Just picked up my first 50's Buick.
After looking at quite a few in USA this one turned up for sale near my home. Price was right and more importantly it looked good so I took the plunge and bought it.
Gradually cleaning it up and finding that it is a very original car ( except the repaint).
I'll see if I can get a photo posted and give a progress report on what I find as I tidy her up.

It's a shame you couldn't find a '54 but if you have to settle for a 55 you sure found a beautiful one.(enter a smiley ducking bricks being thrown by Willie and Mike here )

It really is a beauty. That would be Arctic White over Gulf Turquoise right. One of my favorite colors!! Sooo mid fifties.
Congratulations on the new baby and looking forward to seeing more pictures.
btw here is a link you can use to resize to 480x360 or preferably 600x450 should fit.

Yea! awesome car. They do look so good when they are in such nice shape.

Good luck with it.

Thanks Lamar,
I thought I would let Ken (AKA Rooster) have the glory of owning one of the few 54's in OZ


I'm pretty happy with the 55 so far and time will tell how reliable it will be. At least the Dynaflow seems OK which is a bonus and I'm glad it has power steering.

I was going to re-size the photo but ran out of time (at work at present) so I will do that tonight and post a couple more pics.

I'm eager to get her on the road and take her for a good run to blow the cobwebs out but I want to check to see all is OK first so in the meantime I'll continue to clean her up.

The interior is original and the vinyl needs a good clean.......any suggestions for getting it to clean up or maybe it will need to be re-colored?

Resized the photos so here are some more of the 55.
And yes I know the hubcaps are 56 but they'll do for now.
The hood ornament and one of the Special badges have been removed at some point but I have those.

I'd like to replace the carpet as that is the only part of the interior that is shabby so if anyone has a lead on a good company to source that from please let me know
buickman@bigpond.net.au

Brian that is really a beautiful 55. The carpet doesn't look too ragged from the pictures. I try and keep the original carpet in my cars when possible. Adds character
BTW 54 Specials came with rubber mats (which I think are cool looking), did 55's not?

This car must have been stored inside all it's life for the upholstery and glass to still be in that good of shape. Not even any cracks in the steering wheel. How many miles does this baby have on her. When do we get to see under the hood and in the trunk.
What is the history of the car, how long has it been down there. Can you tell I get excited about cars in this original of condition?
Re cleaning the inteior, I usually just use Tough Stuff (do y'all have that down there) on my first cleaning of the upholstery. Then follow up with some McQuires leather soap and treatment.

Again congrats and I'm really happy and excited for you.

Lamar,

You better get your blood pressure checked.......all this excitement may be too much for you

We have Meguiar's products here but not sure of TOUGH STUFF.
I think some good old elbow grease is called for


I do agree that the car must have been protected from the sun as the interior is in really good condition ( just needs a good clean) and yes the steering wheel is perfect, even the chrome inside is nice, but the carpet is definitely past it's use by date.The photos don't show the ragged edges at the doors. Don't know about the option of carpet or vinyl but the carpet looks to be original.

The car is showing 68,000 miles and I tend to feel this may be right as it seems too tidy to have done 168K but who knows.
I don't know the history of the car other than it came to Australia a couple of years ago.

I haven't taken any photos of the engine bay and trunk mainly because they are untouched and haven't faired as well as the interior. The engine looks like a 53 year old engine would and has never been tidied up so it's fairly ordinary.
The trunk is much the same, the cardboard is mostly there but in poor condition.

My plan is to gradually tidy the car up with new carpet and a good clean and drive it as is for a while. The paint job shows nicely in the photos but is an older repaint with a number of flaws in it and I would like to eventually repaint it.

In the meantime I'll try to enjoy my first venture into 50's Buicks. Hope there aren't too many hidden dramas

Very nice Brian. It's a good find, particularly since you didn't need to deal with any shipping headaches.

As for cleaning the interior, I would recommend Meguiar's #40 vinyl and rubber cleaner for any vinyl pieces. It really cuts down on the elbow grease required.

Good luck with it...here's hoping you have a really good time with the car.

