For Sale: 1942 Buick Century 4dr Sedan - $22,000 - Mission Hills, KS - Not Mine - Still Available, Major Price Reduction to $18,000: 4-22-2024.

[58L-Y8]

For Sale: 1942 Buick Century 4dr Sedan - $22,000 - Mission Hills, KS - Still Available, Major Price Reduction to $18,000: 4-22-2024. See New Link Below:

1942 buick century for sale by owner - Kansas City, MO - craigslist
Seller's Description:

1942 Buick Century 4 door sedan (model 61). Beautiful fastback design. This Fisher body was used in all makes of GM cars during the 1940s including Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. 17,000 mi since total restoration in 2002. The car is rust free and very clean underneath. It will never rust out as all panels and the frame were painted with POR-15 when it was restored. Two tone green. Very good shiny paint with some minor chips and repairs. Excellent interior, upholstery, carpeting and headliner. Glass is good except for crack in passenger side front wind wing. New tires two years ago. Excellent mechanical condition with regular maintenance. Driven regularly. Original 320 ci straight 8 OHV engine, dual carburetors, 165 hp. Most powerful American car in 1942. It has the big Buick engine used in Roadmasters and Limiteds and the small Buick body used in the Specials, often call the doctor's hotrod. Extensive documentation of restoration and touring history. Chrome and stainless is excellent condition. 12V conversion, electric fuel pump, alternator, electric windshield wipers. Radio non-operating. Amp gauge is not connected as car now has an alternator. Other gauges operate properly. Rear end changed from 3.99 to 3.40 using 1954 Buick gears for lower RPM on at highway speeds. Easily cruises at 70-80 mph with a top speed of over 100 mph. rare car as they were manufactured only for the first few months of the model year due to the beginning of WW2. $22,000 obo. This is a spectacular car. The car is located at my house in Mission Hills, KS although the photos were taken in Florida at the time I purchased the car. The only difference is that the paint damage on the front of the hood has now been touched up.
Contact: No phone listed
Copy and paste in your email: 37c5ae3bc28a379986950b3e64f51179@sale.craigslist.org

I have no personal interest or stake in the eventual sale of this 1942 Buick Century 4dr Sedan.

Edited May 17 by 58L-Y8
Still Available, Major Price Reduction to $18,000: 4-22-2024. Crossed out the dead CL link. (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

A 42-46?

[Matt Harwood]

A pox on the guy who rewired that whole car using red wires. AND a 12-volt conversion? Yeah, no thanks.

[John_S_in_Penna]

4 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

A 42-46?

That means the car is a Buick Special, not a Century.

Can any Buick experts tell us for sure?  Is there any

exterior nomenclature on the car?

The Special was the least expensive model.

[DrumBob]

3 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

A pox on the guy who rewired that whole car using red wires. AND a 12-volt conversion? Yeah, no thanks.

I get it, but the car looks incredible. Gorgeous. I even like the two-tone green.

[suchan]

48 minutes ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

That means the car is a Buick Special, not a Century.

Can any Buick experts tell us for sure?  Is there any

exterior nomenclature on the car?

The Special was the least expensive model.

I think a Special would be Style 42-44XX.

Looks like a Century to me.

[Shootey]

51 minutes ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

A 42-46?

The plate says 4609. The 6 is century. A Special would  be 4409. My former 1938 century sport coupe was 4627. 

[m-mman]

1 hour ago, DrumBob said:

4 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

A pox on the guy who rewired that whole car using red wires. AND a 12-volt conversion? Yeah, no thanks.

I get it, but the car looks incredible. Gorgeous. I even like the two-tone green

Drum Bob, since you have limited experience with restored (fixed up?) cars what sets off alarms for Matt are modifications and poor quality repairs.  

If a car is just as it was built (or restored as it was built) then it can be diagnosed and repaired when it breaks. (And they ALL break eventually). 
This car is shiny and looks nice BUT the 12 volt and the all red wires show that short cuts were taken. Short cuts that will fail when you can least tolerate them.  

