Thriller

But not likely the far far NW wannabe....

Not to change topics too much, but Dave, while the product mix may be similar, I suspect there would have been a lower proportion of convertibles for the Canadian market seeing as we don't have as much sunny warmth in a year as much of the USA has. Of course, if GM of Canada was getting the convertibles from Flint back in the day, that may just throw a wrench into the numbers as well.

Harold, If you still have the cars, I think I could take them off your hands. Even though I'm in Canuckistan, I could get you to send them to friends in MN. Thanks.

Welcome n2010! An Oshawa-built '41 Super! That's exciting. These guys put me on too high a pedestal. I don't have any Canadian specific model information. Dave Corbin may have the information to decode it as he has visited the McLaughlin-Buick archives at Queens University in Kingston, ON. There is an option though, but it costs about $50. Contact GM of Canada Archives at 888-467-6853 within Canada, 905-644-4060 or 905-644-3387 outside Canada, or fax 905-644-5436. Hours are 7:30-5 eastern time. You would want the serial number and all the information from the data plate (including paint / trim / etc.). They can decode the information and will send you a package about the car. They may not have precise information regarding options as the car is a bit older, but they would then likely send you a package of information about the 1941 Buick. For my '56 Special they did that, so I have all Canadian pricing as of a particular date for the the cars and options. For the record, my model 41SE is an American car originally sold out of Rochester, MN and spent its life in that area until the previous owner brought it up to Winnipeg. Good luck with the car and enjoy.

Glenn - one thing to note is that the Bugle has certain fixed costs associated with it. Typically, the editing and layout costs would be fixed, which would have to be covered by online only members, and then there are the printing / packaging / mailing costs. I can't speak to what these work out to on a per member / per Bugle basis though. As this deals directly with club finances, personally, I would prefer it to be discussed among members only, not necessarily in the forums, which are open to the public.

All the ads made it look like it was just Chevrolets...we had an Enclave loaner recently - it is a nice unit.

Thanks Rick. Even though I grew up with hockey, I'm going to say something that some may think of as un-Canadian. It was a good close game, but I was stuck working on a grade 8 science project...I got bits and pieces from the boys, but have only seen highlights. For me, winning more gold medals than any country has in previous winter Olympic history is more impressive. From the sliding track, to the speed skating oval, to the slopes, to the pebble of the curling rink, to the arenas, and other venues, it was a good year for the amateur athletes. I only wish we could see more amateur sport on TV year round. The medals were the same this year for men's and women's hockey...Canada, USA, Finland. Kind of neat.

Dave, Congrats on reaching the milestone. As others have stated, your input is very valuable to the Buick collector community.

Dan - I don't know the numbers well enough to really comment, but I wanted to commend you for thinking and coming up with a reasonable idea and sharing it.

Nice photos Lamar...but up here I can walk on water....

300 miles for me...over some of my most enjoyable MN roads.

Meh! It is supposed to be winter for another 6-8 weeks anyway. The main question for me is whether or not it will arrive early enough for me to have a car ready to take down to St. Paul for the Gopher State Chapter Spring Extravaganza.

Without getting too involved, I really dislike it when folks say that Toyota and Honda have higher quality than GM / domestic manufacturers. Yes, there certainly was a difference in the past, but in recent years, the overall quality has been relatively equal, with Buick being at the top of some of the quality rankings. So, how can someone say that for the current crop of new cars that GM has lower quality? That isn't objectively looking at the current facts. We've had a couple of Montana minivans that had decent quality, but there were some nagging problems. The biggest issue I had was that the intermittent problems either couldn't be diagnosed or noted when the dealer had them. I'm on my second GMC Sierra and have been very happy with both. We are also very happy with the Buick Rainier. The biggest complaints come in small things like interior design and storage. As both vehicles are aging and our oldest is now 14, we are starting to be looking around again. One thing is that we have been treated fabulously by our dealer, so our first visit will be to them. The question is whether or not they will have something that will fit into our lifestyle. We'd like to get something more economical, but with 3 children and 2 standard poodles, practicality comes into play. We've had an Enclave loaner which was really nice and fits the bill, but feels big. What excites me right now is the possibility of the Regal wagon. It may be a bit on the small side, but if we get fuel economy as a trade-off, we use the Rainier and the Sierra as the "family" vehicles, since most of our driving doesn't necessarily involve everyone. At any rate, that's my opinion. Selection is an issue, but I don't think that when looking objectively at the crop of new cars that quality is. As for the difference in retained value, it is simply a factor of the belief of quality. Since the perception is that Japanese cars are better, they hold their value better. Reality may not be reflected there, but that's the way it is. As the braking stuff gets factored in, I'd expect the values of used Toyotas to drop.

