Thriller

Based on the trim, it is a Special Deluxe, model 4167. It looks a lot nicer than my Special and I have a lot more money into it. With unlimited space and money, I'd like to have this car.

Neat car. Do you know any of its history from before the wrecking yard? The info on the hood about the engine makes me wonder if it was used for advertising or something. The red in the mustache bar really sets off the Buick Eight script. A lot more progress has been made on that car than I've made on my similar '52 Roadmaster.

Thanks for offering to volunteer Sid. We spend a couple days in Rapid City on our way home from Colorado Springs. There is certainly a lot to see and do in the area, including a car museum in Murdo, not far away (unfortunately we didn't have time to stop there in either direction).

According to http://www.classiccarclub.org/pdfs/Why%20We%20Define%20Classic%20as%20We%20do.pdf, 1940 80 Limiteds have been included. It is written a bit ambiguously, but I presume that means series. Nice car. I like sidemounts.

Here's the thing though...Dynaflows came into production with the '48 model year and lasted to the early '60s...close to 15 model years. The straight 8 was over 20 years. Nailhead existed for 14 model years. While there were variations through the years, technical articles on these do hit the mark of many folks. Some folks would love it if the Bugle only ever mentioned Reattas, brass Buicks, Rivieras, etc., but you would lose more interest than you would generate for these smaller groups within BCA membership. The only way to hit everyone's interests is to know what those interests are so as to keep them interested. In other words, we'd need to use the roster to factor in what members have to be able to hopefully engage them. Interesting thought though. Perhaps an incentive program may be in order. There is a space on the application form for a sponsoring member. Put your name and BCA number on, make copies, and put them in the hands of Buick owners and lovers. Now, it would add complexity, but perhaps you get $5 off renewal for every membership you sign up. If you sign up 10 members a year, your basic membership in the USA is free. It helps sustain the club, and gives an incentive to folks to sign up new members. I don't know if $5 is the right amount, that would require some looking at the numbers, but it couldn't hurt. So everyone who thinks Hemmings Classic Car is a better value could potentially get their Bugle for less, even if they discount any other association with the club. That is another thing. While the Bugle is is the primary benefit of membership, it may not be the only one. The ability to take part in events, local chapters, National Meets, etc. may not be for everyone, but they are benefits nonetheless. On a related piece, I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm concerned about the non-member pricing for National Meet participation. I understand it makes sense to have it, but is $20 enough? If they join, it is a bargain, but how many folks would this mean, and how many of them would join? Perhaps a fee of $90, which would include a year of BCA membership as well as National Meet registration, would go further. I don't have the answer. Perhaps another incentive for new members could be something like a basic registration for a National Meet, or just a coupon for half price or something like that. So the club gets the membership, the individual gets something they could use (so long as there is no expiry so they could wait until the National gets closer to them if need be), and it wouldn't be a huge negative drain on the club's finances. I'm not sure if it is good or bad when my brain starts moving along....

Looking good Sid.

For those who claim the Bugle isn't worth it, would you mind telling us why? Or perhaps what would be of interest to you that isn't there? I don't understand it myself. My enjoyment of the Bugle does vary somewhat with the relevance of the material to my interests, but since I have a varied interest in Buicks, there is general appeal. Sid - young folks are involved in the automotive hobby. Generally speaking though, they aren't into restoration of the old cars. They are customizing and are primarily using imports to do it. Perhaps that isn't unlike say the '50s when young men bought what they could and personalized it, but back then, they had the domestics to choose from.

Looks like Brian found himself a new car...congrats! It is a nice looking car, but a long way from me.

I rubbed down to paint on the Special and it was definitely black. The small versus large series comment makes sense to me.

I believe it is a Model 41SE. SE stood for Super Equipment in 1941. For '42, according to Standard Catalog of Buick, it would have a Century interior and the compound carburetion.

Very nice car Tom. It's a bit far away, but I'm tempted to show this to The Boss. Good luck with it.

Thanks Greg for the thorough explanation.

