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Raise your hand if you drove at least one old Buick this weekend


JohnD1956

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I was on vacation this week and on Tuesday and Wednesday I had to change the water pump, thermostat, and all the Hoses which included 2 throttle body preheater Hoses and 6 heater Hoses so 10 Hoses in total and the heater control valve on my 87 Firebird V6. A much bigger job than I thought lol. But the bonus was both days the Reatta was the errand and parts runner, not a bad way to do things.

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Edited by MRJBUICK (see edit history)
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1 hour ago, MRJBUICK said:

I was on vacation this week and on Tuesday and Wednesday I had to change the water pump, thermostat, and all the Hoses which included 2 throttle body preheater Hoses and 6 heater Hoses so 10 Hoses in total and the heater control valve on my 87 Firebird V6. A much bigger job than I thought lol. But the bonus was both days the Reatta was the errand and parts runner, not a bad way to do things.

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Is that a 57 I spy in the background?

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Yes it is, good catch

That is a 57 Special mdl 41 my wife and I have owned since 1982 we bought it from the original owner with 6,100 miles it now has just about 13,000. Very original but the paint which is Sylvan Gray metallic is getting very thin. When we bought the car it looked like someone had painted the bumpers silver. Some people who don't use their car much also don't care for the exterior as they should. It did get the antifreeze and oil changed once a year. Original bare bones car no P/S no P/B had the radio removed at the dealer and it is supposed to be white on the bottom but he bought an all gray car so I think the dealer paintedone on the lot. All these low milage cars have a story

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55 minutes ago, MRJBUICK said:

Yes it is, good catch

That is a 57 Special mdl 41 my wife and I have owned since 1982 we bought it from the original owner with 6,100 miles it now has just about 13,000. Very original but the paint which is Sylvan Gray metallic is getting very thin. When we bought the car it looked like someone had painted the bumpers silver. Some people who don't use their car much also don't care for the exterior as they should. It did get the antifreeze and oil changed once a year. Original bare bones car no P/S no P/B had the radio removed at the dealer and it is supposed to be white on the bottom but he bought an all gray car so I think the dealer paintedone on the lot. All these low milage cars have a story

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Nice! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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With a stretch of very mild weather, and mostly clear roads after a rain day washed off most of the rock salt, I answered the call of the Super.

 

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Just 15 miles or so, enough to address that "itch".  It felt so good to drive it again.

 

Passed this overgrown creekbed

 

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And got this January 2nd photo to counter the last few years January photos with snow over the top of the snowblower auger. 

 

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Looks like I only added 875 miles to her in 2022.   Just kinda lost interest for a while.  But I had a request to provide a "name" for this sweetie for a project and after thinking about it for a while, with the help of a few friends and my boys, I decided to name her "Annie".   Linda's middle name (as given by both her birth mom and her adoptive parents), the first car we bought together, and Sunshine yellow (as in Lil Orphan Annie}.  While I don't normally name my cars, I think this one is perfect for this bright spot in my life. 

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I've looked forward to a dry day to exercise the Wildcat.  Today was beautiful and I had the day off, so squeezed in a pleasant cruise.  I'm fortunate that the Orting - Kapowsin Highway is nearby, furnishing opportunities to let the Wildcat roar without traffic signals and road congestion.

 

I stopped at the little rural grocery store to grab a Coke.  As I stepped out of the Wildcat, a gentleman approached me after loading some items into the trunk of his late model Miata.  He said " '65?"  I replied in the affirmative, and he told me that his father had owned one.  I noted that my father had owned one as well, and we learned that we were nearly the same age when our fathers bought their new '65 Wildcats. 

 

He continued, saying that seeing the car brought back lots of memories.  He thanked me for bringing it out, shook my hand, and said that his late father was always a "Buick Man".  I told him that my Dad was a "Buick Man" as well, and advised him that I still drive Buicks every day.  

 

These kinds of conversations are always gratifying.  Like many of us, I'm disappointed by GM's current "management" of the Buick brand, but the great Buicks of the past evoke significant memories for so many people.

 

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Edited by Centurion (see edit history)
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 The temps have been up and down here in Ontario, and when it gets cold at nights they tend to salt the roads, and/or use the brine on them so I've been very leary of taking any of mine out for a winter's drive.

 Though we are supposed to get a lot of rain overnight so if it clears tomorrow or the next day I'll try to take on of the babies out for a drive.

Keith

 

(John, that sounds like a perfect name for your Super!)

