THE 1952 BUICK ROADMASTER LIMOUSINE...ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS CAR

[1953mack]

Note that RM Auctions/Sotheby's are now calling it a 1950. The same auction house listed it as a 1952 in 2009. They don't have any clue of what they have.

 

The noted wheelbase and chassis numbers stated are 1951 numbers.

 

I'm saying it's nothing but a high-buck customized and later-updated 1951 Buick Roadmaster 4-door sedan with a left-over 1950 Buick engine built by someone other than Buick.  

 

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

Edited July 6, 2015 by 1953mack (see edit history)

[allcars]

I was skeptical of this unique Roadmaster's connection to GM Styling and Harlow Curtice, too. But, I became more convinced that the car could be legitimate when a friend, who briefly owned it several years ago, showed me its hydraulic power vent windows. Only one other car I've ever seen or heard of had hydraulic power vent windows, and that is the 1949 Cadillac Coupe de Ville prototype built by GM for their 1949 Waldorf Astoria "Transportation Unlimited" show. (http://blog.consumerguide.com/photo-feature-1949-cadillac-coupe-de-ville-show-car/) It is hard to believe that a private owner, or even a coachbuilder, would go to the engineering lengths required to install such a special feature into the Buick, especially before the car would have had any value in the collector world.

In the context of its times, the car's connection to GM and Harlow Curtice seems plausible in other ways.

First off, consider that padded formal tops were quite in vogue on limousines around 1950. Derham installed such tops for dealers and individual owners on numerous cars around that time. Chrysler offered a Derham top by factory special-order for their 1951 Chrysler town sedan/limousines; several step-down Hudson limos with Derham tops were built around that time, one, a 1951 model, being used by Hudson's president. Not long ago, a 1950 Lincoln sedan with custom closed quarters and a Derham top was offered on the AACA message board. It is documented that GM built a one-off 1949 Cadillac limousine with padded top on a stretched Series 62 chassis (not a Series 75). It's certainly at least conceivable that Curtice, who was fiercely loyal to Buick and according to one old timer, "always had something special about his cars," could have had a padded-top Buick limo built for his use.

Next, recall that, during 1950-51, GM was building the LeSabre concept car for its design chief, Harley Earl, and the Buick XP-300 for Buick (later GM) chief engineer Charles Chayne. It's worth noting that Chayne was a big proponent of hydraulic systems at the time. His 1951 XP-300 was in many ways an exercise in the utilization of such systems. It seems reasonable to think he might have wanted to make even the vent windows hydraulically controlled in Curtice's limo.

Here's one last thought, and it's admittedly pure speculation, about how the limo came to be a used car in Chicago. Curtice was known to hand his custom Buicks off to favored friends and suppliers. For example, the 1940 Buick Townmaster town car by Brunn was for a time reportedly used by Arthur Kudner, whose Chicago-based ad agency created the dynamic advertising that helped Curtice revive Buick in the late 1930s. Kudner died in 1944, but his Chicago agency retained the Buick account through 1958. Is it possible that the car was perhaps first used by Curtice, and then perhaps updated and channeled to the Kudner Agency in Chicago...where it was known to have first been spotted by a Buick collector many decades ago?

[1953mack]

I was skeptical of this unique Roadmaster's connection to GM Styling and Harlow Curtice, too.....

 

Let me clarify my Post #41 above.....

 

I never disputed the fact that this Buick Limo wasn't legit and did not have ties with Harlow Curtice or Buick's Design Studio.

 

Plain and simple: the OEM Buick was modified (customized) by someone other than Buick and didn't roll off the Flint assembly line as you see it.

 

My understanding was always that this customized Buick was designed, commissioned, and paid for by Buick but modified for Buick by an independent 'coachbuilder'.....similar to Brunn years ago, and nowadays, Advanced Automotive Technologies out of Rochester, Michigan, who built the 2000 Buick Blackhawk for Buick.  

 

 

 

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

Edited July 11, 2015 by 1953mack (see edit history)

[Dave Gelinas (XP-300)]

Regardless, if it was customized Buick or commissioned customized for Buick it still holds a significant place in the history of Buick.

