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Matt's 57 Super


aziz

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The vehicle was delivered 16th September 1957 to the original owner. He lived with his mother and used the vehicle to do the weekly shopping on Fridays and church on Sundays .In the summer of 1968 the Super had traveled 34,000 miles and he thought it was time to trade her in for the new 68 Electra .

The second owner who worked at the dealership at the time of the trade in had seen the vehicle being serviced and toldpost-100760-143142916093_thumb.jpg the salesman that he wished to purchase the vehicle.It was purchased on the 30th of May 1968 and has been with this family until 26th of June 2014....

The last owner had only shown her 3 times starting at the Flint show in 1973 and her last show was in 1995 BCA meet where it was awarded a bronze ..

The last owner removed all the original red under body sealer and had the whole under body resealed to which is still is today...

He replaced the tires in 1978 with the correct silver town bias ply to which it arrived with in 2014....

The vehicle has never been repainted in anyway and still has its original trim..

The owner decided to store the vehicle in 2000 with 40,696 miles on the odometer, so it was raised on blocks and ATF fluid put in the cylinders and pure glycol in the cooling system ....

I believe that around 2-3 years ago the owner decided to sell the vehicle and put her up for sale and he had NO-ONE make him a reasonable offer in that time and was about to put it into the hands of dealer when we found her (craigslist) ..

It has been absolutely fabulous reading all the information and documents that the old owners have sent with the vehicle,but also to say that there is still some genuine honest people still out there!!!!!

It has taken 6 long months for the vehicle to arrive here and to be in as good if not better condition than described is amazing ....

I hope this helps some people understand this vehicle and why it is in the condition that its in !!!!!!

Matt

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Edited by aziz (see edit history)
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Hi Matt

Beautiful car! I think I know this car from way back in 1973-74….

If it came from suburban Chicago, I would know the previous owner who got it in 1968.

If it is I can relate some history from the 1973 BCA National in Flint.

mike

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I have just received this email from the previous owners

WELL...HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE 3 OF YOU!

Just viewed your last email with the mention of your TIME SPENT ON THE BUICK BUGLE

FORUM. It is very interesting to hear about the many inquiries from folks here in the states, and elsewhere, about where you found this beautiful, truly ALL-ORIGINAL Buick. It makes you wonder, doesn't it?

As regards to the DOVER WHITE ROOF on Ms. Buick, rest assured this IS AS IT WAS

when I purchased the car from the ORIGINAL OWNER~! This was in August of 1968. You should be in possession of a copy of the ORIGINAL STATE OF ILLINOIS TITLE, which shows

the name of Peter John Jasinskis ( hope I have spelled it correctly!). This gentleman lived in the

immediate neighborhood of the Buick dealership from whom he purchased the car. The name

of this dealership was: VAN MALE BUICK COMPANY, located at 7051 So. Western Avenue,

Chicago, Illinois 60636. If I didn't mention it previously, I was an employee in their New Car

Sales Department, and first noticed the Buick through the large showroom windows, as it was

making its' turn into the dealership Service Department entrance. Being the always friendly guy

that I am, I went into the Service Department and introduced myself to the owner, congratulating

him on the care of his beautiful Buick. Mr. Jansinskis was not the most talkative of chaps,

as it turned out, but was reasonably friendly. He confirmed that he had purchased the car NEW

at Van Male, and always returned here for Service concerns. You should know that each time

that I noticed him returning for Service on future visits, I made it a point to always visit him

in an effort to get to know him better.

It was during one of these visits in the spring of 1968 when I mentioned to him my

personal interest in purchasing his Buick, should he ever want to sell. It was then that he

told me of his plans to purchase what would be his "RETIREMENT BUICK"., a new

Electra 225 2 door hardtop. His salesman, a great gentleman named "Red" Wellman,

confirmed this for me, and added that Mr. Jasinskis would be giving his '57 Buick Super

to some member of his immediate family when he received delivery of the new Electra.

Well, so much for that!

