Curious Photo Re-toucher Posted March 30, 2020 Share Posted March 30, 2020 I have a photo of my late mother-in-law being held by her mother. I think the time frame was 1930-1932. I am trying to restore this photo and could benefit from knowing exactly which car this is. Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted March 30, 2020 Share Posted March 30, 2020 (edited) 1929 Buick. May have a custom body. Edited March 30, 2020 by keiser31 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - 29 Buick Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 Keiser31 is correct. It's a 1929 Buick model 54CC - a 4 passenger convertible coupe. One of 19 different models offered that year. This car has the optional Artillery Wood wheels and also an after-market light of some kind near the top front of the driver's door. Check out <https://www.29buickphotos.com/1929-Buick-Models/Photos-of-Models/i-N4wzsCm> Bill McLaughlin 1929 Silver Anniversary Buick Club. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - 29 Buick Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 And, the car is an early production model. It has both the early hubcaps and radiator cap. Bill McLaughlin 1929 Silver Anniversary Buick Club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 On 3/30/2020 at 10:52 AM, keiser31 said: 1929 Buick. May have a custom body. The 'puffy' belt-line and lack of belt molding is typical of all '29 Buicks and the subject of the minor controversy because it was atypical when closed car bodies were simply one continual surface from sills to top. These were nicknamed 'pregnant Buicks' at a time the word was considered indecent to speak in polite society. But, one supposes saying "a Buick in the family way" just didn't have the same affect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Photo Re-toucher Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 Thank you one and all! I now have an idea of the colors and finishes. This picture means so much to my wife, and at this moment it seems I have nothing but time to work on re-touching it. Again, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - 29 Buick Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 Send me a copy when you’ve finished. <Bill@29Buick.ca> thanks. Bill McLaughlin 1929 Silver Anniversary Buick Club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRB62 Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 Maybe a trick with the light but both the headlamp and the park lamp bodies look to be painted black. Records show that all of the roadster, sport coupe & tourer bodies had chrome lamp bodies, plus all of the 50 series cars, including this 54CC. Normally only business coupes and sedans in the 20 and 40 series used the painted lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 The '29 Buick 116 models had painted headlight shells, may have been true for the 121 also. Chrome-plated headlights were an option then for various makes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRB62 Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 All "Buick" bodies by Stewart had chrome headlight shells. They built all of the open model tourers and roadsters in all series; 116, 121 and 129. The convertible coupe is sedan based and is a Fisher bodied car but as it is a 129 series model it had chrome headlights. Both my 1929's have the chrome shells for headlights, park lights and tail light. Here in Australia we mainly see tourers and roadsters so seeing chrome light shells is more common. Not too many sedans survive and we did not get any coupes here except a handful of the convertible coupes similar to the photo. The painted shells are steel and suffer from rust-out, the chrome shells are brass and suffer from stress cracks. I keep looking at this photo and see painted shells and wonder why they are there. Production change in the early models or a buyers preference? The hand spotlight is nice and brightly chromed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Photo Re-toucher Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 I really appreciate help you have each provided! This was a picture that came to my wife as she is the oldest survivor in her family. Other than knowing it was her mother (infant) and grandmother parked in front of their home, little else is known. I have enjoyed your post as I worked on cleaning up the picture a little. Here is what I have at this point. I may take another shot at it later when I have fresh eyes for it again. Thanks! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmhowe Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 That is a very handsome car. The smiles on the two faces in the driver's seat make the picture even better. Thank you for posting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - 29 Buick Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Rick is right, and corrected me recently, that all 29's in Australia had chrome head, parking and tail lights. In North American production, in the 116" models, the models 25 and 26S had chrome and rest (20, 26 & 27) had black, painted head, parking and tail lights. In the 121" series, the models 44, 46S had chrome and the rest (41, 46, 47 & 48) had black. In the 129" series, all models (49, 50, 50L, 51, 54CC, 55, 57 & 58) had chrome. The 54CC body was made by Fisher while the rest of the open bodies (25, 44, 49, & 55) were made by Stewart. The 54CC came in 3 main body colours: Distingue Blue (Upper body Colour: Cairo Green, Wood Wheel felloe: cream; spoke: black), Nomad Tan (UB: Storm brown, WW: Buick Ver. and Black) and Dynamic Red (UB: Black, WW: gold and black). Here are some photos of restored 54CCs (all with wire wheels) and 1 out of the Dealer Catalogue. Bill Mclaughlin 1929 Silver Anniversary Buick Club 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - 29 Buick Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 And, I have no idea why the head and parking lights on this car are black. Could be an early production model and no black lights were available or perhaps a customer order (though that would have been a downgrade to the car). Bill McLaughlin 1929 Silver Anniversary Buick Club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious Photo Re-toucher Posted May 15, 2020 Author Share Posted May 15, 2020 About the only other information I can offer is that the location was Elwood Indiana. The owner had many Buicks after this one. I thought his income was modest as he drove a bread truck. I didn't think delivery drivers made a lot of bread...... Sorry, couldn't resist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - 29 Buick Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 He could have bought it as a used car in 31-32 but it was one of the more expensive models and had the artillery wheel and side-mount upgrades. Bill McLaughlin 1929 Silver Anniversary Buick Club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Harley Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 The spotlight could either be a Lorraine or a Unity Sportlite. Most likely a Lorraine it looks a little big for a Unity. Capt. Harley😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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