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On Monday the 2nd I drove my 60 6 window for the last time. She is on her way to a new home and I know it will be treated better than I was able to. So as bittersweet as it was this is the right thing to do. I guess at 64 I am finally growing up and realizing what I can't do, naahhh lol

Man was it a tight fit. Good by old friend

Happy New Year to all

Marty

 

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Edited by MRJBUICK (see edit history)
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Yes Marty I know that bittersweet feeling. It was a year ago today that I got to steer my 1937 on the last ride. Dragging it the length of the conastoga trailer.....

     DSC00295.JPG.16060f18b2e32cb7afd0a0e153a1757b.JPGDSC00294.JPG.b8ff61ecd19849d50ddb22e39e94c1d0.JPGDSC00297.JPG.daa6c134301b4b76f2bb0df4bd78357d.JPG                                                                           DSC00298.JPG.a96085abbd2e61d1fb7715bc708c9c25.JPG  DSC00302.JPG.527c81d02b6235a29fbc499246636e9a.JPG

 

 

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Took a ride to a town about 15 miles away from Cooperstown, NY.   to interview our Chapter member with this beautiful 66 Gran Sport

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Given that it is pretty much the dead of winter in our area, and this fellow lives 94miles from my home, I took the Regal. What a fantastic ride!  The local county route 80 was a sports car dream!  And all the roads were in great shape, with no snow or ice. Here is one view of so many I witnessed. 20230109_134612.jpg

At any rate, the Regal was a blast on these roads and besides Otsego Lake, which hosts Cooperstown at its southern point.  

 

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That Regal GS is truly a Beautiful Buick!  

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On 1/4/2023 at 9:45 AM, MRJBUICK said:

On Monday the 2nd I drove my 60 6 window for the last time. She is on her way to a new home and I know it will be treated better than I was able to. So as bittersweet as it was this is the right thing to do. I guess at 64 I am finally growing up and realizing what I can't do, naahhh lol

Man was it a tight fit. Good by old friend

Happy New Year to all

Marty

 

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Glad to see you found a good home for it!

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12 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

Took a ride to a town about 15 miles away from Cooperstown, NY.   to interview our Chapter member with this beautiful 66 Gran Sport

20230109_160559.jpg

Given that it is pretty much the dead of winter in our area, and this fellow lives 94miles from my home, I took the Regal. What a fantastic ride!  The local county route 80 was a sports car dream!  And all the roads were in great shape, with no snow or ice. Here is one view of so many I witnessed. 20230109_134612.jpg

At any rate, the Regal was a blast on these roads and besides Otsego Lake, which hosts Cooperstown at its southern point.  

 

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That Regal GS is truly a Beautiful Buick!  

Looks good! I owned a 2012 GS at one point but I just wasn’t as happy with it as I was with my 2001 GS that I drove before it. I have been toying with the idea of getting one of the last GS models (18-20) but not sure yet. Still enjoying my Park Avenue Ultra and not sure I can justify having both!

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1 hour ago, parkertom said:

Looks good! I owned a 2012 GS at one point but I just wasn’t as happy with it as I was with my 2001 GS that I drove before it. I have been toying with the idea of getting one of the last GS models (18-20) but not sure yet. Still enjoying my Park Avenue Ultra and not sure I can justify having both!

I have never ridden in a '99 -2000 Regal GS but I am sure its a great ride. I know the same period Regal LS has great seats for touring.  The seat in this 2013 Regal GS does not have as comfortable seats. And the tight suspension in the standard mode is more than adequate for most driving.  Putting it in Sport or GS mode is something I do for only short periods. But my feeling is that the low profile tires are loud and very harsh. These months I use a winter tire which is an 18" vs the summer tires 20" rim. And the ride is considerably better. 

What I do like about the car is the seemingly endless punch, the tight body lean in even sharp curves, the GREAT brakes, and its entertainment system.  It definitely is not our father's Buick.  But the Buick quality is there. 

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14 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

Took a ride to a town about 15 miles away from Cooperstown, NY.   to interview our Chapter member with this beautiful 66 Gran Sport

20230109_160559.jpg

Given that it is pretty much the dead of winter in our area, and this fellow lives 94miles from my home, I took the Regal. What a fantastic ride!  The local county route 80 was a sports car dream!  And all the roads were in great shape, with no snow or ice. Here is one view of so many I witnessed. 20230109_134612.jpg

At any rate, the Regal was a blast on these roads and besides Otsego Lake, which hosts Cooperstown at its southern point.  

