Last weekend my son Jordan and I went up to Belvidere, Illinois and picked up the most exciting Buick I have ever had the honor of purchasing. The car is a 1954 Buick Century 2 door riviera hardtop (66R). What makes this car so exciting and special is that it is a 3 speed. As I understand it, only about 1-2 % of the 54 Century?s were produced with the 3 speed conventional transmissions. Additionally it does not have power brakes or power steering. This leads me to believe that whomever ordered this car must have been looking for ?muscle?.
And as I said I felt it was an honor to have been offered this car by the wife of our departed friend Jim Schilf aka Palbuick who left us last year just before Christmas. I also owe thanks to another good friend for helping make the purchase possible. About 3-4 years ago I purchased a large number of Buick Bugles from a gentleman in Illinois named Norm Kortus. Since then he and I have become very good ?cyber friends?. Norm was a very good friend of Jim?s and apparently put in a good word for me with Jim?s wife Rose that led her to offer to sell me the Century. I met Norm when I picked up the car and must say he is one of the nicest Yankee's I've ever met.
Jim had started dismantling the car and was in the process of doing some mild customizing to it and rebuilding the engine with some higher performance 1956 engine parts. It was gonna be a tough car I am sure. It was a day of mixed emotions that while loading the car and parts I was constantly seeing Pal?s work and tools where he had last laid them. I also saw the 40 Buick convertible he has been working on for years as well as the gorgeous 66 Wildcat. I hope Pal is satisfied with who Rose picked to be care taker of the car from now on. I don?t plan on ever letting this one go.

Here is a link to the Forum thread of when Pal first bought the car. He and I spoke once and emailed several times about the car and the rare 3 speed and the oddity of the 4 Ventiports.
Palbuicks 3 speed 4 holer 54 Century

Hey Lamar,

thanks for telling your little secret you had.

What a gorgeous Century! It is really one of a kind. Manual trans is seldom, a car without power brakes and power steering, too. Four portholes, wow... I would call that a "Master Century" according to your other 4-portholers you have. I didn't know Jim, but your place is truly the best place for a 54 Buick, so I think he would have liked that.

BTW: The picture with the red truck in front of you looks a little frightening!

That's a great story Lamar. What is with the semi photo in the wrong lane??

What are your plans for the Century? Are you going to do a restoration or modify it? I thought the special purchase car you were getting was the four door Special manual trans car. Now this.

Jake

Thanks guys,
Jan it wasn't easy keeping it a secret. But one of the first lessons my dad taught me was to "keep it under your hat 'til it is in your hands"
Re the red semi being in the wrong lane? Jordan took this picture. As Thriller figured out, this is actually a tractor being towed backwards piggyback style by another tractor. Not on this trip but a previous one that my son and I were on I pulled up close behind a rig like this while my son was napping and after ensuring nothing was too close behind me I put on brakes pretty hard and yelled ?JORDAN, LOOK OUT!!! We had to stop at the next rest stop for him to change clothes. Actually when Jordan is asked about this episode he claims he wasn't at all shook up by it. Yea right, I have never heard him call out "DADDY" as he did at that moment, as if he may never see his ol pop again. Ain't I cruel...

The first thing I did upon arriving home was to pull the 4th porthole in hopes of seeing a stamp cut hole for the porthole which would have pointed toward it being original. Not? it was a well executed saw cut and upon looking at the chrome porthole itself instead of seeing parts numbers I see the word ?CARS?. So it was a repro bought from CARS. Darn!!!
Next I clean off the stamped engine number from the 54 block (I brought home both the 54 and 56 engines) and determine it is a Century engine and presumably the original. I then look at all the clutch and brake assemblies and steering column for signs of swap out to a 3 speed and since the interior is original it is easy to determine that the 3 speed is definitely factory. It wasn?t that I for a moment doubted Pal?s opinion, but mainly that I wanted to just look over it and see something I have never seen before. Upon further inspection of the car I find that the floors and trunk are fairly solid but there is extensive rust out of the rear fender wells, between the fenders and trunk side panels as well as the rockers are totally rotten and had been filled in with bondo at some point. In fact there is extensive bondo on the car. I bought the car unseen and Norm had advised me of the amount of bondo on the car so I am not at all surprised.
I was hoping to build and reinstall the engine and put the car back on the road but after seeing the amount of rust out will probably be on the look out for some rear quarters and end up doing quite a bit of body work before repainting. The paint is peeling terribly bad as if it wasn?t sealed and primed properly when it was painted last. It has big blister spot and is peeling bad. I need to clean all that up and get some rust inhibitor on it quick. Any suggestions on that work.? The car was originally Tunis Blue bottom with a Jordan Grey top. The Tunis Blue came out later in the year and wasn?t seen much on 54?s. Not sure what color I will paint it back. Possibly Cavalier Blue w/Arctic White top. I hope to keep the interior original.