Examples - when you consistently operate a 6v starter on 12v it slams the starter drive into the flywheel.  This means that the starter drive (Bendix) will break.  12v will overheat the armature and it will melt solder and short out.  Maybe not today but when you least expect it.  
It has an alternator (ok) but how was it wired? A “one wire” alternator is not a simple modification but a cop out. “One wire” alternators are made for stationary applications that run at a constant speed. They can have problems charging until they are energized.

 

So is it actually charging? Who would know? The seller-builder was lazy and didn’t connect the amp gauge (!). 
 

So after you buy it, the battery acts like it’s not being charged. So, get out your testing equipment and start checking wires. Wait! All the wires are red???!!! Now how do you trace a circuit? It can be done of course but it is added time and headaches because the seller-builder was too lazy to buy 5-7 different color spools of wire.  
 

The seller-builder obviously built it for reliable touring (which is great) but most likely he has put miles on it and now things have wear on them and they are going to break down for the next owner just like any used car.  
And the first step in repair is figuring out what the previous owner-builder did. BTW owner-builders NEVER create documentation or even notes about what they did.  
 

This past weekend I spent 2 hours figuring out why there was no brake lights on a 51 Kaiser. It was changed 12volts, homemade wires that were spliced and changed colors as they wound through the harness!  
it also had power steering added and a power booster and dual master cylinder was fitted (jammed) between the frame rails.  
 

Again 2 hours to eventually track the brake light wires that were removed and stuffed into the inner fender. A 5 minute job that took 2 hours because of poor quality work.  
 

This is why serious car people much prefer untouched unmodified original cars.  They are worlds easier to repair. 
 

[Dave Wells]

You have got to really know your Buicks to separate the war year models from each other.

The only difference I see between the green '42 and the red '48 is the chrome trim piece beside the front parking light that follows around to the side of the fender on the '42 that is not on the '48. This may even be a dealer or factory option and not necessarily a styling differentiation.

I just noticed, too, that the '42 has a simplified hood emblem above the grille, and a "step" in the chrome bar above the grille teeth where the '48 is straight. Are the number of grille "teeth" consistent or do they change over the years? 

Very nice cars I'd be proud to own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andrew_Latvia]

In these photos you can clearly see the difference between short wheelbase/hood Special and long wheelbase/hood Century. That parking light molding is standart '42 piece not used on '48 models. Grille also is standart for '42 models only, not used after war. Interestingly, the '42 grille with "step" is more reminescent of '49 Buick grille, than grille of '46, '47 and '48 Buicks.

[7th Son]

1 hour ago, Andrew_Latvia said:

In these photos you can clearly see the difference between short wheelbase/hood Special and long wheelbase/hood Century. That parking light molding is standart '42 piece not used on '48 models. Grille also is standart for '42 models only, not used after war. Interestingly, the '42 grille with "step" is more reminescent of '49 Buick grille, than grille of '46, '47 and '48 Buicks.

 

Thanks for the additional info. Most of us would still need to have the two cars (or their pictures) side by side to tell the difference.  Subtle changes were probably not even necessary to sell new cars in the immediate post WWII era. Most anything new on four wheels sold pretty well.

 

 

 

[DrumBob]

I know my knowledge is limited insofar as the real nuts & bolts of mechanics on these cars. I'm learning more and more as I stay here and gain knowledge from you guys, so I appreciate the explanation. My opinion on this, or any car, is pretty much based on appearances, which I guess is a natural thing for many people. Its like looking at a good looking woman. You see the exterior, but have no idea about what's going on inside.

 

I'm a professional musician, and my area of expertise is drums and guitar, as well as military history, specifically WWI and WWII, with a specialization in aviation, and the American Civil War. I wrote a book on 60s rock drummers, for instance, because I know a LOT about them. I'm a car novice, but am enjoying the process of worthwhile education here. 

