I need to add that Led Zeppelin's Kashmir is the same tune used by General Motors to debut its concept V16 show car- The Cadillac Sixteen- at the Detroit Opera House in January of 2003 as a part of The North American International Auto Show in Detroit! Charles D. Barnette

Wouldn't "My Buick, My Love and I" be a much better choice of music for the Landau. Would you really want to lower the Landau to use the same song as a mere Cadillac?

Now that I reflect more on this, I realize there is not yet one mortal written song worthy of the beauty, elegance, and majesty of the 1954 Buick Landau! Come see this car for yourself in person Oct. 11 & 12, 2008, in Texarkana! Charles D. Barnette

By gollie there is such a song written in 1951 by Frank C. Skinner and recorded by Gisele MacKenzie and Gordan McRae. I will most certainly add it to the Landau event if I can find it! Anyone have a site I can go to to get this tune? Charles D. Barnette

I have it! What a song. I just heard it. "My Buick, My Love and I" just happened to be the theme song of The Buick-Berle Show starring Milton Berle on primetime TV from 1953 to 1956. The Landau will now be properly welcomed to Texarkana by this song. Charles D. Barnette-what areas of knowledge will the Landau take me to next?

You beat me to it, just sent you a P M to the site. Best Wishes for your show, would love to be there. Videos please?. Jim

Jim - would you mind posting the link if you have the site? I know I've heard this song, but can't recall where. A friend just tried sending both versions to me (with The Mellomen doing the other), but I couldn't open his mp3 files.

Thanks.

Derek, here's the site:
http://local.aaca.org/junior/cartunes/mp3/1950.htm

"My Buick My Love and I" is under 1950's Car Tunes.
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'89 White/Burgandy 127k mi (For Sale)
'89 Silver/Blue 50k mi

The Tex-Ark Antique Auto Museum of Texarkana, AR, has happily received as of last Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008, the following cherished, special email from Mr. Bill Warner, a former owner of the 1954 Buick Landau,: "Happy to hear my old Landau is to be reunited with its cocktail shaker and cups. We restored the car in my shop in Jacksonville, and we really enjoyed studying how it differed from the production car. Most of the running gear is 1953 Buick. Glad it is in good hands." Electronically signed by Bill Warner, Founder and Co-Chairman of The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance of Jacksonville, FL. The 54 Landau is now age 54, and in exactly 2 weeks from today it will arrive on Texarkana soil for display in our Museum on Sat. & Sunday, Oct. 11 & 12, 2008. Come be a part of Buick History! Charles D. Barnette-it is really going to finally happen. Our Museum is totally consumed with excitement!

Mr. Robert K. Blair has been kind enough to send me a written draft of the speech he is preparing to deliver in Texarkana when the Landau arrives. I would like to share a few teasers from that speech which will be presented to this thread after the showing in Texarkana. In these excerpts Mr. Blair is referencing his dad, Mr. Robert F. Blair. "In 1956, he was promoted again to Assistant General Manager in charge of the Eastern Region. We moved from Detroit to Darien, Connecticut, an upscale New York commuter town about 35 miles from midtown Manhatten. When he was in town since he had access to a company car and parking, dad drove and parked at the Mecca Garage on 54th Street near his office on W 57th Street. There he first noticed the Landau languishig in the garage, only used when (Harlow) Curtice came to town." "He(my dad) was told to find a buyer and he later went back and made a deal to buy the car himself for $750." "My job was to wash and wax the Landau." The Landau has gone through the hands of four automotive giants as follows: 1. Mr. Harlow Curtice in New York when Mr. Curtice was GM CEO, 2. Mr Robert F. Blair in Conneticut who saved the Landau, 3. Mr. Joe Bortz of Chicago known for owning a large private collection of Motorama cars, and Mr. Bill Warner of Jacksonville, Florida, as dicussed in the previous message. Now she comes to Texarkana where I will not leave her side until it is time for her to leave. This means sleeping in the Texarkana Museum for two nights. I am blessed! Charles D. Barnette

It is finally the month of October and that means the Landau is coming soon to Texarkana. From securing that the Landau would come to Texarkana for 2 days; to securing the original cups and thermos; to securing Robert Blair to speak; to securing rare photos of Mr. Blair, his mother, father, and uncle all enjoying the cups and thermos in the back of the Landau in 1961; to making my debut on Youtube with the arrival of the cups and thermos in Texarkana; and to the Landau and me surviving Hurricane Ike, it has been quite a ride worthy of a great movie script! In futher correspondance with Mr. Bill Warner, he wrote "I have many bloody knuckles working on the Landau." Unfortunately Mr. Warner will be unable to attend the upcoming event, because he will be up East at the time. However he did write this: "Have a great showing of a really rare piece." Come see the fruits of Mr Warner's works. COME BE A PART OF BUICK HISTORY! Charles D. Barnette

I have been elected to write an article about this event for the Buick Bugle. Unfortunately, the Bugle editor, Pete Phillips, will be out of town attending some little swap meet in Hershey. He asked if I could fill in for him, which as you all know, is a huge task.