Here is the data plate and vin info

1954 MOD 54-66R
STYLE No 54-4637
Body No BW 1566
Trim No 60
Paint No 07 E

Vin Plate A 5020647

Engine V 32552 I 6 (the ?6? is a funny looking 6, looking more like a small letter b ??)

if anyone can add, give any info as to when the car was produced.

Man, I can't wait to come over and see this! I don't think I've EVER been this excited for a friend getting a car before.
Factory hot rods always make me giggle--and this is absolutely a factory hot rod! Big engine, lightest body, no power options, manual trans...and the dog dish hubcaps are the crowning touch!!!
I absolutely love the fact that this car was built before the 265-powered '55 Chevrolet. The only thing better would be Chrysler Hemi cars, but those were full-size cars, not a "small" Buick Century body.

Okay everybody--we now have to find Mr. Earl a 2x4 Edmunds intake. He's on his own for chrome factory valve and spark plug covers.

-Brad

MrEarl, I couldn't be happier for you. Please keep us posted on your progress with this rare beast. We look forward to your reports for years to come.

Thanks Brad and Brian,

Re:

Quote:

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Please keep us posted on your progress with this rare beast. We look forward to your reports for years to come.

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It will certainly take years!! A couple of years to even get to it then probably 2-3 to restore it. I plan on only restoring it to a nice driver condition but it has a lot of rust so that won't be easy. I hope to build the engine with everything that would have been possible in 54 to get as much power out of it is as possible. Then dress the engine up with some chrome, again a was available in 54.
My first work to do on it is to get the existing paint off of it. Apparently it wasn't prepped correctly when it was resprayed and ALL the paint is peeling and flaking off. I'm talking in like dishpan size areas. If I can just get it stripped and covered in some rust encapsulator til I have time to propely sand and paint it. As we all know though, rust never sleeps or in my case it never "waits for anyone".
Here's something I found while cruisin the net on a rainy day.

From Time- 1954
Nearly every motorist would like a sports car?or something close to it?if it had the comfort, roominess and reasonable price of the traditional family auto. In Flint, Mich, this week, Buick's General Manager Ivan L. (for Lester) Wiles, 55, took the wraps off what he thinks should fit the bill. It is Buick's Century, a new line that comes close to being a sports car for the family.

Sleek and low (60½ in.), Buick's Century is designed to sell in the $2,300 price range between the Special and the Super (without such equipment as radio & heater). It is built on the Special's wheelbase (122 in.), but under the hood it has the same 200-h.p. engine as the Roadmaster. It will be available as a station wagon, two-door Riviera and four-door sedan.


The Century, however, was not the only new car to roll off Buick's production line. For the first time in 18 years, Buick redesigned its entire line in the same year, at a cost of about $45 million. While most prices were unchanged from last year, the basic factory price of the Super convertible was cut $60 (to $2,700), while that of the Skylark sports car was slashed $500 (to $4,100).

The 1954 models follow the low and racy lines of last year's Skylark, are some three inches lower and as much as five inches longer than the 1953 models. The new cars have wrap-around windshields that give more visibility. Hoods have been lowered and fenders raised, so the driver can see his right front fender.

Under the hood, the Special has a V-8 engine with 150 h.p., v. 125 h.p. in 1953; the Super's horsepower has been boosted from 170 to 182, and the Roadmaster's from 188 to 200.


To show his confidence in his new models, Wiles has scheduled first-quarter Buick output at 135,000 cars, up nearly 10% from the same period last year. Buick's goal for 1954: to push Plymouth out of third place in auto sales.


Two other automakers announced new lines this week:

> In its ding-dong battle with Chevrolet for top place, Ford spent $65 million on its 1954 line. Chief new feature: an overhead-valve V-8 engine that delivers 130 h.p., v. 110 h.p. in last year's model. A new Ford hardtop, the Skyliner, and the Sunliner convertible have transparent plastic roofs over the driver's seat.

> Willys Motors announced a new two-passenger sports car, the Kaiser Darrin 161, designed by Howard A. Darrin, who has done cars for Packard and Lincoln as well as custom cars for Rita Hayworth and Errol Flynn. Like Chevrolet's Corvette, the Darrin 161 has a plastic body that weighs but 300 lbs. (total weight: 2,175 lbs.). Powered by a six-cylinder, 90-h.p. engine, it has six forward speeds and doors that slide into the front fenders instead of opening outward. Factory list price: $3,668.

Dear Lamar:
Based on the numbers you gave, the car you bought from my good friend of 29 years and one of my predecessors as Director of the Chicagoland Chapter Jim Schilf (aka PalBuick to us on the Forum), was built at the Wilmington plant mid May of 1954. The engine was built probably about mid Febuary in Flint. The numbers decode as follows: A is 1954, 5 is Wilmington, 020647 is the 19647th car built at Wilmington in the 1954 model year. The engine decode is 325521 (started with 2051 in 1953). The end digit of 6 tells you it's a Century engine. Think about Jim often as he was a great guy and loyal friend. That sometimes gruff Chicago cop image concealed a real teddy bear, if you were a friend of his.
Rergards, Dave Corbin

For those of you who missed it, see my note of 11/18/06 on Jim's passing away. It's on the Prewar Buick part of the website. Sadly, Dave Corbin
PS: Lamar, I think Jim would agree with you getting the 54.

