyl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, guys.

Rob, you are correct about the construction of the seats, and the top covers are held on with hog rings. I used synthetic stuffing, instead of cotton, and the front seat used a top layer of foam, so I tried to duplicate the original construction as much as possible. Covers are Bedford Cord, not wool Broadcloth.

John, I do have that problem!

Today we used the '56 Roadmaster on a all day long tour, as everyone (5 of us) were coming on the tour, and the back seat in it is a bit bigger, than the '41 has. So we did over 250 miles in it today on an Antique and Classic Car Club of Canada tour. Car ran perfect throughout.

The other bit about the seats on the '41. It only LOOKS like Bedford Cord. Since the genuine reproduction stuff would be over $100., a yard, with shipping and exchange I had to economize a bit, I'm sorry to say.

So, it's actually a synthetic, polyester based, fabric with a Bedford Cord pattern printed on it, also done by me. I work in the commercial digital print business, and for a while I was running a fabric printing system that would do short, custom runs of fabric printing. Being an honest guy, I got permission from the boss to make some for myself, and created the Bedford Cord pattern using a computer program (Adobe Illustrator), based on the original fabric, then made about 18 feet on 60" wide material for use in my car.

Keith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

John;

The printer I used was a machine dedicated to printing onto fabrics, made by Dupont, and it was a very nice system. I did some really great looking work for our clients, though due to the cost, it wasn't a big seller, and they eventually discontinued the service.

The key is creating a program that duplicates the look of the original. The downside is that though it may look very much like the original, the weave and texture is not, and the fabric is lighter weight than the original, so it likely won't have the durability of the proper stuff. Which is what I want to do later on, replace mine with the "right stuff". This at least gives me something to sit on that is comfortable, and looks reasonably authentic.

Keith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

post-77136-143142503615_thumb.jpgSo, I got a reconditoned steering wheel from Doug Seybold in Westlake, Ohio, plus a few other of the interior plastics. Expensive, but beautifull stuff. The steering wheel now feels like silk when driving it. I also got the turn signal lever and the gearshift lever re chromed, so that they too would look as nice as the new plastics. Well, the gearshift was in quite nice shape, the chrome was just dull, and it came back looking perfect, but the turn lever was rather rusty, and it didn't turn out so well. Kinda lumpy, and that was the best he said he could do. So, since I have a machine lathe in my basement, I got some brass stock, and made a new one, and then had it plated.

I have dealt with the plating company for some time, and they didn't charge for the plating job, but its' only about 5" long, and I finished it to nearly a polished surface before I gave it to them. The original had a wide grove in it near the column, that held a rubber like compound, which of course is long gone, so I just contoured my repro in that area, which I think looks quite nice. My own humble opinion, of course.

So, here's a few pictures. Those of you that know these cars will notice that the dash is not wood grained like it should be, but just painted. The wood grain will come along at a later date, but one of the few differences between the Canadian and US cars is that the "engine turning" finish was not used on the instrument panel and glove box door, it was all woodgrained. Perhaps to emulate the Bristish cars that had the real wood trim in the interior, but no one seems to know for sure. Again, there is no actual factory documentation for this, but myself and others have seen other original McLaughlin Buicks to confirm this.

Now we're off on Friday afternoon with the car for weekend long tour of all pre WWII cars through the nice countryside East of Toronto. Lovely touring through there, nice roads with 50 MPH limits, and scenic rolling hills.

Keithpost-77136-143142503609_thumb.jpg

post-77136-14314250359_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142503598_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142503602_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142503606_thumb.jpg

Edited by Buicknutty
missed an image (see edit history)
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a nice wheel and a great job on the signal lever! It really looks teriffic! I love the way you are getting this car done! 99% of the viewers will have no idea it's not original. And it looks absolutely great

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Been a while since I posted anything, but we took the '41 Roadmaster on a 4 day weekend tour with the McLaughlin Buick Club this past weekend. Did just under 500 miles of largely trouble free driving. The only issue was a lost hub cap, and a tendency to slip out of 3rd gear while on a long downhill coast. Otherwise, it started well, and ran perfect. The driving was a lot of rolling hills through the Muskoka District, which is a very old and beautiful cottaging area that's now populated with multimillion dollar cottages.

Any suggestions as to what causes it to slip out of gear while coasting?

I took lots of pictures and will post some once I get them downloaded and re sized for the forum.

Keith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are a few pictures of my car, and some others that were there. The Steamship Seguin in the background, with a '23 McLaughlin Buick, and my '41 nearest. Also, the 4 cars (all McLaughlin Buicks) show the progression of style changes over only 18 years, the '23 again, a '29, a '38, and my '41. Sorry for the wonky perspective, as we were parked on quite a hill.

Keithpost-77136-143142671408_thumb.jpg

post-77136-1431426714_thumb.jpg

post-77136-143142671404_thumb.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Keith , Nice Buick you have including the Color you don't see that often Great combination ! and nice event .

I was wondering looking at your photo's that you miss some Ivory (plastic) parts on the door window mouldings..

I also need new ones and i can not vind them, so i found a guy overhere in Holland that is trying to reproduce them . Wouldt you also be interested in new parts if they match and the price is right ?

Let me know .

Paul

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know for sure what he sells, though to have most of the stuff one needs for '40 and '41 Buicks.

He advertizes in Hemmings, and other places quite a bit, though he doesn't seem to have much of a web presence, so here's is address, Doug Seybold, 2761 Clark Parkway, Westlake, Ohio, 44145, USA.

I was at Doug's shop a few months ago and he and his crew do really great work. He is not cheap, but everything I've got off of him has been very good, and I found him good to deal with also. He has a lot knowlwdge about these cars, and has been willing to help with questions, etc., I've had.

I have some extra tailights that I think are for '40 series, so I might be able to help you.

Keith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Keith

I had also a couple of old lenses and i tried to polisch them , one right lens came out really as new . It had not sufferd from to much Uv light and i couldt sand the small scratches out

But the left one nr. 5931723 LH , was to damaged and had not the nice dark red color anymore.

So if you have have a nice one left let me know ,

Thanks Keith .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...