Morgan Wright Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Since I've never heard an English person say anything good about America before, I was surprised and pleasingly flattered by this bloke's assessment of the 1915 Buick. He says American cars were advanced over their cars at the time, and he was especially impressed by our Delco electrical system with the distributor. He's amazed by the car, actually. Makes me feel good to be an American: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter R. Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 8 hours ago, Morgan Wright said: He says American cars were advanced over their cars at the time, and he was especially impressed by our Delco electrical system with the distributor. I agree. While most American car manufacturers had equipped their cars with battery ignition and electric starters by the mid teens, European car manufacturers stuck to magneto ignition and kept hand cranking engines well into the 1920‘s. If a European car of the 1920’s to early 30’s was equipped with battery ignition, it was usually of American manufacture. Most innovations came from the US and were adopted in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne R Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 How right Morgan and Peter you are, hope you dont mind me coming in here Morgan, as i wont to follow up on with your subject about how great American cars are. I was born in in New Zealand, so i know this story very well, a New Zealand family named the Nairn brothers, went to Baghdad to start an incredible transport delivery operation between Baghdad and Damascus in the early twenties. After trying many makes and model vehicles from Europe and around the world, they settled with Buicks and Cadillacs, because they were the only forms of transport that could handle the desert conditions,--the rest is history,and many books were written of this great feat.---books---The road to Baghdad----The Nairn way.---desert bus to Baghdad---. Photos from seventy years of Buick 1973. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Not a 1915 but it is an early 1916 build (fall of 1915) similar to Terry Wiegands car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 They didn't make the model 45 in 1915 but if they did it would have been a C-45. The D-45 is 1916-1917 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 The D-45 that has been in my family for over 60 years was actually built in October of 1915. The designated model year Buicks actually started their production run in the preceding calendar year. I have the actual factory documentation to back this point up. Here is a photo of that factory document. This also proves that the 1916 D-45 that is in my shop is a true 'BRASS ERA' automobile since it was built before January 1, 1916 Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 (edited) Terry, July 1 was the cutoff back then for model years, any car made after July 1, 1915 was a 1916 model. This is from the "Buick Bulletin" dated 1918. Edited February 4 by Morgan Wright (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buicknutty Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Very cool video and thank you, Morgan for sharing it! That car is so much like my 1916 McLaughlin D45, which used the Buick running gear. Makes me want to go take mine for a drive. Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Wiegand Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Morgan, I'm glad that you posted this. This is straight from the horse's mouth as that old saying goes. The 'model year' and 'production year' are two entirely different things and this article states this quite clearly. I have a bunch of the old BUICK BULLETINS and the very one that you posted from. My D-45 WAS produced in calendar year 1915 and Mr. Strong's article explains just how this came about. America was very much an 'agriculture oriented' country in the first part of the 1900's and farmers had cash in hand from the sale of their crops. This was a very good time to sell new automobiles and the automobile manufacturers knew this and marketed their new models to take advantage of this. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 (edited) It's interesting..........I have played with and driven Buicks from 1915 to modern cars......I have NEVER driven a Buick that wasn't fun, a decent driver, and just overall a very decent car.......Can't say that about Cadillac, and a bunch of others. In the marketplace they offer very good value. And to be honest......EVERY Buick guy into pre war cars are friendly and helpful. I have found help and parts in just days on almost impossible to get parts......and all at very reasonable prices. I would have been active with Buicks earlier if I had known. In the unlikely event the 34 goes away........I will buy another. Probably earlier........ Edited February 4 by edinmass (see edit history) 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garnetkid Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Thanks Morgan for posting that. I was never sure of when the release to the market of the next year production model came about. Now I can be confident that my 1925 can be called 100 years old by this coming fall! All I have to concerned about now is that I don't make national news headlines.."81 year old senior citizen crashes 100 year old car" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 I'm 68 and don't drive my 106 year old Buick much for fear of wrecking it. Like they say, "They can always make new people (babies) but they can't make new 1917 Buicks" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 We drive our pre WW1 Buicks all of the time. Usually rack up between 1,500-1,900 miles a year on our 1913 and some on the 1915 truck some too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 On 2/4/2024 at 11:52 AM, Morgan Wright said: I'm 68 and don't drive my 106 year old Buick much for fear of wrecking it. Like they say, "They can always make new people (babies) but they can't make new 1917 Buicks" Drive it like you stole it! 😎 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 I'll drive it more when I give it a brake job. They are starting to squeek now going down long steep hills. The 80 year old asbestos is starting to lose its battle against the rusty drums. I never gave it a brake job because if the brakes ain't broke, don't break them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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