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

[60FlatTop]

I did the backyard thing myself. But they each got a trip down the road. As usual the '60 went the farthest.

[Buicknutty]

 Sat night we put the top down on the Reatta and took it out for about a 30 mile cruise. It was a great night to just cruise among the tobacco and other field crops.

Keith

[JohnD1956]

I had a winning bid on the Rally rims in the Cernak Buick auction so went and got them today. 220 miles and the Queen ran great. A little more than 19 mpg on this mostly highway trip. It probably helps that the NYS  Thruway and the Mass Pike are all electronic tolls now so there were no stops at toll booths. 

 

One of the best things about this trip is all these items fit in the trunk without having to remove the spare tire. Lol. Try that in those "A" Bodys. 

 

[JohnD1956]

 

 

 

With all due respect to those impacted by the recent hurricane Ida and those in the areas of the world threatened by the wildfires,  yesterday was a chance in this area to finally meet up with Ken @KAD36 and Tim @EmTee in Norwich NY for lunch and a visit to the Northeast Classic Car Museum. 

 

My part of the trip started under clear blue skies, and temperatures in the 60's

 

 

My route took me on Rt88, my favorite highway with awesome vista's and light traffic.

 

 

 

However, the highway is under repairs for a significant portion of the way between me and the Museum, so I was a bit delayed for the agreed arrival time at the Norwich Diner.  

 

As we were leaving after lunch a bunch of kids ranging in age from 14 maybe to 4 approached me and asked to look at the Buick.  That prevented me from getting a picture of all three of us at the Diner but I didn't want to shun the kids request.  They were all oohing and aahing the Buick when I point out Tim's and Ken's cars behind me and then they were overwhelmed.  Amongst their comments I distinctly heard one boy say " I just want to watch them all take off."  lol...

 

 

At the museum they were undergoing a face lift which blocked off most of the front yard parking so we got 3 spots in the lot next door.

 

 

Inside the museum there are many cars which several of us have posted pictures of here before, so I won't bother you with that, but there are some I thought to include here:

 

 

Above: 64 Corvair which is the twin of the one I had in all respects, including the 4 speed, except the hubcaps. Mine is currently owned by my brother and nephew. 

 

Below is the Chenango Camper which I thought worthy of being posted again this trip.

 

 

 

Below a 1904 Pierce, displayed in the Cars Built  In NY display

 

 

 

Amazing to see how far things had changed by the time of the 1936 and the demise of the Pierce Arrow company.

 

 

 

Another NY car manufacturer was this Douglas.  Besides the 1st car and the last car was this set of wooden body panels.  We were speculating about how these wooden dowels were used?  To beat body panels manually? or to create dies for stamping?  Which ever, it is always interesting to see this type of thing.

 

 

 

 

Another NY car:  

 

 

And yet another among the other displays. 

 

 

 

This 1961 GM  Vauxhall was never made in the US. I thought the vent window configuration was an interesting design and very similar to it's various US cousins.

 

 

 

And in the Sleeper of the Century category we found this 

 

 

 

 

 

Whop

 

 

I suspect many challengers were very surprised at the local stop light drag races.

 

 

 

New one of the few Buicks the Docent offered to document our gathering.  That is a 39 Special Sport Coupe behind us.  Sweet Buick!

Then it was on to the Farm Tractor display.

 

 

 

 

 

It is very interesting to see what people find worthy of restoration.  While I initially thought that this display would not interest me, I found I was wrong, and it was VERY interesting to see these tractors, many of which were probably used to near death in feeding our population, painstakingly restored just like many of our cars are.

 

Afterwards the Docent suggested we take the reserved spots in front of the building for a photo op. 

 

 

And then Tim and I had a chance to see Ken's handiwork up close and personal.  For those who don't remember, Ken had a catastrophic experience with his engine rebuild a few years ago.  I'll let him fill in the details.  Here is the newly rebuilt engine, with an added benefit of airconditioning  which Ken hand fitted into the car. 

 

 

 

Ken got a bracket from Mike Middleton for a template and then made his own brackets to hold the new compressor.

 

 

 

Then he fitted the evaporator unit under the dash so it was hardly visible and converted the radio speaker grill into the center vent unit.  And he got a set of original controls from @MrEarl and then retrofitted the new controls into that housing.  The entire thing looked like it was factory done. 

 

 

It was an impressive site!

 

On the way home I stopped outside this field of weeds.  There were so many great places to take pictures, but as usual, being pressed for time I didn't stop.

