Centurion

Buickfan83, are you on Facebook by any chance? We have a very active 1971 - 1972 Big Buicks group, with a large number of Centurion owners and enthusiasts. Are you looking for a 2-door hardtop (Formal Coupe) or a 4-door hardtop?

This car prompts another question about the correct two-toning paint schemes for 1955. I would have expected to see the area behind the rear wheel opening -- between the mid-body side bright trim and the lower rear quarter stainless shield -- painted white to match the area below the sweepspear between the front and rear wheel openings. This original print advertisement for the '55 Roadmaster shows the lower body color behind the rear wheel opening:

The buyer is not a member here, but he is an active BCA member.

It looks incredible, Ted. I can't wait to see some nice photos of this beauty parked outside.

This car is particularly interesting because it appears to be the quite rare "Invicta Custom" 4-door hardtop. A look at the emblem on the front fender (as well as the interior) leads me to this conclusion. Whereas the 1961 Invicta Custom coupe and convertible had "Jewel Tone" vinyl bucket seats, the Invicta Custom 4-door hardtop had a luxurious full leather bench seat interior. The disappointment here is that the seats appear to have been re-done in this car, and they do not appear correct to me in terms of color or material. Buick called the exterior color "Desert Fawn" in '61, and it is one of my favorites. This is a very attractive car, despite a few issues. Correct tires would positively transform the car's look!

This one, finished in the same color scheme, appeared at the BCA's 50th Anniversary National Meet at the Nicola Bulgari facility in Allentown, PA during 2016. It was among my favorite cars at the event:

Wow, Lance! A fabulous find in an excellent color! This is just fantastic. Congratulations!

Thanks, Pete. That would be consistent with the original advertising and brochure illustrations, which show the sedans and Estate Wagons only with solid color bodies below the roof.

This car raises an interesting question for me. On the '55 Buick 4-door sedans and Estate Wagons, which lacked the full rear wheel cut-outs of the '56 models, I always assumed that the lower body behind the rear wheel openings would be painted in a similar fashion to the 2-door bodies with the full rear wheel cut-outs. So, if the Super sedan in this listing has a factory applied two-tone paint treatment with contrasting colors above and below the sweepspear, shouldn't the lower rear quarter also be painted white, like the rest of the lower body? (This was a moot point on the '55 Roadmaster sedans, since the area was covered with the large bright shield behind the rear wheel opening.) Or, were the contrasting colors above and below the sweepspear utilized only between the front and rear wheel openings on the '55 sedans and Estate Wagons? I have seen '55 sedans painted both ways, but wonder which style is correct. Thanks in advance for a clear and definitive answer about this.

Here's another image of that car, this time in profile. Too bad the photo is rather dark, but it gives a good idea of the appearance. I wish that the windows had been lowered for the photo.

A beautiful and majestic Buick!

Sadly, the interior is not at all original, but at least this one has not been slammed to the ground and riding on 22-inch wheels like most of the '61's seem to be. One of my favorite models!

Dale and Diane Wilkins from my area have driven their Garnet Red over black convertible to a number of Buick Nationals. Stunning car!

One more thought for you, Adam. The Roadmaster 75 was a mid-year offering, and it seemed that the high-line cars at General Motors were moving to more conservative color schemes, as evidenced by the '58's. While it's hard to resist the idea of two-toning at the sweepspear, I'll admit that the single color cars -- or the larger cars with the color break at the roof instead -- come across with a more formal appearance. This two-tone green color scheme appealed to me when this car was offered awhile back. Looks like Mint Green over Belmont Green:

The cool possibilities seem almost endless! This color scheme did not seem particularly common, but, again, it's really striking:

I'm excited to see this latest project come together. Regarding colors, I do love the Garnet Red with black below the sweepspear:

Buick World 1959 and 1960 https://www.facebook.com/groups/744262472745133 1971 - 1972 Big Buicks -- LeSabre, Centurion, Electra 225, Estate Wagon https://www.facebook.com/groups/822105784591322?modal=false&should_open_composer=false

Perhaps a minor point and easily remedied, but I hate that the owners of the '63 Wildcats all want to install the chrome plated road wheels. This was not available until '64, so these always strike me as wrong. Give me the standard wheels and wheel trim, or spruce it up with the correct '63 wire wheel covers and spinners.

The vinyl roof was standard on the '62 Wildcats, but was an option on the '63's. I have seen the '63's both with and without the vinyl roofs.

This could be a remarkably stunning Buick. "Midnight Aqua" was, in my view, the ultimate mid-1960's color, and I can never get enough of Buick's beautiful cornering lamp design for the '65 models.

Also, Adam, here is a link to a clear image with the similar 6-window sedan, clearly showing the same style of two-toning. Again, click to enlarge.

Adam, I am pretty certain that the paint demarcation for the two-toning is correct. I have photos of a few other examples here. There was no stainless trim piece to separate the paint colors. Click on the accompanying photos to enlarge. Congratulations! Very cool car! One theory on the "1" in the paint code: Some years for GM cars, the number refers to the color of the wheels -- body color vs. black. But we'd have to make sure that body color wheels were available for '62.

Thank you. Yes, I had grown accustomed to using that link in the Buick forums, but it is now missing.

Have I lost my way in the forum maze . . . or has the Buick Buy / Sell Forum vanished? Edit note: Okay, I've found it. The Buick Buy / Sell Forum has become part of a new section of the AACA forums that covers Buy / Sell. It no longer shows up under the Buick forums section, but can be accessed directly from the BCA home page.