My 1941 Buick special 8

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Was the SE the "smaller " 1941, on the Chevy chassis?

 

  Ben

[Eisa Ibrahim]

10 hours ago, neil morse said:

I am not an expert by any means with regard to decoding data plates, but I found this earlier thread which indicates that a '41 Special Touring Sedan (like yours) was designated "41-4409" on the data plate.  The initial "4" indicates a Special model, the "1" indicates a 4-door sedan, and the "4409" is a Fisher Body internal number indicating the 4-door fastback sedan.  I can't find any mention of a "4409D" designation -- maybe someone else can chime in with the answer.  I'm curious -- since the data plate on your car is missing, where did you find out about the possible "4409D" designation?

 

Here's the earlier thread:

 

 

I had emailed a company for rubber seals for my car and they asked me if it is an 4409 or a 4409D. Thats how i got to know about the ‘D’ designation. 

[Eisa Ibrahim]

9 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

Was the SE the "smaller " 1941, on the Chevy chassis?

 

  Ben

if so then my car shouldn’t be a SE as we have established in the beginning of our conversation here that it is a long wheelbase. 

[Shootey]

SE means compound carburetion. It technically means Super Equipment as in the same carburetion as the Super. The normal Special 40B’s had one carburetor.  

[neil morse]

12 hours ago, Bloo said:

From the 1941 Master Parts Book:

 

"41" (first two digits) is the year. 4409 is a model 41 (four door touring sedan). 4409D is a model 41SE (four door touring sedan).

 

Now whats the difference between a model 41 and a model 41SE?

 

 

Sounds like Bloo found the answer.  So "41-4409" is the standard Special fastback 4-door sedan (single carb), and "41-4409D" is the same car with the dual carb setup, which was optional on the Special.

[Daves1940Buick56S]

I seem to recall the SE moniker also included a few interior trim upgrades.

[Den41Buick]

SE was an upgrade over the model 41.

It included upgraded Super interior materials as well as Super rear seat arm rest, upgraded robe rail, interior lights, and dual carburetors to push the HP to 125. 

[Shootey]

2 hours ago, Den41Buick said:

SE was an upgrade over the model 41.

It included upgraded Super interior materials as well as Super rear seat arm rest, upgraded robe rail, interior lights, and dual carburetors to push the HP to 125. 

The SE option was also available on the Model 46S in which case it was designated the Model 46SSE. The Buick Estate Wagon (model 49)  had compound carburetion as standard. My follow-up question is whether the Super was universally supplied with compound carburetion. Is anyone aware of a 1941 Super with a single carburetor? These issues are also relevant to the 1942 model year. 

[neil morse]

Dual carbs were standard on every model other than the Special.