As this story would unfold, during the time that the new Electra was on factory order.

apparently various members of Mr. Jasinskis' family got to arguing about WHO was MORE

DESERVING of acquiring his 'treasure'. This "squabbling" amongst the relatives apparently

upset him so much so that he instructed his salesman to "call that young fellow who always

visited with me in the Service Dept.", and tell him that he could purchase his '57 Buick!

That young fellow, of course, was ME! Mr Wellman delivered the '57 to us on a beautiful

summer weekend in August of 1968. The REST is HISTORY~!

To the NON BELIEVERS, NAYSAYERS and the like, it is a fact that this '57..your

now, Ms/Buick, has NEVER HAD ANY RESTORATION of ANY KIND: NO PAINT WORK,

NO BODY WORK, NO MODIFICATIONS. As close as I got to making ANY changes,

was to eliminate the over-the-axle- factory- installed exhaust resonators, which I thought were

useless. The other modification ( HAVEN'T YOU NOTICED IT YET?) was wiring the

tail light assemblies so that BOTH LAMPS are ON when the HEADLIGHTS are used,

and when the BRAKE LAMPS come ON. The factory wired the tail lamps in such a way

that ONLY the 2 VERTICAL SECTIONS were utilized with the headlamps, while the large

oval tail lamps were strictly used for BRAKES. I think my arrangement of providing

more light at the tail lamps was much better than the factory design. By the way, the

Judges at the various Buick Shows/Meets, which we attended, never noticed this simple

change. And even IF THEY HAD, why should THIS have been a "POINT DEDUCTION"?

Enough of this novel, yes? I am certain that the DOVER WHITE TOP on Ms. Buick

was ORDERED by Mr. Jasinskis that way. The ONLY way, perhaps, to know if the factory

actually painted the top in Dover White would be to ask the question about the stainless

factory molding separating the top from the lower body section, that thin little stainless

molding would indicate the separation of the top color from the lower body color.

Cheers

Matt

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I knew it! This is the car I remember from 1973….!

It was well known and highly regarded by us all at the Chicagoland Chapter back then.

I recall how immaculate it was and how it shined. We were all astonished at its condition when

he drove it to our Chapter meeting for the first time.

I was 25 back then and I had the privilege of being the "tail gunner" in an old Buick caravan to Flint for

the 73 Flint Buick Nationals.

My 48 Super was not done, so I made the trek in my 71 Boat tail Riviera. I was to carry tools,assorted spare parts,

fluids, ether, jumpers, etc etc. It was a hot day, but we got there with just minor issues along the way.

This 57 would have been considered a "new" car in the club back then!!!! Most of the fellows were a lot older than me

so they were all into the 30s/40s cars then.

My recollection of cars making the trip:

39 Roadmaster 4 dr. sidemounts - Blue

40 Special 4 dr. sidemounts - blue

38 Century convertible (sidemounts, black & gorgeous!)

40 Super Coupe (black)

49 Super woodie wagon (green)

49 Super 56S fastback (black)

41 Limited model 90L (black)

54 Skylark (red)

and the 57 Super!

The car looks EXACTLY as it did back in 1973. The story above is EXACTLY as I recall the owner stating it to me.

I've known he's had it all these years & wish I'd had acquired it myself somewhere along the way.

If I can find any pics with this car in the scene I'll convert from slides and upload them. I've got some great shots fromFlint shows and others

back in the 70s. …………… Lots of fond memories of the cars and friends who owned them…. not many of them around anymore……

Enjoy your car!

mike

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oh ok,, ...yeah, i moved here 3 yrs ago from Adelaide & now it has the most 1957 Buicks per capita in the whole of Australia,, & Melbourne, Vic comes in 2nd .. ...back in 1994` when i first aquired my first 57 buick ... there were only 3 or 4 ...1957 Buicks in the whole of Adelaide ... now after 20yrs.. there are close to 200 of them just in SA.. & there are more than 500 in Australia now..

