1941-42 Buick Large Dealer Photos - What Are They Called?

[Lebowski]

I've had these sitting in my office for about 10 years and finally decided to sell them on Ebay but I don't know what they're called. There are 20 of them and each has either "1941" or "1942" on the front bumper. They are all different and each measures approx. 13.5" x 21.5". At least one has a date stamp on the back from 1961 with "Economy Buick - Cleveland, Ohio" printed in pencil. Most are in pretty good shape except for the convertible one which has some staining on it. Could someone please tell me what they're called and what purpose they served? Thanks....

[lump]

I've always referred to these as "Dealer Album Promo Prints." But others use other names. 

[Matt Harwood]

If you come up with a price, I'd be interested in either the whole lot, the '41s, or just the Limited and Century photos. Please PM me before you list them on eBay with your price.

[Walt G]

Showroom posters, most had simple wood frames when new. Make sure you give a very accurate description of condition for any tears, dirt, scrapes etc.

Great stuff by the way!

[auburnseeker]

Do you think they are original to 1941/ 1942 or because of the 1961 Ink Stamp on the back,  a set GM came out with in say 61 for their dealers to show their "antiques" off.  I know they did throughout the years with various cars.  The only thing besides the ink stamp is the fact the license plates have the year on them.  Often it seems in new car advertising,  they didn't put the year on the plate.  

Still cool and old either way.  I'm just curious. 

[auburnseeker]

I will add the Artwork either way looks to have been from the original 1941 Advertising.  

[John_S_in_Penna]

16 hours ago, Walt G said:

Showroom posters, most had simple wood frames when new. Make sure you give a very accurate description of condition for any tears, dirt, scrapes etc.

Great stuff by the way!

 

I agree.  They should do well on Ebay, because I think they

aren't very common.  Keep them intact as a set, and let the

Buick enthusiasts have fun bidding!

 

I agree with Walt that you should clearly mention the

holes, tears, scrapes, and water damage, so people will

know what they are getting.  Thanks for sharing them with us!

[Dosmo]

I don't believe I've ever seen a 1942 coupe like this in the flesh.  Was this car actually produced?  I like it a lot.  

[Lebowski]

Thanks for the comments. The auction starts tonight and will run for 10 days so we'll see what happens....

[Larry Schramm]

Link?

[Lebowski]

42 minutes ago, Larry Schramm said:

Link?

 

It starts tonight at 9 ET. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/312019831507

[auburnseeker]

Actually alot of stuff like this does better individually with close end times,  if you want the bidders to get excited.  

I sold a set of 60 Buick brochures.  The first set I had with the original folder they came in a few months ago went through for 10.00.  The next set I sold individually and they brought almost that per piece totalling out around $70.  I've had similar luck with other literature related stuff and very often buy lots off ebay correctly listed,  then sell the pieces individually for alot more money.  Sometimes, as above,  one piece alone brings more than the set. 

I also think as low of a starting bid as you can bear (think any less and i would throw it away)  with no reserve does alot better than a high opening bid or one with a reserve.  

I list 30 items a night and 60% or better is dealer related advertising and literature.  

[Lebowski]

31 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

Actually alot of stuff like this does better individually with close end times,  if you want the bidders to get excited.  

I sold a set of 60 Buick brochures.  The first set I had with the original folder they came in a few months ago went through for 10.00.  The next set I sold individually and they brought almost that per piece totalling out around $70.  I've had similar luck with other literature related stuff and very often buy lots off ebay correctly listed,  then sell the pieces individually for alot more money.  Sometimes, as above,  one piece alone brings more than the set. 

I also think as low of a starting bid as you can bear (think any less and i would throw it away)  with no reserve does alot better than a high opening bid or one with a reserve.  

I list 30 items a night and 60% or better is dealer related advertising and literature.  

 

Thanks for the comments. I've sold over 30,000 automotive items on Ebay since 1999 so I have a slight clue what I'm doing. Most have been old car brochures (catalogs and folders), old shop and owner's manuals and old license plates. I normally sell these items individually but packaging and shipping 20 items this size would be a huge PITA and there's a good chance some would get damaged (unless I put a piece of plywood in with them LOL) with the way the USPS treats an oversized and very bendable item like this. With items that I expect to do well with I run them for 10 days over two weekends with them ending on Sunday evening so we'll see what happens. Thanks again for your input....