If you use the "Manage Attachments" tool, you get the thumbnails and can't put comments between. To do that, you would need to use the IMG tags and have the photos posted on the Internet at a site like PhotoBucket or Flickr. There is a sticky post at the top of the Me and My Buicks forum that should explain it.

Just picking nits here, but you can't set a voltmeter to measure resistance. A voltmeter measures electric potential, or voltage. A multimeter typically measures voltage, current, and resistance. Sorry...just spent too many years in engineering school to let it pass

Looking good Rob.

I have a '66 with the 401. While it isn't a race car, there is plenty of torque to get the two tons of Buick moving. There is a seat of the pants experience already without mucking with a good thing. If you do opt for performance goodies down the road, there are many here who have varying levels of experience and have made modifications from minor to pretty much full blown race engines. The only thing I would suggest is that you may want to consider posting those specific thoughts in the "Performance / Modified" forum. Good luck.

Nothing is as sound as the voice of experience. Thanks for sharing Bill.

Thank you sir. I think the convenience will be worth that.

I don't think those would be '29 artillery wheels. I'll attach a bit more of a close up photo of one. The one photo is of the wheel in the sidemount and has a cover...the other photo is the same wheel "naked". For one, those hub caps are older than '29 - by '29 they were round. From talking to a fellow who makes wheel pullers, Buick used a wide variety of threads and hub sizes, so the odds are good you wouldn't get an older hub cap onto a '29 wheel.

Drool. I could get used to something like that.

Bill - I love the fact that you have youth sizing in the mix. I presume from the looks of it that the printing and such is being handled through a third party...definitely makes it easier to deal with colours and sizes. I didn't go far enough to see though - is there an option to pick them up at the meet rather than pay shipping (and for Canuckistanis taxes and duty at the border)?

1962 - last year for Invicta 1970 - " " " Wildcat 1991 - " " " Reatta 1999? - " " " Riviera Certainly the first two have no connotation with the "grandpa car", especially since they were the performance oriented (while maintaining the luxury side Buick appointments) full size cars. The Reatta was a niche car with small enough production, as well as being a 2 seater, that it shouldn't conjure up the image of blue hair driving. Riviera is the only one that maintained a presence through the years, but again, being a performance oriented personal luxury coupe, I don't think it has the more negative connotation that perhaps Century, Skylark, and even Regal would (although personally when I think Regal, I think back to the 70s and 80s coupes rather than more recent versions). Perhaps there is something original out there too. Maybe BMD could foster some good will with a contest (perhaps even just for BCA members...that's pushing it) to come up with a name. So long as you have some car folks be a jury panel to decide, it has the potential to work. Give away the first car off the line to the person who named it, or even something less costly.

Hmmm...very interesting. With two standard poodles, a wagon would be a more practical car for us. We recently had a loaner Enclave and Suzanne found it bulkier than she wanted...she likes the AWD of the Rainier, but we'd like to move toward something smaller getting better fuel economy as time moves forward.

Dan - the difference is that you had a Buick, so you turned to a Buick Club for information and parts sources. As part of this thread, I understand there are already a few Opel clubs. Since we generally don't have the Opel expertise nor parts sources within the BCA already, Opel owners wouldn't get that as a benefit of membership. I wasn't trying to say articles in the Bugle that cover your car are the only benefit. I suppose I was clear as mud as usual. In the discussion on the dues increase in another thread, I asked about people who thought of the Bugle as trash to tell me why. I got one response - this individual had other issues, but wasn't pleased with a year's worth of Bugles not covering his cars. You've been a member a couple years longer, but I'll bet I've paid more in dues than you.... I'm not going anywhere either. I agree the club is ultimately about the people - we are brought together by our interest in Buicks, and we hopefully enjoy each other and stay for that. Of course, it is different strokes for different folks. For some, it is the local chapters and their activities. For others, the National, and perhaps 400 point judging. For others, the Bugle. And so on.