So before next weekend I'd like to try to learn as much as I can about the Landau in preparation. At this moment, I know very little other than the information provided on this thread. If anyone has knowledge, pictures, or leads to articles already written about the Landau, you can forward them to me at rfaries@verizon.net. If anyone has already started an article about this event, please contact me and perhaps I can help you. I dopn't want to step on anyone's toes. Thank you.

Charles, I'll plan on seeing you Saturday morning. I share your enthusiasm.

Roy, don't forget it is Saturday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct. 12 (not this weekend but the following weekend)-I wouldn't want you to come on the wrong weekend! I am thrilled that you are doing an article for The Bugle on this event. I have confirmed that noted author David Temple who wrote GM's Motorama will be present to sell and autograph his books. You will be able to pick his brain on the Landau as well. Thanks. Charles

In my opinion the top 6 most beautiful and historic Buick Motorama Show Cars in chronological order must include the following: 1.the incredible 1938 Buick Y Job, 2. the advanced 1951 LeSabre(actually an overall GM product), 3. the superlative 1951 Buick XP 300, 4. the stylish 1953 Buick Wildcat I, 5. the sporty 1954 Buick Wildcat II, and 6. the exquisite 1954 Buick Landau. Aside from the Landau preluding the rear open fender well for the Roadmaster body, the Landau picked up a retro look with the back portion of the top folding down exposing the back seat. It along with the 1954 Cadillac Park Avenue Show Car may have had the first official "cup holders". The "clean and crisp" 1954 Buick grille can be seen to this day on current Buicks. Helping to establish the ageless and timeless unique, regal look of the Landau are the dark blue and tan (fabric) exterior colors, the glass partition between the front and rear interior compartments, and the fold-down section of the rear bumper for the spare tire. The Landau is a great testimonial to the designs of the legendary Harley Earl! I thank all who have contributed to this thread, The Buick Club of America, and AACA for establishing this website. I now go to make final preparations for the landau to come to Texarkana one week from today (public display will be Saturday October 11 and Sunday Oct. 12) and collect her original cups and thermos along with reproduction wheel covers. After the Landau "has left the building", I will have more to share, tell, and show. On behalf of the Tex-Ark Antique Auto Museum in Texarkana, I make one final call to all Buick Lovers-"Come Be A Part Of Buick History!". Charles D. Barnette

Wonderfully written Charles. Thank you so much for the personal invitation to the showing of this fabulous car. Sure wish I could be there. I concur with your list totally. Somewhere in the forum archives is a Buick Concept car thread and I will try and pull it up. You may want to check out a currently running thread about the 1952 Buick Skylark... "the first Skylark"

I am breaking my short lived code of silence to announce that when the Landau comes, I will be able to tell her that three fellow Motorama "cousins" will be on display two weeks after she leaves me at Capitol Cadillac in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008, thanks to the Potomac Region of the Cadillac & LaSalle Club. I can be silent no longer. Remember you heard it here first on the Landau site. The Motorama Gods are smiling in the month of October 2008 even if the Financial Gods of our country are not! The 1956 Cadillac Maharani is one-also known as the "Kitchen Sink Cadillac". The second is the 1953 Cadillac LeMans #4, which is owned by GM (only four of these cars were ever built). But the big "earth-shaking" news is that LeMans #3 that fell off the radar screen in the late 80s has been found and will be on display as well! I do not believe numbers 3 and 4 have ever been shown together before! This is major, because whereas #4 has been modified by GM in 59, #3 is still in stock condition (LeMans number one burned up totally and LeMans number 2 has not been publicly accounted for since late 53). I am sure the horn of the Landau will sound a little louder when she finds out about these three Motorama cars appearing together on display. Charles D. Barnette

The Landau has landed in Texarkana at the Tex-Ark Antique Auto Museum by way of an 18 wheeler at one AM this morning! She came in the secrecy of night from Houston, Texas. There to meet her at the Museum was already on display a stately 1924 Buick Sedan owned by Roger Booth of Texarkana and a beautiful 1950 Buick Sedan owned by Ray Abernathy also of Texarkana. In this time of worldwide financial chaos and with an historic US presidential election only weeks away where our country will either elect the first black president or the first female vice-president, it is good to pause, view, and study the 1954 Buick Landau-a true Automotive National Treasure! More coverage of the event to come later. Charles D. Barnette

If things go according to plan, Roger's 1924 and Ray's 1950 will be joined by my 1961 Electra 225 when I arrive tomorrow morning. It is not a show car yet, but it's not afraid to come to a party. It is a 4 hour drive from my house to Texarkana so I'll be leaving pretty early in the morning. I'll plan on arriving around 10:00. I can't wait to see all the Motorama cars, especially the Landau. Don't cut the cake without me.

