1932 Buick NYC Show Car

[bubba]

I am looking for information on a car that might have been at the 1932 New York Auto show. It's a Model 91 Club Sedan and what makes the car so interesting is the color combination.

The body is a Gray-Green color. The belt molding is gun metal/green as are the sidemount covers. The fenders are the same color as the beltline but they are METALLIC! The wire wheels are a turquoise with chrome spokes. The car was a one owner till now.

The Paint code is BX1277

The Trim code is 125

Fisher job # 32102

Body # 1824

engine # 2791868

serial # don't have yet

Does anyone have pictures of the 1932 show or any info on the Paint code that makes it special.

thanks,

Bubba

[jscheib]

Bubba,

It sounds like you have , or are about to purchase, this car.

Interesting, in checking the color combinations, nothing like these colors are an option as a standard color scheme in 1932, so this must have been a show car, for sure. I do not that the last three number of the paint code, 277, are for sedan (Model 90)and limousine (Model 90L), and are Imperial Black. So it seems strange that they would Code a new number for something that was not black. The standard color for Model 91 was Code 290, two shades of Gypsy Brown, light body and dark fenders, molding, etc. I think this color combination is one the one in the "Buick History" book. Later in the model year they also listed Paint Code 301 for this model, which was Prince Blue light body over Prince Blue Dark fenders and molding, the color scheme I selected for my 57S sedan.

The 301 color scheme was also "standard on the Model 86C, but with Moonspray wire wheels, and I believe the Moonspray was an near tourquoise color.

I believe there were chrome wire wheels available in the larger 1932 cars, but these were both spoke and wheels, to the best of my knowledge.

So, this must be a quite an unusual paint scheme. Are there any other interesting features?

Dave Corbin may chime in with some information on the numbers, and I will check with Mac Blair to see if he knows anything more about this car. If you have a BCA roster, you might try giving him a call. Mac knows more about the '32 Buicks they probably many in the Buick did in 1932.

We hope to here more about this car.

John

[bubba]

John,

A friend of mine just bought it from the original owner's son.

The son remembers his father telling him that he saw the car at the NY auto show and his father bought the car off the show floor. The car was last driven in the late 1940's.

The paint code is BX1277. This looks like a special code number. He was going to call Mac Blair after I spoke to him. The Duco paint chart lists the standard colors for each model but if you read the fine print it says that "Any color combination which is standard for closed models may be obtained on any closed model, except models 56 and 57."

I have a model 90 and on the plate the paint code is 277 and the car is black but this has BX1277 on the plate. It also has metallic paint on fenders.

There is nothing else different about it.

I will post any info I find out.

bubba

[jscheib]

Thanks for the update. I guess what I meant was it seems strange that they would create a new code using the same last three numbers as the code for black, rather then some completely random numbers, that would not look similar to the codes already lsited.

I agree about the comments to use any "standard" colors on any closed car as long as it had sidemounts (except Models 56 & 57). That was the reason I chose the 301 code.

We would love to see some photos of the car, and hopefuly the car itself some day.

I recall from one the the buick catalogs for 1932 (I know someone who has a copy) there was a green colored car, so I hope to check that book in a day or two and see if that is the car.

If the car was bought right off the display, I assume it may still be close by NYC. Where are you located?

Another question - does it have the standard Buick 8 radiator cap, or a figure, as did the Phaetons?

[bubba]

John,

I looked in the 1932 catalog with the blue cover. I haven't seen the car in person but the colors are either like the model 98 or 68. The 68 also shows the turquoise wheels with the chrome spokes.

The car was in New York now in Pa. I'm in NY.

I believe the Mercury radiator cap could be had on any car. This one had it.

bubba

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear Bubba:

According to Buick factory records, the engine number (2,791,868) you give was built early in March 1932. Buick built 2237 Model 91's plus 1 for export for the model year.

Factory records show that Buick built 1816 model 91's by the end of Feb. 1932, so the body number of 1824 is also an early March 1932 car.

Given the above, you should expect to find a frame number plate with a number probably between 2,639,366 and 2,646,096, most likely near the low end of that range.

Regards, Dave Corbin

[bubba]

Dave,

Thanks for the information. It looks like it couldn't have been at the New York auto show in January if it was made in March. Maybe the original owner ordered the car at the show. I'm still looking for info on what cars Buick had at the show and the decoding of the special paint code on this one.

thanks,

bubba