Jay Leno Buick Derelict

Love it or hate it, either way it's still pretty cool seeing it burn out like that....:cool:.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B3X8DtxYt8I" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

SUPER (no pun intended)! Looks like a Buick but runs like a stripped a__ed ape! Thanks for posting.

Wow thats awesome! Thanks for posting. What amazed me is the technology involved in the engineering of it and the builder did a superb job. I didn't catch the cost but obviously a very expensive project. Likely equal to or exceeding a full blown authentic restoration. Might not have $25k in chrome plating but that probably won't even buy the LS9 engine!

Personally if I drive an old car I want it to feel like an old car even if it is slow, but I can easily see how someone with disposable income would want one of these. There is an attraction to not worrying about getting a scrape or bump!!

Personally if I drive an old car I want it to feel like an old car even if it is slow, but I can easily see how someone with disposable income would want one of these.

Well-said. I too enjoy the feel of driving an old car. That is the main reason I am in this hobby. I wanted to know what it was like to drive one of these cars back then. BUT, with that being said, I do fully appreciate a well-done custom car too. I really dig period correct hot rods and I'm digging the whole "derelict" concept too. Yes, my main love in the car hobby will ALWAYS be factory original cars but I would love to build a hot rod someday too. I have never known anyone with hot rods and thus have never had much experience with driving one, riding in one, peeling out and going down the road pedal to the metal. But I must say, the whole thing excites me and I would love to experience it some day. Just another aspect of the car hobby to love!

Robert

Couldn't agree with you more! I have owned many cars and some were pretty quick, but never a true HOT ROD. Thus the '57 Buick restomod project. It will look like a '57 Buick and smell like a '57 Buick but will be a whole lot quicker! The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys!

I can't remember where I saw this car first, but I'm sure it was in Velocity.

I love it. Especially today, when the car gods are frowning upon me.

YOU know how I feel, I LOVE IT.

As they say, "IF IT DON'T GO, CHROME IT, IF IT DOES GO, PROTEST"

Dale in Indy

Thanks for posting. I truly enjoyed the video.

So what would the cost be for constructing one of these? I don't even think I could count high enough. 100K ??? More

Bill

More.

Trust me.

I would say probably $250,000.00., maybe more.

The fact they didn't put a show quality paint job on the Buick saved $20-30 thousand, Mabye more.

Remember panel fitness was NOT quality on 48 pieces, and a quality paint job would have tackled that, and that would be expensive, lots of labor costs.

Dale in Indy

One of our former chapter members re-chassied a '49 Roadaster Riviera on a '79 Cadillac Fleetwood chassis. When I first saw the car, it was a nice car. Medium Firethorn on the body, darker Firethorn on the fenders. Factory Boranni wire wheels. The tip-off that something was amiss was the factory rear sway bar hanging below the rear axle. The interior was done in the "loose pillow" velour of the late '70s, plus the requisite Cadillac tilt steering column. Then you raised the hood and there was the rest of the Cadillac donor's guts. Looked pretty neat, back then. Later, J.R. put some wide whites on it and it just didn't look "right" to me any more.

There have been other re-chassis posts in this forum. It appears to be easier than you might suspect. J.R. said the body mounts lined-up better than you might suspect, too. So . . . end result is that current vintage LS power and a street rod style are NOT the only ways to do it.

I do like the orientation of having something "that runs well" that you don't have to worry about keeping washed and waxed AND still have people take on over it. Makes it look more like a "work in progress" that way.

Thanks for that post.

NTX5467

I may be all alone with my view of the merits of the 48 Super convertible, but I really don't like it! I would prefer having it all original and keeping the patina. Jay Leno has an awesome car collection and he is a good advocate of the old car hobby, but this one I don't like.

There is ONLY one person that needs to like it, and that is Jay.

There ISN'T much chance that 48 Buick's are going to be extinct any time in the near to distance future, there are examples of originals to be seen, so it's NOT like he is a bad person.

Your opinion is just like mine, ONE PERSONS OPINION.

Dale in Indy

The car doesn't belong to Jay.

I don't like it............I love it!!!! We had a 48 Special my dad use to spin around in, would love for him to have seen this.

I understand the "keep it close to original" orientation. I understand the "modern re-power" orientation, too. That year and model of Buick might still be "plentiful", BUT by Jay doing what he did to that one, it's guaranteed, "Ahhh say, guaranteed!" to not end up as iron oxide fertilizer . . . given it's new pedigree ala Leno. Plus, now it's a "sleeper", which can be even MORE fun. If he could replicate that Straight 8/DynaFlow sound on that car, that might be even better . . . as you strain to see those little tail lights heading toward the horizon.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

The car does not belong to Leno.

The car does not belong to Leno.

Are you sure, West?

Some days I wonder what the engineers of the Buicks back then would think when they see their design today with the underpinnings of another chassis/motor.

Are you sure, West?

LOL!

I love it !!