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Buick..."by Wilkie"


TG57Roadmaster

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Just got the January Bugle today, and hat's off to Pete Phillips for another excellent issue.

Kudos are in order to Brian Laurance for his considerable contributions, too. Scanning one of

the larger photos, there is a period picture of Wilkie Buick, Philadelphia, PA (courtesy of Brian),

which immediately drew my attention.

Next to the large neon BUICK sign over the door, is the deal's name in a unique script.

It jumped out at me as I have the same "byWilkie," scaled way down as the monogram that

they affixed to their cars, post-sale.

wilkie_buick_phila.jpg

I believe this was a junkyard find about 15 years ago, or else an early ebay purchase.

Nothing earth-shattering, but it's very cool to be able to mate the monogram to its long-

lost home.

Thanks again to Pete, Brian and all else who continue to make the Bugle such a fine, eagerly-

anticipated publication.

TG

Edited by TG57Roadmaster (see edit history)
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Tom, that's a great dealership script! There were certainly many interesting examples of these dealership monograms, and it's cool to see this one that was issued by that long-vanished Philadelphia dealership.

Glad to hear that the new Bugle is out, and looking forward to receiving it.

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Wilkie Buick was directly across the street from Temple University Law School, where I graduated in 1991.

It was a magnificent looking building clad in stainless steel with Buick logos on it.

I watched them tear it down in about 1990. Under the shiny outside, believe it or not, was an ancient vaudeville theatre called Nixon's Grand.

The dealership was a fixture on the 1700 block of North Broad Street in Philadelphia for many years.

The spot is now occupied by a building called the Apollo at Temple.

Also on North Broad Street were Gordon Buick, and earlier, Berry Brothers Buick. My father bought a new 1951 Super from Berry.

North Broad Street used to have dozens of new car dealers.

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Guest Silverghost

Wilkie Buick was a real fixture around the Philadelphia area for over 50 years. Wilkie script logos were all over on the decklids of many cars !

I also remember Wilkie Buick very well indeed !

In their radio ads they used the famous Buick background music with singers singing~~~

"Wouldn't you rather have a Buick ? "~~~~

"A brand new 19??

Wilkie Buick~~~~~~

This Year ?"

Edited by Silverghost (see edit history)
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Brian - what did you think of the December issue?

Stuart, I've always thought that the 1934/1935 Buicks are beautiful, so I was excited to see that issue, including the fine article about the Holden-bodied cars.

I've made a mental note to follow up with the British Columbia owners of the majestic 90-series cover car, with hopes of persuading them to bring this spectacular example to some of our Buick events in Washington state.

EDIT NOTE: Stuart, I just realized that you were addressing your question to Brian Flynn. Lots of Brians on this forum!

Edited by Centurion (see edit history)
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Brian - what did you think of the December issue?

Why?...............Was there something of interest that I missed? ;););)

Just Kidding:D

Your's and Murray's cars looked great (you could have included mine too you know...Grrrrr) I like the way you featured MY RADIO;)

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The January Bugle reminded me of another interesting dealership monogram.

Among Bob Alberini's Buick dealership postcards displayed in the Bugle is an image of Win Stephens Buick in Minneapolis. As we first saw from Greg Cockerill's 1960 Buick website ( the1960buick.com ), Stephens Buick was one of several dealerships around the country who adopted a reverse slant dealership monogram that replicated the style of the Buick script on the rear panel of the 1959 Buicks. I've often thought that dealers who invested in a big supply of these monograms might have been disappointed when the reverse slant script was abandoned after a single model year.

script_stephens.jpg

Edited by Centurion (see edit history)
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Take that thought a step further Brian, and consider the instant obsolescense

of Deane Buick's monogram with its fins and dogleg. Though a generic design,

hopefully they didn't have too many remaining after the toned-down '61's debut.

The little car makes it a favorite.

60_225_bj_2008_deanex.jpg

Larger, seen on a '60 at a 2008 auction, these show up on ebay fairly often.

TG

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  • 6 years later...

this is nice to know . i own a 1950 buick roadmaster and there was a part of a dealership logo with the car . after i found the fabrication papers on the back of the back seat it stated that it was fabricated 20/04/1950 and was produced for Wilkie Buick, Philadelphia, PA .

i am trying to find a compleet by wilkie dealer logo to restore the car in his glorie and put it on the car . i live in Belgium and here its impossible to find 

any help is welkom . regards gunter

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I find it interesting that this topic from 2011 was just bumped to the top of the 1st page today. I had never read this discussion previously, and had never heard of Wilkie Buick until yesterday. I picked up a 1938 Buick Special yesterday in Pennsylvania. It was originally sold by Wilkie Buick. I have no idea if the dealer logo that you are looking for is the same as the one that they used in 1938 or not but here is the one that I got with my 1938 Buick yesterday. It needs to be rechromed,

DSC_0667.JPG

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On 12/14/2017 at 12:04 AM, MCHinson said:

 I picked up a 1938 Buick Special yesterday in Pennsylvania. It was originally sold by Wilkie Buick... 

here is the one that I got with my 1938 Buick yesterday.... 

 

Wow!  Our Belgian friend posts on Wednesday that he's

looking for a Wilkie Buick emblem.  Then ON THE VERY SAME DAY

Matt Hinson gets a Buick with that emblem.

 

There surely must be a power beyond mere men governing the universe.

Merry Christmas!

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  • 2 weeks later...

nice , congrads with the car. if anyone can locate the emblem for me let me know . i was doing some resurch and stumbled on this forum . thats why i replayed on it . i like to keep the history of the car compleet thats why i like to have the emblem 

regards from Belgium

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  • 6 months later...

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