SpecialEducation

Well, Bertha is now on her way to her new home Kansas... This is a highly optioned car that was given to the sister of a D.C. Buick dealer (Ralph Brown, I think). It has the factory CB radio, sunroof, and 4-wheel disc brakes...

In 1996 there were 6,783 Skylark coupes, and 5,991 Regal coupes built (compared to 35,089 and 107,056 sedans, respectively). 17,389 Rivieras built the same year. I have little doubt a higher percentage of the Rivs have survived. Hold on with both hands, indeed...

Man, that statement bugs me, though. My parents bought a new truck in '88, my brother & I drove it in high school, and dad sold it in '96. It's gone because it was a crappy truck, not because it was old. The '96 GMC he replaced it with isn't old, either. Still got that one.

Naturally Aspirated - not supercharged. I wasn't planning to go to Kingman, but I will be in Arizona this weekend. I don't have enough room on the trailer, but I'm sure my wife will drive the 'Lark while I drive the rig. I can meet you in Kansas City with it on September 1st. Don't you hate it when people are so helpful?

" I have two 1988 Buick Reatta for sale one is a good parts car both runs this is a hard car to find one is red one is white don't let this great offer pass you by these cars are old very rare antique cars I'm asking $1200.00 for white one or Obo and for the red one I'm asking $ 800.00 Obo give me a call let's make a deal 316-871-8919 ask for kevin ." http://wichita.craigslist.org/cto/5713821392.html

I say get her a N/A Riv. Yeah, it may be a bit of a pain, but any 20 year old car is going to have issues. It will teach her character and patience, and when it comes time to unload it, you'll get more of what you put into it. Then, once she gets a job and starts making money, she can get herself a '96 Corvette.

Oh, the stories I could tell... I used to move new cars cross-country for the Buick Pontiac GMC dealer my wife worked for. We were in Norman (south Oklahoma City metro), and had sister dealerships in Broken Arrow (SE Tulsa) and Colorado springs that we traded with quite a bit. The dealership had 3 rigs for trailering cars, and I was one of the few that was willing to drive the one with surge brakes. If you're unfamiliar, surge brakes use the force of the trailer pushing against the tow vehicle to apply hydraulic pressure to the trailer brakes. It's simple & effective, requires no special wiring on the towing vehicle (which was usually a 3/4 ton truck plucked from the back row of the used lot), and works great on flat, straight road - which there is no shortage of in Oklahoma and Texas. Flat, straight road is a little harder to find in Colorado Springs, though. That fact is not very bothersome until you are coming around a tight curve on a steep grade, and some old blue-hair pulls out in front of you and proceeds to go nowhere. You see, when the trailer is not straight behind the tractor, the surge brakes become less effective, which then makes the trailer want to push the back end of the tractor sideways, which makes the brakes even less effective, which makes the tractor even more sideways... Not that I was ever actually passed by a brand new $60k SUV that I was hauling, but there were times that the possibility seemed awfully close!

Yeah, they both say "The Magic Carpet" but additional Google searching hasn't produced more images or any more of the story for me. Every time I look at that thing, I think of The Long, Long Trailer. That's a 34' trailer being pulled by a Merc. Incidentally, the old flathead F*rd under the hood didn't have the guts to get the job done, so a stinkin' Lincoln had to step in for a few takes. If they had just started with a Buick...

I'm pretty sure it's the same Buick and same trailer. If you ask me, that trailer is every inch of 30'. Anyone know the overall length of a '49 Roady? I think you could get 2 of them in the length of that thing!

Speaking of Springfield, is this your visor Buick, Ben?

Well, if nothing else, F*rds are good for sittin'...

I noticed this was mentioned down in the Rivieras section, but I thought I'd share it up here for the rest of us... The Ozarks Pontiac-Oakland-GMC club is inviting Buicks and Oldsmobiles out to their Labor Day Weekend festivities in Springfield, Missouri. I'd be sorely tempted to go out that way, but I'll be making a run to Michigan to retrieve an Oldsmobile powerplant that weekend. https://www.facebook.com/Go-Poci-447202658697000/

The single page icon second from the right will put it in 1-up mode. Also, the double diagonal arrows on the right end will go to full screen mode, and you can zoom in and out with your mouse wheel (if you have a wheel mouse). Otherwise, just zoom in and out with the ball between the - + on the left. Actually, I guess the wheel zoom only works in 2-up mode. In 1-up mode it just scrolls up and down.

Note that the biggest trailer in the park is pulled by a BUICK! Back when the wife sold new trucks, a GM factory rep was in town for a visit and said something very true: Just about anything can get a trailer moving and keep it moving (especially if you don't care how fast it moves). It's when it's time to STOP the trailer that things start to break!

When I lived in Oklahoma City, there was a fellow down the street from me that had 3 GTs. I eyeballed them every time I went by, half hoping to see a for sale sign, and half fearing that they'd be too pricey for me if they were for sale...

The fact that people did it doesn't mean it was smart!

I understand your envy of the 1956 color palate; bittersweet is a great color. The fact that the '56 my grandpa bought new in the spring of '56 happened to be bittersweet has no bearing on my opinion.

Just disconnect the battery while you are working on it.

Looks like he's cleaning house...

Spotted this on Facebook. Those suckers are heavy, so shipping would be a bear. I'm heading to Tucson on the 20th, then Michigan Labor Day weekend, so if you aren't too far off the path, maybe we can work something out.

Judging, smudging... The Tri-Shield floor mats certainly aren't "correct," but it's still a gorgeous car!

Have you tried this: http://wichita.craigslist.org/pts/5639896299.html If someone has a parts book with an interchange, that might be helpful. I'm in the LKQ yard on 21st pretty regularly. They don't have any Rivs of that series, but if I knew what to look for, maybe something else they have will work. The front desk will also print an interchange for you, and you don't even have to pay to get in the yard for that service.

Welcome Jim and Al! That's a great story on the Skylark. My grandfather helped start a truck company when I was a kid, and I'd love to pick up one that I'd seen being built back in the day, but I'm not sure where I'd park a fire truck. That's a beautiful color on the '54. Mr. Earl may come off as a bit of a stalker, but don't let that keep you from posting photos. Just don't post your street address and you'll be okay.

My wife asked me why I posted that one instead of this one of my then 9 year old daughter....

Here's my dad and son putting the grille back on. This was March 2012, so he was not quite 3... This week, he's at robotics camp (my son, not my dad).