Hans1965

To get my 53 Buick Roadmaster Riviera on the street. As always, I had to buy the car sight unseen and when it arrived here in Germany I was shocked by its condition. Bad paint, bad chrome, bad interior, engine had a tick, it was rolling like a ship in a storm due to the shocks not working properly, quite frightening. It must have had a hit at the front, so the geometry was not quite right. The hood needed welding, too. Don't know why I even had bought it. So I left it in my garage for a few years, sorted the electrics, took out the front and rear windows to do little rust repair, took off the cylinder heads to let a shop take care of the valves etc. But when the mechanicals were sorted I still had a car with bad paint and bad chrome and an engine I did not trust. So it sat for another 2 or 3 years and I bought other cars. Then I gave it to a 73 year old painter who put 300 h of work into it, straightened the front, welded the hood and really painted it very nicely. Took him 2 years. In the meantime I had bought new bumpers from California, new venti ports from Bob's, a better trunk ornament, straightened the sweep spears, repaired the hydrolectric system, etc. But when I got the car back from the painter, it looked fabulous, but I had not the guts to finish it because the paint just looked so fantastic and I had so much fear to destroy it!!!! Two years later a car buddy of mine stopped by for a weekend and he forced me to finish it with him. Luckily with no scratches! Surprisingly the car passed the mandatory car safety inspection on the first attempt with no problems at all. I drove back home and it sat another 1.5 years in the garage, because I had not the guts to drive it. How could I take the risk? Just in August this year, we wanted to go to the Elvis festival in Bad Nauheim, I thought now or never. I took it out, washed it, did a few test drives and then we gave it a try. 8 years after acquiring it! And it ran like a champ although it was really a very hot weekend. Of course I was worried and listened to the engine all the time expecting something to happen. But it ran just fine. Amazing. At the end this journey was really satisfying. The guy who painted it passed away in the meantime from cancer, but this car is really his legacy.

No, they are not. But he advertised the car on Facebook, too, and i saw it there.

Is the name of the seller "Ed"? He must be well above 80 years old. I think I remember the place. Discussed with him the price of hood and trunk ornaments for a 1950 Caddy. He believed they were perfect while they where clearly cracked and not perfect at all. Nevertheless, friendly guy and he let us look into his huge warehouse with Caddy parts. What a treasure cove. Bought a few parts there. He had two huge dogs that really scared me. Great experience.

I saw one 5 or 6 years back here in Germany for 30.000 USD and thought that sounds expensive. Silly me. I see them very rarely for sale. I'd take both, a 49 Roadmaster sedanet or a 42-47 Ser. 62 Caddy coupe, but I think the Caddy is even more cool.

Facebook add says Western NY. 4500 USD

Funny first picture. Can we assume that all that is on the table is missing in the car?

Here in Germany:

This is a really beautiful car. Fantastic color combo. Love the leather inside.

I hear you, but if this is such a great deal, why it is still available?

I do not know really understand what you are seeing in this car. The rust throughs at the left head light, rusted lower door panels and rockers. To me this car screems 'rust'. I do not even want to know how it looks from underneath.

This was a bargain here on the forum one year back for 10.000 USD, although only a super (1947). Original paint, never repainted.

The floors are half gone and if there is so much surface rust even in the cabin, i do not even want to see the rest of the undercarriage. This would be really a labor of love and the asking price is very much on the high side.

I wanted to go but didn't feel too good. We went instead to something closer here in Europe. Just arrived in Budapest and developed Covid. 4 days in the hotel with high fever, no taste, then it got better. Here in Europe it spreads big right now. Luckily it is not as dangerous right now.

That's what I thought. 😭 Gorgeous car. '36 was really a great year.

Is that 36 Buick in the 20k price range?

The GM fastbacks of the 40s are just drop dead beautiful. I need to ask my boss for a pay raise. Urgently!

Very nice car. The dashboard is just amazing. Unfortunately I cannot buy all of the nice cars popping up.

This car needs to be preserved,not restored. Fascinating to me!

I now got another distributor that works fine for the moment. Had not so much time to experiment with the old one. Thanks everybody.

Hi Marv, only see it now. In the meantime I got another distributor from the Netherlands which seems to work fine. Thanks, anyway for your offer!

Definitely a 52 with the upper rear fender trim. Definitely a 51 grill. Definitely a 51 trunk ornament position which is lower than in 52. So more a 51 with 52 touch ups....

Seems to be sold. Sh...

You guys have one big advantage. I have never seen these cars in real life. I can only judge on the design by watching pictures. Your experience is different.

I hear you all, call me weird, but to me this car is very attractive and elegant. Same league as my 49 Buick Super convertible. Just because it is not overloaded with trim and chrome and the lines are very easy to the eye. My eyes only it looks like! 😂

Hans, are you coming to the USA for Hershey this year ? The show is wonderful, but I think you would love the car corral !! Terry Terry, we are really considering! I am next week in the US for business reasons and need to go back to Germany. But Hershey is a dream of me, one of the things I need to do in my life. So maybe we come over more or less spontaneously. My brother would join us as well. Let's see!