 

20230109_202052.jpg20230109_201921.jpg

That Regal GS is truly a Beautiful Buick!  

that Gran Sport is dark blue. It is gorgeous,  inside and out. I have quite a few pictures for my article but need to finish reviewing and adjusting them.  It is not a 4 speed.  

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John cant wait to see the article, shame its not a 4 speed but I don't think that would be to hard to overlook on this car lol

These days you really have to do homework before choosing tires, I put a great set of Pirelli's on my wife's 2014 Lacrosse

and even though not a GS with the V6 power and the superb suspension's we have now days it is a ton of fun to drive.

Then i put a different set of Pirellis on my 18 GMC Terrain and they work great but are a little noisier than they were supposed to be.

I think the tire Mfg's are trying to put everything in a tire, and as I tell customers there is always a tradeoff.

You are right these are not our Fathers Buick's but in some ways they are far superior.

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48 minutes ago, MRJBUICK said:

John cant wait to see the article, shame its not a 4 speed but I don't think that would be to hard to overlook on this car lol

These days you really have to do homework before choosing tires, I put a great set of Pirelli's on my wife's 2014 Lacrosse

and even though not a GS with the V6 power and the superb suspension's we have now days it is a ton of fun to drive.

Then i put a different set of Pirellis on my 18 GMC Terrain and they work great but are a little noisier than they were supposed to be.

I think the tire Mfg's are trying to put everything in a tire, and as I tell customers there is always a tradeoff.

You are right these are not our Fathers Buick's but in some ways they are far superior.

Good point on the tires. A 2020 GS I am looking at just had new tires put on it by the dealer to prepare it for sale. Uniroyal Tiger Paws…. not feeling too good about how that is going to ride.

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16 hours ago, parkertom said:

Good point on the tires. A 2020 GS I am looking at just had new tires put on it by the dealer to prepare it for sale. Uniroyal Tiger Paws…. not feeling too good about how that is going to ride.

Totally different animal, but for what it's worth I just had a set of Tiger Paws installed on my wife's 2016 Forester. So far so good. Handling is fine, and not a noisy tire.

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7 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

 Now to the older Buicks. I finally got to take one out for cruise late yesterday and I choose the '69 Electra. It started good and ran well on the 15 mile drive I gave it.

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Such a beautiful car! There's something about the '69 front end and instrument panel styling that make the Electra and LeSabre my favorite postwar Buicks. My dad bought a '69 LeSabre new from Leschel Buick in Paterson, NJ and kept it for only four years until he traded it on a '73. It's a shame that the full size '69s have become pretty scarce.

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6 hours ago, Machine Gun said:

Such a beautiful car! There's something about the '69 front end and instrument panel styling that make the Electra and LeSabre my favorite postwar Buicks. My dad bought a '69 LeSabre new from Leschel Buick in Paterson, NJ and kept it for only four years until he traded it on a '73. It's a shame that the full size '69s have become pretty scarce.

 Yes, they certainly have, though at one time they were common, even the big girls like an Electra.

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Four car friends showed up to look at my 2 Buicks on Saturday. 2 of them are brothers in their early 20s. One of the brothers is the new owner of a 1927 Buick Standard sedan pictured below.

DSCF8072.JPG.6fa99dcb5f73233ac81bf51d63cf6273.JPGInsead of them just looking over the cars in the garage I said "well, pile in and lets go for a ride!" That was the first time ole Beulah had a full load of 5 passengers. Beulah enjoyed the exercise and performed superbly. The passengers seemed to enjoy the ride also at least for the first mile. But after that the rear seat passengers had a slightly frosted look. Only about 38 degrees.....in an open car....

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40 minutes ago, EmTee said:

The 'Cat looks great (as usual).  I see you've swapped the turbines for road wheels.  I like the Wildcat centers.  I suppose these are 'correct', but I do like it with the turbines too...  ;)

 

I like both, and have a hard time picking a favorite wheel trim.  For now, I have the option of switching from time-to-time!

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While in town, my grandfather and I went over to check out Ted Vernon’s new dealership in Lake Wales, FL. You may remember him from South Beach Classics that was on TV a while back. A few Buicks around.

 

 Not my choice of wheels on this 61 LeSabre. The Reatta was left with open windows.

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Edited by parkertom (see edit history)
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2 minutes ago, parkertom said:

While in town, my grandfather and I went over to check out Ted Vernon’s new dealership in Lake Wales, FL. You may remember him from South Beach Classics that was on TV a while back. A few Buicks around.

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Some have seen better days.

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Edited by parkertom (see edit history)
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