Shipping headaches. Ah yes, we know all about those don't we Lamar.
The more I look at that car Brian the more I agree that you scored yourself a little gem there. You seem to get all the luck with that fine Wildcat and all.
I love that 2 tone paint choice. 56 hubcaps, Mmm a set of those might look smart on Irene.

Brian, Don't know how I missed this way back but just had to say WOW! That is one sweet package you got there. The part I like the best though is the dashboard. I always thought it was one of the best styles Buick manufactured. There is so much character and definition. My 56 is rather plain and lackluster compared to your car.

Good luck. and NICE WORK!!!

Stop posting up 50s buicks!!!!! I cant TAKE it anymore Someday.....SOME DAY....haha

I truely enjoy the color combinations of the 50's Buicks, when one could order a turquoise car with red and black interior. The new buyers were a bit eccentric at times. Look at that the next time you see a bunch of them parked in a row. You will not see two exactly alike. I think all that stopped when specific color combinations were dictated by GM for manufacturing simplicity in the early 60's.

I just was made aware of a 56 Roadmaster with a white over maroon outside and a mint green over black interior. How odd is that? Here, you be the judge!

Thanks for all the positive comments guys

The 55 is cleaning up nicely and I'm hoping to have some fun with it this summer.

I would still like to find some nicer tail lights and chrome headlight surrounds as well as a Trunk Ornament.

I'm trying to resist getting the bumpers rechromed as the cost of chrome work here is very high . The bumpers are original and photograph well but on the other hand the car would look even nicer with some freshly chrome bumpers.Maybe if I take out a second mortgage?

John.......I agree with your comments about the dash on 55's
That is one of the things that attracted me to a 55 as well as the front and rear styling.

Well, doesn't time fly
I see it's been 3 months since I last posted on this thread.
If anyone was wondering what stage the 55 is at then I will have to confess that
the temptatation was tooooooo great

I took the car to one of the local paint shops I know to see about getting some touch up work done as the paint job was old and needed attention ( A 20 footer I guess you would call it)
It photographed well but was not up to the standard I would be happy with.
The painter guy agreed he could do some touch up work just to make it look tidier so I could drive it as is and it would be done in a week.

He asked me if I wanted to take off the side trims so he could
fix some areas near them ( original repaint was done with the trims still on the car)

I said OK that sounds fair and easy
Well...........you've probably guessed where this is leading.

Three months later and I have removed the interior of the car (except the roof lining) all the exterior trims and bumpers and the whole car has been taken back to bare metal, prepped and repaired where necessary (very little) and nearly ready for paint.

So what started as a small touch up job has progressed to a complete exterior restoration

My original plans for the car did include a new paint job but just not so soon..........I just got a little carried away

What this confirmed for me though was my gut feeling that this car was a nice original car which had been looked after for many years and the amatuer paint job had probably helped preserve the car as well.

The exterior panels were all very straight and the only rust found was between the rear of the doors and the rear wheel arch (same on both sides) The panel shop made new panels for these 2 areas and you would think it was factory fresh ( very nice work)
The floors, doors, trunk and guards are all rust free .........boy was that a relief!!

I had all the stainless polished and it looks spectacular.
I will have to get some chrome work done now as that will just finish it off nicely.

While I have the interior out and at home I have given the seats a thorough cleaning and the red vinyl has come up very nicely with only one seam needing repair. The condition and color of the vinyl and the fabric inserts have faired extremely well with the fabric showing little wear so it is either original or it has been replaced a long time ago, which it is I don't know but I'll be leaving it as is anyway.
We eventually found some remnants of plastic at the base of the front seat and so it would appear that the car had clear plastic seat covers for may years which explains the mystery of why the seats are in such nice condition after 53 years!

So the end result .......hopefully........will be a 1955 Special 46R 2 Door, with a gleaming Dover White over Gulf Turquoise paint job and an original 53 year old(new) interior.

When it is all back together I will post some updated photos.

Cant say I blame you, Brian. It is very easy to give in to temptation when it comes to our cars. looking forward to the pics.


Ben
Springfield. MO