 

 

Over all I drove the '56 about 190 miles.  It ran great!  Recent resetting of the timing and the coolish weather resulted in zero pinging on the several steep and long hill climbs, even the 2 mile long one where I could not get a running head start. 

 

Had a great time, and look forward to more trips in the future. 

[Den41Buick]

Well does Friday count for a weekend? We went to lunch with Taylor Swift (just drove by her home) in Watch Hill at the Ocean House to celebrate our anniversary (yesterday) and my big birthday (tomorrow). What a beautiful day to drive the back roads in a convertible. The temperature was 54 when we left home for a high of 68 with NO humidity and full sun. Couldn't ask for a better day.  Lunch on the veranda was perfect. Always a nice time. We have been going there for lunch since they opened in 2010. Oh yea. I got to park in front of the hotel as well!!

Edited September 3, 2021 by Den41Buick
Another picture (see edit history)

[EmTee]

 

John, Thanks for the nice trip summary.  As John said, it was a perfect day for a trip like this, sunny and comfortably cool (though clouds rolled-in by the time we left).  Goldie ran great; my route was all secondary 2-lane roads with scenery much like what John posted.  My route was about 110 miles round-trip.  It was great to see Ken again (who I briefly had the pleasure to work for professionally several years ago) and finally meet John in-person.  Great trip, great cars and great friends - I can't wait to do another 'field trip'!  Next time we'll try to find a destination closer to John's house! 

[KAD36]

Yes well written John thank you for documenting and organizing us for the trip - was good to get out and see old friends again.  I didn’t take any pics on the drive up.  After fueling up, my trip up route 12 was behind a dump truck trailer most of the time from a far distance to avoid flak hits - go figure.  I shoved it to the floor when there was finally enough distance to close it up plus get around him and he put his turn signal on to pull off lol.  All engine parts stayed attached this time which met my bare minimum success criteria.  Clocked 150 miles for the day 80 of them round trip to Norwich.  Here’s one of the display rooms and a placard from the Buick on display which was interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cxgvd]

Six years after I purchased this 1915 McLaughlin C 25, which had not been used since 1991, the touring car is going to our first show Sunday.  I drove the 165 Cubic Inch 25 HP four cylinder for a shake down before loading the car into a trailer for an early morning start.  Gary

 

[avgwarhawk]

Good day for Buicks in WV. My car registered as number 574.  A lot of cars. Probably 600+.  The 60 Electra awarded top 50.  The four door has her day! 

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[Buicknutty]

 Today we were making some arrangements to get the 1916 McLaughlin to Oshawa for a show at the end of Sept. This is a distance of over 100 miles each way, and though I'm sure the car could cover it on under it's own power the issue would be the roads and traffic so the only safe option is to tow it.

 I'm driving the '41 McLaughlin Buick Roadmaster there, but then wasn't sure how to get the '16 there, as my wife won't drive with a trailer.  A good friend wanted to bring his car, only it's not ready so he agreed to trailer my '16, only his usual tow vehicle isn't available for now and he wasn't sure the pickup truck would be up to the job, being a light duty model.

 So he wanted to do a towing test, and I drove the car to his place, a distance of 15-20 miles and it took about 40 minutes. Then we loaded it up onto the trailer and he pulled it back.

 The verdict, it seems to be just adequate for the job. Which is great as now the car will be parked at the home of the man whose company built it, and only a few miles from the where the factory was too.

 It was a great day to drive the '16, with the weather mid 70's, sunny, low humidity and the country roads around here are just fabulous for this kind of touring.

Car started and ran great the whole trip.

Keith

 

 

[Buicknutty]

 My friend's Mom and Aunt were there when I arrived and they were having a good look at the car, so I offered them a ride, which they gladly accepted. The lady on the left is the Aunt, and she told me about learning how to drive a Model A Ford out in a field nearby.

 They were both gushing about their ride in the back seat of the '16.

As I have mentioned before, part of what I wanted to do with this car is to do just this very thing, but of course due to Covid I've been unable to lately, so it was nice to share this neat car with others.

 Keith

I didn't post this picture earlier as I didn't have their permission, but now I do!

 

[Machine Gun]

On 9/3/2021 at 10:08 AM, JohnD1956 said:

 

 

 

With all due respect to those impacted by the recent hurricane Ida and those in the areas of the world threatened by the wildfires,  yesterday was a chance in this area to finally meet up with Ken @KAD36 and Tim @EmTee in Norwich NY for lunch and a visit to the Northeast Classic Car Museum. 