ROFL. OK...let me check...um...some places we could rule out as there are no roads going there. Charlottetown PEI is another place I've never been that has some tourist appeal. There's a few car places around here in Winnipeg...it is hardly a destination in and of itself, but there are a few neat museums, a few automotive / transportation locations that would be worthwhile seeing, other interesting sites / activities...channel catfish capital of the world is just north of the city. It's about a 3 hour drive, but there is an automotive museum in western Manitoba that has a significant collection of early McLaughlins and McLaughlin Buicks. I'd have to think about a location for a show field / hotel though. There's riverboat tours, including a supper cruise on the Paddlewheel Queen. Working with the numbers could be a challenge, but something could be made to work. If someone is genuinely interested, I did a bit of a tour for Labour Day weekend 2009...we had fun, but few attendees from south of the border. I could easily put a small tour together again as there are many ideas. For more information on Winnipeg, see DiscoverWinnipeg.ca - Winnipeg Travel, Manitoba, Tourism, Hotels, Hotel Reservations, Canada There's many other locations...for natural beauty there's Waterton Lakes National Park (on the Montana border) - we honeymooned there or Jasper National Park. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is a nice city with a lot of attractions. Getting into Quebec or Ontario could be better spoken to by others on the forum, but Kingston is a nice spot, with Old Fort Henry (also near the Thousand Islands area). Oshawa has a great Buick / GM history component and the McLaughlin Buick Club of Canada has done numerous tours in the area. Canada is a big place, but a huge proportion of the population is within a short distance of the US border, so it isn't venturing that far. The more I think about it, any place can be fun, at least for me and my family. Every place of any size has some interesting shops / museums / history / activities. Some things that other folks may be interested in don't interest me much (casinos as an example) and vice versa. The trick is to planning something that covers everyone in a price range they are comfortable with.

The X on the style number would normally denote the hydraulic controls for top and windows.

Thanks Greg. I know my '61 Invicta has a Flint VIN code. It was in Canada in the early '70s and has a dealer badge on it from Regina, but GM of Canada Archives insists it wasn't built for the Canadian market. I'm pretty sure earlier on that all convertibles were assembled at Flint...memory could be failing me though.

My first car was a '74 AMC Javelin AMX. 401 4-speed car with a Hurst shifter. It was fun, but I never got very far on any restoration work. My first Buick was Ellie. She sat for almost 12 years with little done to her before restoration. The first Buick I drove was the '52 Roadmaster (it was my 4th Buick owned). Of course, now it doesn't want to start after sitting a bit too long...sigh.

From my '56 Special page, they appear to be black. However, mine is a Canadian-built car. The car is unrestored. I'll try to take a look when I'm out there tomorrow / Monday. Like the under side colour of the hood, it could also be plant-specific.

I recall that for a number of years, all convertibles were built in Flint. When did that change? On a related note, does anyone know if or when convertibles for Canadian market were built in Canada? If they were built in the USA (Flint?), did they get shipped to Oshawa for anything, like a GM of Canada name plate? Discussion of a '66 Wildcat convertible in the for sale forum prompted the questions.

Mocrew - the answer to the question will be the data plate - if it is a Canadian-built car, it would say GM of Canada (or is it General Motors of Canada...I'd have to check my photos). My Wildcat is a Canadian car built in Oshawa.

That idea could be extended for regional shows as well...they could almost be a trial run for a National.

Sigh. No. I came across the box this fall and went "oh yeah...". We started tidying up some of the boxes and such this summer / fall, so the '41 box would be easy to locate and see what is in it.

Whimper...must buy more lottery tickets. $25M draw on Friday...I only need a small portion of that. Something like that would be nice to park beside the '54 so that you could observe differences in styling only two years apart. With new vehicles, there are seldom changes over the course of a couple years that are that dramatic.

I don't want to get into a fight, but really? Going to the Hemmings site, I found it to be $18.95 per year (in the USA). I buy the occasional one off the stand. MrEarl...never say never....

Merry Christmas from the (soon to be) Great White North. The snow is supposed to start here tonight and continue somewhat through Saturday, so it will be a cozy white Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all from the Thille clan up in Canuckistan...it seems Georgia has more snow than Winterpeg, but we are supposed to get a fair bit over the next couple of days.