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Yes as delivered and as shown in photo #1 this is the correct narrower white wall width size with the correct hubcaps for 1957 that these cars came width.

However, just for the record, the wide white wall radial tires shown in the photo (with after market wire wheels) were used on the 48-52 Buicks. But regardless of not being period correct, the current wheel/tire combo does definitely serve to render a a certain Pimpmotaze effect to the overall look of the car which is cool.

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As far as originality….

I have an original spare in my RoadMaster 75 & it's a 2 3/4" whitewall (looks identical to yours, Matt). As far as I can determine

that is correct for 58s. I suspect 57s are the same.

Obviously, they got narrower over the years.

I say, put whatever you think looks good on your car & pleases YOU!

It has always amazed me how a 1/2" or 3/4" increase or decrease in whitewall

width changes the whole look of the car.

mike

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The White walls on the vehicle now are 2 3/4 Coker Classics as they told me that it was the correct size. I think they look nice on the vehicle but they say to run them at 35psi is this correct as they look a bit flat to me ????

When I took the vehicle in for it roadworthy check I had just black wall tires on and lets just say they looked SHIZEN on the vehicle!!!!!!

MAtt

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The latest set of P225/75R15 I bought has max inflation listed on the sidewall as 45psi vs 35psi on the ones they replaced. Running the new ones at 35 like I did with the old ones resulted in a harsher ride and squirrelly handling. Right now at 41psi they seem about right.

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No big deal but just for the record - No we tend to disagree. Just saying the fatties on Matt's car are not correct for 57 but they do look cool just the same. Just because some guys have unearthed a wide n fatty white wall in their trunk when they bought their car does not mean it makes it an original tire from the factory.

Oh and yes, we suspect in the end that Matt will indeed "… put whatever he thinks looks good on his car and pleases HIM"

Go for it Matt.

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No big deal but just for the record - No we tend to disagree. Just saying the fatties on Matt's car are not correct for 57 but they do look cool just the same. Just because some guys have unearthed a wide n fatty white wall in their trunk when they bought their car does not mean it makes it an original tire from the factory.

Oh and yes, we suspect in the end that Matt will indeed "… put whatever he thinks looks good on his car and pleases HIM"

Go for it Matt.

Just for the record

You are correct, BuickMan, maybe "some guys" might think their spare is original when it is not …….

However, mine IS original & I am highly convinced Matt's is also as I have personal knowledge of his car; albeit from long

ago….

mike

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The latest set of P225/75R15 I bought has max inflation listed on the sidewall as 45psi vs 35psi on the ones they replaced. Running the new ones at 35 like I did with the old ones resulted in a harsher ride and squirrelly handling. Right now at 41psi they seem about right.

I have to agree with you Old -Tank as the set that I received had the 35 Psi sticker on them but now I've inflated them up to 40 Psi they do look better..

In regards to the white wall size for the 57 every bit of advertising literature and photos that I have like Caballero2 has what looks like the 2 3/4 white walls..

Matt

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I thought that this might confuse the issue some. Check the white walls on the Buicks. 1957 NY Auto Show

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I still dream like a little kid of being able to time travel back just to see the cars when new. How cool would it be to go back to that time and place in the photograph?

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… and as long as one could get back to this time once again. But then on second thought, would you really want to?

Tires, Tires, Tires … from the factory in 1957 inside and outside the factory.

Looks like 2-5/8" . However, there is documentation I have read which I cannot find just now in my archives, stating the designers wanted and argued for even narrower white walls than 2-5/8 for the new 1957 launch. Design wise, narrower white walls they felt, would help to further accentuate the full wheel well design with the newly lowered body & long sweeping spear to render a sleekness and lighter feel to the overall appearance of the car.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Mmm.

Rockabilly chicks.

Mike we had Linda Gail Lewis as well performing and lets just say she sounds like her brother (Jerry Lee) :cool:

I have some different photos as well but ##### not for the forum............ NO junk in that trunk....

Matt

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  • 4 weeks later...

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