Well Roy got his cake and the right to eat it too! As soon as the Landau touched the soil of Texarkana, we got the news that the Landau will stay in Texarkana until October 28, 2008. Mr. O'Quinn has his "Al Capone Cadillac" on display in Hot Springs, Arkansas; and it will be ready to go back to Houston at that time. So we at the Tex-Ark Antique Auto Museum were asked to keep the Landau until that time until both could be picked up at the same time (Hot Springs is only 90 miles from Texarkana). When asked if we would mind keeping the Landau for another 2 weeks, my Museum Officers responded with a hearty YES! The car is so beautiful "in person" that it makes you cry. Our guest speaker Mr. Robert K. Blair upon seeing the car after 47 years openly wept from the flood of memories that came upon him. The truck driver hired by Mr. O'Quinn had permission to drive the car on Texarkana streets as we moved to a location suitable for David Temple to do a photo shoot with the Landau. The next thing I know, Mr. Blair with permission from the truck driver takes the wheel of the Landau with the truck driver sitting on the passenger side front and author David Temple in the back; and all three of them take a joy ride around Texarkana leaving me behind and wondering how they were going to navigate the one way streets of Texarkana, since none of the three were familiar with Texarkana! Oh well, Mr. Blair deserved the treat and so did the Landau. Her grille seemed to be smiling wider than ever on her return back to me. More to come as the show continues today. Charles

Anxiously awaiting a full report and pictures. I am glad to hear Mr. Blair got to take it for a spin. I would love to take the wheel "some day".

Charles, I just sent you a PM

I had so much fun in Texarkana yesterday. It people were nice and treated me like a king. I was the only BCA member there, however. That was disappointing, especially with all the work Charles did to publicize it.

I don't know where to begin. I guess I'll get the bad stuff out of the way first. I headed out in the 61 Electra yesterday morning at 6:00. It was still very dark. I decided to stay off the major highways and take the scenic route. I got about 15 miles from home and there was construction, so I put my bright lights on. After the construction I turned out the brights and realized then I had blown the left low beam headlight. I pulled off the road and looked at the wires. No luck. My first thought was oh well, I can just drive on brights. But every car coming at me was blinking their lights at me. And I did not feel safe with only one low beam light. Knowing I would be driving home in the dark, I turned around, went back home, and drove the 91 wagon instead. It was a nice drive, alhthough it was 4 hours long. I arrived at 10:30. The Landau was being showcased right at the front of the museum. The outside of the Landau and the engine were spectacularly restored. However, the interior was original.

Now the good stuff. The Landau was available for all the pictures you wanted to take. And there were only a few people there. We were allowed to open the doors, hood, etc. We could not get inside the trunk, though. But the other, perhaps stronger, story is about Robert K. Blair and his father Robert F. Blair, and how the Landau was saved from Buick executives. Robert F. was a Buick executive at the time Harley Earl and Harlow Curtis left Buick and the new executives wanted to scrap it. Robert F. bought it for $750 in 1958. It had 700 miles then. Robert K. was in high school at the time and was allowed to drive it for the next three years. When his dad sold it in 1961, everyone lost track of it. Robert K., now living in Austin, was there to tell his stories about the car. He said he drove it to his high school prom, to his fiance's house many times, and around college a lot. When he arrived last night, he saw the car for the first time in 47 years. The emotion overwhelmed him. He gave a very moving speech about his dad and his memories of the Landau. Charles then presented him with the restored thermos and cups, which were placed in their proper place in the rear arm rest after 21 years of separation. Charles also showed the replica wheel covers to replace the original ones stolen while it was parked at the fiance's house one night. Charles is a guy that you can meet and in 5 minutes you're his best friend.

I loved the museum. It is definately a grass-roots, individual effort, driven entirely by the love and interest of old cars. The museum does not own many cars. Owners of cars are contacted by the museum and asked if they would like to display them. There is no charge to see them. The museum operates solely off of donations.

I will post a few pictures at a time, focusing on areas that are not previously displayed in this thread. If you have any questions, ask.

Here is the rear of the Landau. Larissa Powell is the Motorama girl.

How do you get these to just load, instead of having to click on the links?

This engine could be the best detailed I've ever seen.

Rear interior.

Front Interior and Dash.