 

My part of the trip started under clear blue skies, and temperatures in the 60's

 

 

My route took me on Rt88, my favorite highway with awesome vista's and light traffic.

 

 

 

However, the highway is under repairs for a significant portion of the way between me and the Museum, so I was a bit delayed for the agreed arrival time at the Norwich Diner.  

 

As we were leaving after lunch a bunch of kids ranging in age from 14 maybe to 4 approached me and asked to look at the Buick.  That prevented me from getting a picture of all three of us at the Diner but I didn't want to shun the kids request.  They were all oohing and aahing the Buick when I point out Tim's and Ken's cars behind me and then they were overwhelmed.  Amongst their comments I distinctly heard one boy say " I just want to watch them all take off."  lol...

 

 

At the museum they were undergoing a face lift which blocked off most of the front yard parking so we got 3 spots in the lot next door.

 

 

Inside the museum there are many cars which several of us have posted pictures of here before, so I won't bother you with that, but there are some I thought to include here:

 

 

Above: 64 Corvair which is the twin of the one I had in all respects, including the 4 speed, except the hubcaps. Mine is currently owned by my brother and nephew. 

 

Below is the Chenango Camper which I thought worthy of being posted again this trip.

 

 

 

Below a 1904 Pierce, displayed in the Cars Built  In NY display

 

 

 

Amazing to see how far things had changed by the time of the 1936 and the demise of the Pierce Arrow company.

 

 

 

Another NY car manufacturer was this Douglas.  Besides the 1st car and the last car was this set of wooden body panels.  We were speculating about how these wooden dowels were used?  To beat body panels manually? or to create dies for stamping?  Which ever, it is always interesting to see this type of thing.

 

 

 

 

Another NY car:  

 

 

And yet another among the other displays. 

 

 

 

This 1961 GM  Vauxhall was never made in the US. I thought the vent window configuration was an interesting design and very similar to it's various US cousins.

 

 

 

And in the Sleeper of the Century category we found this 

 

 

 

 

 

Whop

 

 

I suspect many challengers were very surprised at the local stop light drag races.

 

 

 

New one of the few Buicks the Docent offered to document our gathering.  That is a 39 Special Sport Coupe behind us.  Sweet Buick!

Then it was on to the Farm Tractor display.

 

 

 

 

 

It is very interesting to see what people find worthy of restoration.  While I initially thought that this display would not interest me, I found I was wrong, and it was VERY interesting to see these tractors, many of which were probably used to near death in feeding our population, painstakingly restored just like many of our cars are.

 

Afterwards the Docent suggested we take the reserved spots in front of the building for a photo op. 

 

 

And then Tim and I had a chance to see Ken's handiwork up close and personal.  For those who don't remember, Ken had a catastrophic experience with his engine rebuild a few years ago.  I'll let him fill in the details.  Here is the newly rebuilt engine, with an added benefit of airconditioning  which Ken hand fitted into the car. 

 

 

 

Ken got a bracket from Mike Middleton for a template and then made his own brackets to hold the new compressor.

 

 

 

Then he fitted the evaporator unit under the dash so it was hardly visible and converted the radio speaker grill into the center vent unit.  And he got a set of original controls from @MrEarl and then retrofitted the new controls into that housing.  The entire thing looked like it was factory done. 

 

 

It was an impressive site!

 

On the way home I stopped outside this field of weeds.  There were so many great places to take pictures, but as usual, being pressed for time I didn't stop.

 

 

Over all I drove the '56 about 190 miles.  It ran great!  Recent resetting of the timing and the coolish weather resulted in zero pinging on the several steep and long hill climbs, even the 2 mile long one where I could not get a running head start. 

 

Had a great time, and look forward to more trips in the future. 

 

Great trip, guys. I didn't know that museum existed but now that I do, I'll have to make a trip up there next season. I have one more road trip planned for the Skylark this year, a trip to Indianapolis at the end of this month to visit a friend I haven't seen in eight years. After that the car will get a well deserved rest.

[EmTee]

2 hours ago, Machine Gun said:

I'll have to make a trip up there next season.

 

As seen in the photo outside the museum, they're in the middle of an expansion that is supposed to be complete by the end of this year.  This was my second visit and I would certainly go again.  In addition to the featured exhibit (tractors this time) there's always something in the long-term displays to study more closely.  The size of the museum is deceiving; it's bigger than you'd think by just looking at it from the street.