 

PS...............Attached are some of the license plates that I bought from the same estate. He had almost every year of PA plate from 1906 to 1958 and several very old ones from other states. I sold them individually with many selling for over $100 each....

 

 

Edited December 7, 2017 by Lebowski (see edit history)

[Lebowski]

I found this online in case some of you guys had never heard of the BCCA. If anyone knows what the name is of the founder of the BCCA please post it here....

 

"In early 1966, a Buick lover by the name of Greg Fallowfield, later shortened to Greg Field, was a member of the Pittsburgh, PA based. Buick Car Club of America (BCCA). Greg was lobbying to be allowed to start a chapter of the BCCA in California, but was not getting much cooperation from the head of the club."

[auburnseeker]

Knock on wood,  I have been pretty lucky sending my brochures in the foldable craft book mailers shrunk wrapped to a piece of cardboard first.  They are pretty rigid that way.  I imagine the only way they would suffer a blow that would damage them it wouldn't matter how they were packed as the impact would have been like the one UPS did to put a goose egg size dent hard enough to flake the chrome on the end of a 49 Cadillac bumper that was wrapped in cardboard. 

Good luck with them.  They look like neat pieces.  

I use to run the 10 day auctions,  but now reserve those to just cars so people have 2 weekends to come look at it.  I got sick of paying an extra .40 for every item I ran to try and gain a few extra bids.  It never seemed to matter much.   Not enough to offset an extra 12.00 in fees every night.   Then again I run alot of ordinary brochures that sell for 2.99. 

[Lebowski]

On December 7, 2017 at 10:50 PM, auburnseeker said:

 

I use to run the 10 day auctions,  but now reserve those to just cars so people have 2 weekends to come look at it.  I got sick of paying an extra .40 for every item I ran to try and gain a few extra bids.  

 

I felt the same way but fortunately Ebay made a change a couple of years ago and stopped charging extra for 10 day auctions so now I run them all for 10 days. I also get 50 free listings a month with no listing fees....

[West Peterson]

What happened to your listing? I see that there were 3 bids deleted, and then the listing disappeared.

[Dosmo]

6 minutes ago, Imperial62 said:

 

What you are looking at, you may already know is a Special Coupe body.  I don't even remember seeing any of these in 1941, let alone 1942.  In 1941, the 2 door Sedanette was the new "gurl with the curl" car for Buick.  This body style was phased out.

 

  

The day I made my post I was too lazy to go out in my garage to check my reference books.  Seeing your post, combined with my being somewhat more energetic today, prompted me to check out my Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942.

 

Under 1942 Buick Special Series 40-A, there is a 2-dr Utility Coupe, which I assume is akin to a business coupe.  It says 461 were produced for the 1942 model year.  I could have answered my own question, I guess.  I was probably hoping to spur some discussion about a little-seen unusual car, hoping that someone might post a photo of one in the flesh.  As usual, my efforts were not successful.

[Matt Harwood]

Actually, the '41 Special line had both the fastback and the traditional coupes available, Models 46 and 44, respectively. The 1941s are reasonably common, based on the Series B 118-inch chassis and using a Chevrolet body. I've attached a photo of a 1941 Model 44 below (note that the trunk is shorter than on the Super Model 56). The '42 model pictured is similar to the '41 Model 44 (more likely built by using the 1941 Super 56 coupe body) with the '42 nose grafted on. To my eye, it looks front-heavy and hastily designed--most of the other '42s had new rear fenders to match the fronts which created some balance. But since this was likely the least expensive 1942 Buick, it's understandable that they'd keep the old fenders as a cost-saving measure. I've never seen one in the flesh and even a cursory Google image search doesn't turn any up, but I'm sure that one or two still exist. They always do.

 

Jake, most domestic auto production did indeed continue until February 1942, including Buicks.

 

West, I was one of the three bidders on these and was willing to spend several hundred dollars to own them. My bid was cancelled within moments of me making it. I don't know why.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2017 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[West Peterson]

On 12/15/2017 at 8:58 AM, West Peterson said:

What happened to your listing? I see that there were 3 bids deleted, and then the listing disappeared.

I'm still curious....

[auburnseeker]

Did eBay slam you with fees? They are getting really funny about ending auctions early especially needing to cancel bids.