[Lee H]

Reminds me of a movie…

 

Edited March 14 by Lee H (see edit history)

[48Super]

That car looks so nice until you get to the engine compartment. WHY did they choose to install that "Home Depot" wiring harness???? So much of the car appears well done like the upholstery and the engine turned dash panels, too bad they did such a horrible job with the wiring.

[60FlatTop]

10 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

That means the car is a Buick Special, not a Century.

It's hard to be ambiguous online.

[60FlatTop]

10 hours ago, John_S_in_Penna said:

That means the car is a Buick Special, not a Century.

It's hard to be ambiguous online.

[neil morse]

11 hours ago, Shootey said:

The plate says 4609. The 6 is century. A Special would  be 4409. My former 1938 century sport coupe was 4627. 

Yes, 4609 is the Century for sure.

[deac]

This Century looks nice but to a Buick guy it's not so nice.  The red wiring is a big no-no because it makes it very hard to trace electrical issues.  The 12V conversion compounds the wiring issue,  The seller installed an aluminum radiator and made a custom fan shroud for it and it just sticks out like a sore thumb.  If you go through a painstaking restoration, why in the world would you cheap out on these issues.  The radiator choice was probably done to accommodate the increase draw on the engine from the AC compressor; but it is still ugly.  Not sure what the thinking was with the red wires.  Anyway these take away the value of the car.

 

BTW: Could you get a 42 Buick with compound carburetion.  Didn't GM quash that at the end of the 41 model year?

[Walt G]

7 hours ago, DrumBob said:

I'm a car novice, but am enjoying the process of worthwhile education here. 

We all were there once, a novice same as you, and the education comes with time. You have the sincere interest THAT IS WHAT MATTERS . Great that you see people are not trying to be harsh just letting you be more aware of what to consider when looking at a vehicle. It is all good.

Walt

[Leif in Calif]

I'm not a Buick guy (yet) but that compound carburetion is so unusual on an American car.

I am aware it only appeared briefly.

I wonder if it was something that caused trouble because mechanics were unfamiliar with it. 

Pretty common on European cars in the "Inline era".

[Matt Harwood]

Compound Carburetor on Buicks was 1941 and '42 only. It was standard equipment on all Series except Specials, where it was an option. After the war, Buick went back to a single 2-barrel on all engines, and then briefly a 4-barrel in 1952 before the Nailhead V8 showed up in '53.

[g-g-g0]

Another distinct difference/identifying factor for a 42 is that the side stainless trim is concave. One year only! Later years the trim was convex.

[neil morse]

1 hour ago, Matt Harwood said:

Compound Carburetor on Buicks was 1941 and '42 only. It was standard equipment on all Series except Specials, where it was an option.

And the Compound Carburetor option cost the grand sum of $15.39!  So the majority of Specials sold were so equipped.

[Lee H]

5 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

It's hard to be ambiguous online

Even harder being sardonic.

[Andrew_Latvia]

If in doubt, take a look in sales brochure.  In '42 they are advertising compound carburetion standard for Century. I wasn't sure about woodgrained or painted dash, but in brochure there's a clear (colour!😯) photo of woodgrained dash. So this is wrong here. Also I've noticed, that driver's side engine turned panel is painted on perimeter - likely to hide problems with panel's condition??

[rocketraider]

I wish I knew more about 1940s cars.

 

Is a screwed on VIN plate normal on these years Buicks?

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

11 hours ago, rocketraider said:

I wish I knew more about 1940s cars.

 

Is a screwed on VIN plate normal on these years Buicks?

Yes.  Still so in 1950.

 

  Ben

Edited March 15 by Ben Bruce aka First Born (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

Still Available, Major Price Reduction to $18,000: 4-22-2024.

1942 buick century for sale by owner - Kansas City, MO - craigslist

1942 Buick Century - $18,000 - Mission Hills, KS
Contact: no phone listed.
Copy and paste in your email: 629910aeb7c73e038dcf311fb85a899a@sale.craigslist.org