 

Keep us posted when you schedule your visit - as I said, I'd certainly be up for #3! 

 

https://www.classiccarmuseum.org/

 

[Mark Shaw]

I got my son's 1929-27 Buick running again over the weekend.  It had corrosion on the coil wire connection to the distributor.  He took a video of my test run in the car, but only shared it on Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/1485441450/videos/612793639883232/

 

[Machine Gun]

21 hours ago, EmTee said:

 

Keep us posted when you schedule your visit - as I said, I'd certainly be up for #3! 

 

https://www.classiccarmuseum.org/

 

Thanks for the additional info and the link to the museum website.  I'll certainly let you guys know when I'm planning to come up. It would be great to meet up with you and any other local forum members who might be around.

[60FlatTop]

On 9/3/2021 at 10:08 AM, JohnD1956 said:

Amongst their comments I distinctly heard one boy say " I just want to watch them all take off."  lol...

 

I find that younger people are very impressed with the "Voice Command Start" on my '60 Electra. And as long as I am confident in my motor mounts I can demonstrate how the car will rise vertically when it is poised for take off.

[EmTee]

4 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

I find that younger people are very impressed with the "Voice Command Start" on my '60 Electra.

 

Now, if you also had the 'telekinetic radio tuner' that would blow their mind! 

[Larry Schramm]

I took the '13 out for a ride to go over to a friends house to check each others car alignment. He has a '09 Buick.  Put about 25 more miles on which is almost 1,100 miles for the year so far.  Doing a final check out for the Old Car Festival at Greenfield Village this weekend and also the Lansing-Dearborn tour this Th & Friday.   We are then going to take this car out to another tour at the end of this month.  We will probably put another 500-700 miles on the car this year. 

 

I then came home and took the '15 Buick truck out and put a few miles on it for the day.

 

Good driving day.

[Buicknutty]

 After having the oldest car I own out, the next day we took the newest one in the vintage fleet, the '90 Reatta for an after dinner cruise of about 40 miles.

Keith

 

 

[dmfconsult]

The Estate Wagon was pressed into duty this weekend again as the efforts to clean out my wife’s fathers home continues.  The wagon was filled up the headliner twice for trips to the donation center without complaints and it was sure nice to have working AC!  
 

of course had to first quickly polish up the car and clean the white walls! 

 

last weekend I used the Electra for a wedding, which was a surprise for the bride, but she thankfully was very impressed. No pics yet (I was too busy to take any) but the groom has promised me a couple when he gets them. 
 

last but not least, I was also able to place the new floor mats for the wagon. They are a very good fit and color match 

Edited September 7, 2021 by dmfconsult (see edit history)

[Brooklyn Beer]

Not one of the longest rides but one of the best. My buddies son got married on Saturday. Was an outdoor wedding (gasp) in Texas and it was around 100 degree. Proud the big girl (the car not the bride) made the rounds without a hiccup in that heat all day. Big family piece of property so I got to spend the afternoon shuttling bridesmaids and bride around the property for the photo's which was followed by delivering the bride and her father to the ceremony in the evening.  Better then winning any trophy for sure.

[MRJBUICK]

I don't know if this quite qualifies but on Sunday we finally had the Long Island chapter show and running the show the hard working team and I got to hang out with about 70 Buicks and 10 other brands. My daughter brought my pace car and her boyfriend my 91 Reatta. I had to haul stuff in my GMC Terrain. And my son got to drive them both back home with his wife shuttling. Best of show was a 38 Century, Dealer choice 70 225.the rebadged Regal GS/Opel was interesting in that the young owner was very into the car and found out after buying it used from a dealeri, it had been on display at the Detroit auto show. Nice to see the future is still interested. Great day and show Here's some pics.

Edited September 9, 2021 by MRJBUICK (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

Had the GS out for a cruise on the back roads of town.  Lost track pf the number of miles but it was nice to be on a road where I had 20 minutes to take a few photos and no cars passed by. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Den41Buick]

Took a ride over the reservoir tonight. With it getting darker earlier, it doesn't give much time after dinner for a ride. Beautiful night for a ride.

[NC-car-guy]

At the Hot Sauce contest car show in Oxford NC. Bet I'll be the only Buick.

