Attempting to locate a 1952 Buick

[gmdbhornet]

My father owned a 1952 Buick 2-door Riviera, which he purchased in 1956. The car was from New York and he owned it for about 8 years. He was showing me photos of the car and he said he would love to have the car now. I then asked him if he had the vin # so we could attempt to locate to see if someone still owned it. He did not have the Vin# so it was a dead issue. This was about two months ago and today he called me and located the registration for the car from 1957, so I told him I would put the Vin# on the forum to see if anyone owns the car. This could be a long shot, but you never know. It would be really amazing if the car was located so all you 1952 Buick owners check your Vin #'s. Also is there any other way to locate classic cars from a Vin #

The vehicle serial # is 36619424 and the engine ID # is 68399875

Edited September 25, 2012 by gmdbhornet (see edit history)

[gmdbhornet]

Just came across this topic I posted awhile ago. The car is probably gone but you never know.  Maybe someone has it.

[EmTee]

Who did he sell the car to and where did that person live?  Your best bet is to try to trace the chain of ownership, if possible.  Someone on this forum like @JohnD1956 who is a member of the BCA may be able to put you in touch with someone from the chapter that is local to the last known location of the car.

[The 55er]

When I was a small child my father owned a two-tone blue 1954 Pontiac Star Chief sedan. It was the car that brought me home from the hospital when I was born and I have many fond memories of it. He drove it until 1960 then traded it in on a new car at the local Pontiac dealership. I always wondered whatever happened to that 1954 Pontiac and when I asked my father about it he said someone in a small town about 5 miles away bought it from the dealership but then he lost track of it. It was lost in the shuffle of "common old used cars" that were of little to no value to anyone back then. Anyway about 40 years later an old friend stopped by to visit with his wife and the old Star Chief came up in our conversation. His wife grew up on a small farm outside that same small town and remembered her father owned an identical two-tone blue 1954 Pontiac that he parked out in a field when it was worn out and quit running. it was well-used and rusty by that time so they cut the doors off it and used it as a chicken coop until her father died. Later the farm was sold and all the scrap metal including what was left of that Pontiac was hauled away. I never saw the Pontiac on that farm and I have no way of knowing if this was the exact same car my father owned or not but it seems like a possiblility. After hearing that story I kind of gave up on finding my father's car but if an identical model ever turned up for sale in my area I would certainly be interested. The reality of it is relatively few common old cars survived that IMO it would be easier searching for an identical restored car or a fairly solid and complete one that would make a good restoration project rather than trying to track down the exact car that you owned 60 years ago. What if you actually found it and it's in really bad condition or it isn't for sale? It would be really cool if you found it but I think the odds of finding your car are pretty slim and i would look elsewhere for an identical car if I really wanted a 1952 Buick Riviera. Anyway, good luck with the search!

[1953mack]

On 9/24/2012 at 4:03 PM, gmdbhornet said:

My father owned a 1952 Buick 2-door Riviera, which he purchased in 1956. The car was from New York and he owned it for about 8 years. He was showing me photos of the car and he said he would love to have the car now. I then asked him if he had the vin # so we could attempt to locate to see if someone still owned it. He did not have the Vin# so it was a dead issue. This was about two months ago and today he called me and located the registration for the car from 1957, so I told him I would put the Vin# on the forum to see if anyone owns the car. This could be a long shot, but you never know. It would be really amazing if the car was located so all you 1952 Buick owners check your Vin #'s. Also is there any other way to locate classic cars from a Vin #

The vehicle serial # is 36619424 and the engine ID # is 68399875

● From your posted Car and Engine Serial Numbers, you are looking for a 1952 Buick SUPER 56R two-door hardtop model (3 portholes on each of the front fenders) that was built at the BUICK-OLDSMOBILE-PONTIAC assembly plant in Linden, New Jersey.

 

● According to reference media, you are looking for 1 of a total 55,400 built.

 

● According to the latest BCA Membership Roster dated 2020/2021, there are 66 listed 1952 Buick Model 56R owners.

 

Post the original exterior paint color, original interior trim color and known accessories and I will post a picture of what the Body by Fisher Number Plate would look like.

Don’t give up yet.   

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

“500 Miles West of Flint”  

 

[gmdbhornet]

The exterior color was two-tone white top and blue/greenish bottom.  I tried to get more info from my dad but he just turned 88 and doesn't remember much more.  He is going to look for the pictures of the car and if there is anything else and I will post once I get something.  He lived in Brooklyn NY when he bought the car and probably sold it or junked it in NY.   Thank you for the responses and assistance.  

[retirednow]

Would love to see you find this! My uncle, also from Brooklyn but moved to Long Island later, had a beautiful ‘51 Super convertible, which I think got junked because the tranny went. I would probably give one of my organs to get it back 

[gmdbhornet]

I think a lot of cars got junked back then for bad tranny's.  

[1953mack]

19 hours ago, gmdbhornet said:

. . . The exterior color was two-tone white top and blue/greenish bottom . . .    

 

Buick reference books list three 2-tone standard combinations with a White Top and a Blue/Green Lower panel for the 1952 Buick production run. Do any of these colors look familiar? Thanks.

 

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

[gmdbhornet]

Teal blue.

 

[retirednow]

Saw this one on the internet 

[1953mack]

On 12/8/2023 at 1:05 PM, gmdbhornet said:

Teal blue.

 

-  Here's what your Body by Fisher Number Plate would look like . . . minus the unknown sequential build number (???), the unknown interior TRIM code number (??) and the unknown accessories.

-  BL = built at the Linden, New Jersey BOP assembly plant.

-  PAINT code 44 = two-tone, Beach White top and Teal Blue below the belt line.

 

 

Good luck.

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

Edited December 12, 2023 by 1953mack (see edit history)

[Century Eight]

I see this is an old post and started about ten years ago, but there is always hope.  As an example, a little over a year ago, a lady posted about her family’s  long gone ‘40 Buick Special convertible.  She was able to post the serial number and a few other details. At the time,  I was sitting in a movie theatre waiting for the show to start, and was perusing my phone.  Well,I looked at the serial number and recognized it right away.  The long lost car has been sitting in my garage since I bought it from her nephew 44 years ago!  You never know!

 

Good luck to you in finding your fathers car.

[gmdbhornet]

Thank you all for the help. Let's see what happens.