1933 Buick series 90

[Guest outlaw car man]

To Dave Corbin.

Hi Dave, I just got a 1933 90 and would like to research the numbers- It's the seven passenger sedan model.

Engine: 292162

Job: 33112

Trim: 164

Paint: 315

body: 626.

Thanks again for you kind help, WE all appreciate your efforts. I think this is all you need ?

Sandy Jones

[Dwight Romberger]

Sandy,

I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but we would love to see pics of this great model!

Dwight

[Guest outlaw car man]

I would but have to go thru a bunch of stuff or something to download pictures, like your own web page-

Willing to give it a try. Love to show it off.

Sandy

I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but we would love to see pics of this great model!

Dwight

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear Sandy:

Check the engine number you posted. I think you've left out a digit, as there should be 7 digits, not 6.

Regards, Dave Corbin

PS: I've been off to Denver playing "Grandfather"

[Guest outlaw car man]

Hi Dave, thanks-

Oops, how about 2921262

Thanks- I live North of Denver, beautiful country out here. If I knew you were coming- Hollar next grandkid visit, show you a couple 90s, might need a break anyway, I know we do- lots of energy.

Thanks again,

Sandy

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear Sandy:

I'm not sure what's happened here, but 2,921.262 is a July 1934 engine. My guess is a very early engine switch, probably in a warranty kind of deal. Post the frame number so we can verify exact month of car manufacture.

Regards, Dave Corbin

[Guest outlaw car man]

OK, frame : 2690278

Checked again, engine is 2921262-

Car was originally bought by the E.I. DuPont family in 33. Lots of interesting history.

Thanks,

Sandy

[Guest outlaw car man]

Dave-

Thanks for the info & explaining # situation. Buick got lucky that year & didn't ( barely) close the doors -

Great talking with you today-

Hope to see you this week in Colorado.

Amazing research you have done.

Nice interior picture I took today for those interested

Thanks,

Sandy

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear Sandy:

As I indicated to you in our phone conversation, I have had cars that didn't quite match between the engine and frame number. Virtually every time, this "mis-match" is an engine built earlier than normal as related to the car build date. The oddest I've seen is a next to last production day car with a second month of production engine. That car was a 1 family unit with full documentation. It indicates a "OOPS, we found an old one sitting back in the assembly plant corner!" kind of thing.

In reverse, up to 1932, Buick ran and kept records in "blocks" of numbers for both frame numbers and engine numbers. Sometimes, especially in 90 series or the older equivalent big series cars. things got odd. However, because it was critical to get the right service parts for engines, the parts books have extremely reliable serial number info on engine numbers.

Based on everything I can find, I'm going to stick with my original opinion that this was an early "warranty" type situation.

HOWEVER, there is a critical clue in your post that you didn't mention in our phone conversation. You indicate that the original owners were the DuPont family. I'm not sure you're aware that the DuPonts owned about 30% of ALL GM stock at this point in time. If the original engine so much as "burped", GM and Buick would replace it in a heartbeat!! Remember that Alfred Sloan is DuPont's "guy" and he was especially fond of Buick. It's at this point in time he sends Harlow "Red" Curtice (his BEST guy) in there to save Buick and gives him "Carte Blanche" for the fix! A brand new big 1934 90 series engine would be nothing in the game of power politics going on in GM at that time!

I think it's a very unusual insight into what went on at the top of GM. DO NOT CHANGE THINGS! The very fact that it's odd and "out-of-place" gives us clues to read and ponder!

Personally, I think that this is "outlaw cars" played legally in the "BIG TIME!"

Regards, Dave Corbin

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Sandy, love the door stop!

Beautiful Buick. I'll bet it DOES have a neat history. Enjoy.

Ben

[Guest outlaw car man]

Standard GM issue, a can of Mother's wax. Can was full when I started into the Buick, about empty now, both the can of wax & me.

I'm very pleased with the car and a lot of help from other Buick people I might add. Dave Corbin is a master at research-

Here is the other 90 ( green) with work in progress, older photo but close to it today.

Thanks,

Sandy

Sandy, love the door stop!

Beautiful Buick. I'll bet it DOES have a neat history. Enjoy.

Ben

[Guest outlaw car man]

Now this was an educational day for me- Thanks to Dave. Learned a lot, big time, about my 90s. Very interesting discussion about the car, the DuPont connection, a legal outlaw car-

Nice to have someone that knows this stuff, point out all the correct original stuff , down to the painting of the nuts & bolts. WOW. I suspected it was mostly original, but to have it confirmed by a guy ( judge) that knows a lot is great .

And Dave Corbin is a super nice guy too.

I know, black-walls, but I like the whites on the big 90s, more classy looking in my book ( the owner) .

Fun day in Colorado Buickland-

Sandy

Personally, I think that this is "outlaw cars" played legally in the "BIG TIME!"

Regards, Dave Corbin

[Guest outlaw car man]

Dave-

The family owned the car from 1933 to 1964 when it was finally sold. The oil sticker on the door shows 1972, 53,000 miles. The history papers I got with the car indicate the second owner drove it very little. Today it has 56,000 miles on it.

Doing a little math shows the car was driven about 3500 miles in the last 46 years, all the real mileage was put on by the family at about 1700 , well maintained , miles a year.

As we talked about when you were hear, this car was well taken care of for a big favor in return.

Sandy

I think it's a very unusual insight into what went on at the top of GM. DO NOT CHANGE THINGS! The very fact that it's odd and "out-of-place" gives us clues to read and ponder!

Personally, I think that this is "outlaw cars" played legally in the "BIG TIME!"

Regards, Dave Corbin

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear Sandy:

I made it back to Texas OK, although we got really rained on between Fort Morgan and Limon, CO and again the next day between Wichita Falls and here in Fort Worth. By the time we got home, I was really beat.

It was really great to see the 2 1933 90's. That original black one is a real time capsule.

Here for your reference are the production numbers I talked about:

90 - 840

90X - 12

90L - 299

90LX - 39

91 - 1637

91X - 2

900 - 24 (these and the 901's are those funny "cowl jobs" we talked about)

901 - 168

It was one of those 900's that became the car at Colorado Springs. As you can see, the 1933 90 series was a rare set of cars when they started out. To see a really nice original car with a great history and documentation was a real treat!

Regards, Dave Corbin