Edited June 18, 2023 by Dave Gelinas (XP-300) (see edit history)

[61polara]

1953Mack,  Please go back and read the first two pages of this post.  This car is documented as a Buick modified in house by GM Styling and updated from a 1950 to a 1951 and then 1952 exterior appearance by GM Styling.

[Dave Gelinas (XP-300)]

The "Curtis Limousine".

 

[Guest pghdon42]

Harlow Curtice Buick Limo was sold July 25, 2015 at RM auctions, Plymouth, Mi.

It was sold to a Naples, Florida collector.

[Dave Gelinas (XP-300)]

Harlow Curtice Buick Limo was sold July 25, 2015 at RM auctions, Plymouth, Mi.

It was sold to a Naples, Florida collector.

The winning bid was. $44,000.

Edited August 6, 2015 by xp-300 (see edit history)

[TG57Roadmaster]

" My understanding was always that this customized Buick was designed, commissioned, and paid for by Buick but modified for Buick by an independent 'coachbuilder'.....similar to Brunn years ago, and nowadays, Advanced Automotive Technologies out of Rochester, Michigan, who built the 2000 Buick Blackhawk for Buick. "

 

Al,

 

You are correct that the Curtice Limousine did not roll off the Flint assembly line as we see it today. But let's settle this once and for all with a comparison of two executive customs built, designed and crafted by General Motors.

 

Albert Bradley, executive vice president and chairman of the Finance Policy Committee for General Motors, became GM Chairman after Alfred Sloan, when Harlow Curtice was GM President. Bradley was a quiet GM lifer and not a lot is known about him, except that he had tremendous power and ran GM's New York HQ. 

 

Bradley and Curtice, circa 1954-55.

 

Every year, the top execs had custom-built cars made for them by the GM Styling Section, cars that were pulled from assembly lines, then sent to the Styling Section in the Argonaut Building (across the street from GM's Detroit HQ) where they received special fitments and trim.

 

For 1951, Bradley had this Cadillac Limousine (a car with a divider window) built. They started with a 1950 60-Special, created the unique rear roofline, window trim, and rear passenger compartment. It was '51 before the car was ready, so they added '51 front trim. Mr. Christo Datini, the Lead Archivist at GM's Heritage Center shared with me the micro-filmed build card for Bradley's Caddy, showing it went directly from assembly line to the Styling Section to the New York offices on Columbus Square.

 

From Christo Datini..."As ordered, the car was a 1950 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 Special Sedan.  It was painted black (1) with a blue broadcloth interior (63).  Extra equipment included: windshield washers, license plate frames, four wheel discs and passenger side mirror (Accessory Group; Radio - Sycro-matic with antenna and speakers (JU); Heater (and royal white wall tires (RW).    The car was sent to Styling Section for enhancements after assembly.  Please find the build sheet attached.  It is for your personal research use only."

 

Note the same rear window treatment as on the Curtice Buick, below. 

 

 

When Curtice wanted a new company car, he insisted it be a Buick, and the Styling Section began with a '50 or '51 Roadmaster sedan, used exactly the same rear greenhouse treatment as on Bradley's Cadillac, and delivered the Limousine to Curtice. Again, the lag time for the build meant using current model year trim on the finished car; the Buick also incorporated power vent windows and the slider interior door handles that appeared on later production cars. 

 

 

 

I was fortunate to get a private tour of Mr. Dick Kughn's collection a couple of years ago to personally inspect the Buick. We couldn't find a Data Plate anywhere, so, in all likelihood the Buick may well have begun life as a '50 (didn't have time to find the Serial Number on the front frame rail) as stated in RM's 2015 St. John's catalog.

 

BTW, at $44K, the Curtice Limousine was a GREAT deal!

 

TG

Edited August 9, 2015 by TG57Roadmaster (see edit history)

[Guest my3buicks]

I agree the car was very well bought - in automotive dollars that really was a bargain to own something that had Curtice provenance

[HOMETOWN BUICK]

So, does any one know anything about this bow tie?

See post #25.

 

The bow tie was used in a pre-announcement-show of the 52 Buicks. It was worn by the invited salesmen.

[Dave Gelinas (XP-300)]

The bow tie was used in a pre-announcement-show of the 52 Buicks. It was worn by the invited salesmen.

 

 

Thank you.