[parkertom]

On 9/4/2021 at 6:27 PM, avgwarhawk said:

Good day for Buicks in WV. My car registered as number 574.  A lot of cars. Probably 600+.  The 60 Electra awarded top 50.  The four door has her day! 

 

My friends saw your car and swore it was mine.

[parkertom]

6 minutes ago, NC-car-guy said:

At the Hot Sauce contest car show in Oxford NC. Bet I'll be the only Buick.

I am usually the only Buick around here.

[NC-car-guy]

Im mildly ticked they made me park next to the squat truck!

[MRJBUICK]

2 hours ago, parkertom said:

My friends saw your car and swore it was mine.

so your telling me 2 B60 green 4 door sedans close by, i didnt know that color was so popular in 60

up here on the island we have the problem with pearl fawn lol

just curious was that color in the brochure or an add for 60

marty

[MRJBUICK]

2 hours ago, NC-car-guy said:

At the Hot Sauce contest car show in Oxford NC. Bet I'll be the only Buick.

Matt 

looking at this great looking 57 i notice it looks like it has NY registration tags on the windshield

if so what part of NY is it from

Marty

[NC-car-guy]

16 minutes ago, MRJBUICK said:

Matt 

looking at this great looking 57 i notice it looks like it has NY registration tags on the windshield

if so what part of NY is it from

Marty

Grand isle was blue and white up until the 90s.  Has all the upstate New York rust to go along with it

[MRJBUICK]

being from the island that is almost like Canada to us lol

i joke ( dont want to get the upstate members mad at me) beautiful country up there, great history.

but yes as with most of NY state SALT

Marty 

Edited September 11, 2021 by MRJBUICK (see edit history)

[avgwarhawk]

10 hours ago, parkertom said:

My friends saw your car and swore it was mine.

Good looking Buick.

[Den41Buick]

Great day in New England for a drive. We went for a 122 mile drive to Sturbridge, MA for lunch at the Publick House. 

[avgwarhawk]

10 hours ago, MRJBUICK said:

so your telling me 2 B60 green 4 door sedans close by, i didnt know that color was so popular in 60

up here on the island we have the problem with pearl fawn lol

just curious was that color in the brochure or an add for 60

marty

I only know it as Buick Lucerne Green. 

[Larry Schramm]

Well we had a great week. Went on another tour.  This was with the HCCA & AACA Lansing-Dearborn Reliability Tour which is in conjunction with the Henry Ford/ Greenfield Village Old Car Festival.  We did the tour with about 100 of our closest friends and 45 cars.  All of the cars were 1915 & older.  On Thursday we left Greenfield Village in Dearborn and drove to Lansing to spend the night there.  The route covered over 100 miles.  It was a good run with only one or two cars that went back into the trailer for the day.  Here are some pictures of that day. 

 

The third picture is of a Grabowski truck, the predecessor to GMC prior to Billy Durant buying the company.

 

I passed 1,200 miles for the year so far on Thursday. 

[Larry Schramm]

Well Friday was another GREAT DAY for the tour.  Sunshine and not real hot. Here are some more pictures of our trip from Lansing back to Dearborn for the Old Car Festival which starts on Saturday.

 

I passed 1,300 miles for the year on Friday.

 

The fourth picture is Joe Tonietto's 1909 Buick.  His car did well for the tour and except for a few minor adjustments.   It was great to be touring with friends.  On this stop we saw a large tractor collection.

[Larry Schramm]

On Saturday the Old Car Festival was a great time.  There were about 700 vehicles 1932 and older.  The best thing about this event, and it is an event not a car show is the Village allows the owners to drive their cars through the village.  It is the only time that private individuals are allowed to drive in the Village.  The Saturday night drive after dark with all of the old cars having their headlights on is a neat experience.  Here are a few more pictures of the OCF.

 

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[Larry Schramm]

The first picture is of the City Hall.  Second picture is of the our two vehicles.  I was making a cold drink delivery to our group in the craft area of the village.  The third picture is of Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop.  It is the real thing.  Henry Ford brought it lock, stock and floor from Dayton, Ohio.  The village is full of real historical buildings from around the US. 

 

To the right of City Hall, are the featured vehicles for this year. Period race cars. 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[Larry Schramm]

There are period actors that roam the grounds to support the atmosphere of the era.   Here we had the WWI soldiers and nurses stop by the truck to have their pictures taken.  For those that know, the Buick Truck was the truck of choice for the British Red Cross in WWI.

 

We passed 1,300 miles for this outing for the year so far.

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)