Hi congratulations on such a fine car. I really like the three speed trany. I have one question for you. You say you are going to do some body work on it. Are you going to take out the fourth porthole? I think when he painted it he added the fouth one. Century did not have four holes until 1955. If you are doing mild custom I think its fun to have four. It will give someone something to talk about. To your health.

Undecided about the 4th porthole. IMO the Century's rate the 4th porthole and I love the looks of the line of four on them but since they're not original...I don't know. Plenty of time to make up my mind.

My "Special" friend, ElDiablo from across the big pond, just sent some exciting links to the 2006 Carrera Pan American road race. The first I think is an overview of all the cars. the next four are of a 54 the owner describes as:

“Basically it is highly modified Buick Century 1954 with a Chevrolet 355 8 cylinders engine that provides aprox 480 real HP, a Mc phearson/Hammerlund suspention (back/front), 2 80 liters fuel cells, disk brakes (Wilwood 6 pistons), a Richmond closewide 5 gear box, top speed 265 Km/h (165 miles/hr), and overall prepared by Uvi Vega.”

ENJOY....I did

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlIridWdOhM

Oh and turn your speakers up for the next four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnCz0Ks1r7U&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcY5S5UPtKA&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAP6YUHxpxM&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUnuVB70v2g&mode=related&search=


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzYKqE-MNKQ&mode=related&search=


THANKS JAN

Now where are those tissues.

Soooooooooooooooo?????? Did it leave you speechless or what. Can't believe not a single reply. I at least expected some comment about the Chevy engine. Oh well, it got me going and thinking why would I want to waste my time on a 38. I just need to get Buttercup and DoraB done so I can start on 54 Muscle. Here's what the owner had to say.

"Last year we were doing ok up to the 4th day of the race (there are 7 days of racing). We were in the top 8. Then we have an electric problem and went down to 24th...
The car is fun and fast, but can not do anything vs the top Studebakers; it is too heavy and not very aerodynamic at top speeds (above 140 it matters!). The 53-55 Studebakers can do 180! So, as pretty much everybody else in La Carrera, we just run for the fun of it and hope for the best result. Regards!"

and here's another fun vid of the PanAm

and by the way is anybody familiar with the "York Reunion and Nostalgia Drags"

I asked the owner why he drives a 54 Buick. Answer: "Because the 54 Buick Century is the most beautiful car!"

Sounds reasonable and (for me) thats easy to comprehend.

Too busy getting my ride ready for the charge to Seattle. So, what are you driving??

Willie

Driving...I'll be driving Rita and the airline stewardess's crazy asking are we there yet? can't you make this jet go any faster...I bet it would go faster if it had a Dynaflow... whataya mean I've had my limit, I've just had a few samples...

hey, what route are ya takin,I'll wave as we fly over ya

Tomorrow night in Moose Jaw, then Lethbridge on Thursday, then Cranbrook for the weekend. Monday to Coeur D'Alene, and Tuesday to Bellevue. The '41 is loaded as is about half of our stuff...just gotta sleep, eat, finish packing, and we'll be on our merry way some time tomorrow morning.

Hello Guys-
Has anyone ever heard of swapping out the old-style diaphragm type clutch to a 3-lever style?
I have a '54 Special, and thought that there was a way to upgrade the clutch.

Thanks!!


Dave

I heard that the '54 Buick in the La Carrera PanAm videos has crashed.

Now racing in this series would have to be a major blast!! Gee, I wonder if I could get Yoda up to speed in time to make the race. Now that would be cool....I just won't hold my breath!!

Gary

Just thought I'd relate a little chill bump story that happpened recently. A 55 Century 3 speed tranny came up for auction on Ebay for a very decent Buy it Now price, it was not too far from home so I jumped on it. When I got the invoice it had a phone number on it so I called the seller to ask if I could possibly just pick it up in a few days as I passed through on my way to look at a Roadmaster Wagon. Well we got to talkin and come to find out that he has several Buicks and has been in the BCA quite some time (#5oo something). I tell him about my 54's and that I have 54 Century w/3 speed. He says the trany he sold me had actually been sold/swapped to a good friend of his up in Illinois that had a 54 Century w/3 speed but had passed away before he got it to him. I knew then that he had to be talking about Jim Schilf-PalBuick. Turns out he and Jim were very good friends and he had promised Jim the tranny when Jim first got the car but he had just never gotten it to him. I ended up dropping by and picking it up amd met James Keenan and his very sweet wife. Rita and I got lost in the backroads of SC and he ended up bringing it to us at a convenience store. Super nice guy, but aren't they all, all BCA guys nice... .

Great story with a happy ending.
It's a small world isn't it.

Ken. ( aka Rooster )
1929
(1954 I )