Historic 1954 Roadmaster Landau on Ebay

[Centurion]

I rarely check the full list of Buick Collector Cars on Ebay Motors, but happened to do so today. I was surprised to see the one-off 1954 Roadmaster with the landau-type rear roof treatment and the unique trunk. I had seen photos of this vehicle in "Seventy Years of Buick", and I know that this car was shown at some of the early BCA National meets in Flint. The car was never shown at any of the meets that I attended, and I had hopes of seeing it at last year's Buick Centennial in Flint. But the car was not there, and I had been curious to learn what happened to it. The two photos below consist mostly of blank space, and are from the Ebay listing, so keep scrolling down.

It is now offered on Ebay, where it is described as a one-off Motorama dream car. I believe that this is accurate, but I am away from any of my reference materials. Can anyone confirm the car's history?

I must say that the seller has done a miserable job of presenting the car on Ebay. The photos (above) are extremely poor and convey very little about the special aspects of the vehicle or its present condition. The text is very limited as well, and none of the car's history since 1954 is presented.

This auction is unlikely to attract any buyers who are not already familiar with the vehicle. It is offered at $50,000 with no reserve, which, given the car's unique history, is probably a great bargain if the condition has been maintained. My hope is that a real Buick enthusiast (or perhaps Buick Division or the Sloan Museum) will have opportunity to acquire the car and display it as it deserves.

Here's the auction link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayIS...bayphotohosting

I am reminded of a similar incident a couple of years ago, when the beautiful one-off 1953 Skylark built as a 2-door Riviera was offered on Ebay at $50,000 for no reserve. In that case, there were no photos of the car itself posted -- only a picture of one of the magazine articles about the car. There was a single bidder for the car at $50,000, and that particular car, which I have previously seen at a show, is absolutely stunning and worth a good deal more than the high bid.

I wish I could be the enthusiast with the resources to acquire unique Buicks like these when they come along, but I'm afraid that role belongs to someone with more disposable income than me!

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

This car has been offered for sometime in either Auto Trader or Hemmings, I'm not sure which. You're correct in your assesment of the fact that it is a unique auto very deserving of the price it is being offerd. Someone's bound to wake up and buy it. Like you, I would like to see it in the Slaon museum. The price sorta makes one question its authenticity doesn't it? Would certainly love to add it to my collection.

[Dave@Moon]

It's being offered by a first-time seller (rating of 0, no other auctions current), and the only description is a (credited) quote from <span style="font-style: italic">Detroit Dream Cars</span>. The (IMHO) terrible use of photos in the post makes me believe that this probably is a true first time seller, or it could be a very good imitation of one by a clever person.

I'd seriously reccommend <span style="font-style: italic">thorough</span> documentation that this is the car it claims to be before a bid is made. If all you get is a (relatively easy to duplicate) matching VIN number w/o a solid/verifyable historical paper trail of ownership and maintenance, you'd be at risk purchasing a car like this.

As of right now the car's had 1140 hits with no bid. There's interest. Whether it's from buyers or people like me who wonder why this thing isn't crossing the podium at Scottsdale or Auburn, we'll see in 2 hours and 4 days.

[FireballV8]

Gentleman

This is the real car, the collector had many GM & Chrysler motorama cars, Sadly he passed away and his widow is trying to sell the cars, she offered it to me last summer for $98,000. The photo on the auction site is the same as the ones I got. The red car behind the buick is a 1956 Cadillac Sedan De Ville GM Motorama dream car. He also had a chrysler motordome roadster.

I hope the Soan can pick it up with the donation they got from the buicktown chapter.

Chao

[Centurion]

FireballV8, thanks for confirming that this car is the real deal.

Given the widow's need to sell and the car's one-off status, I am doubly hopeful that this car will find the right buyer.

[Guest my3buicks]

Brian, it would certainly look mighty fine between the 59 & 71 : )

[palbuick]

I sent e-mail to seller about 3 days ago, asking if I might view car for a friend. I only live less than 10 miles from Rockford. I remember seeing this car at the 1971 or 72 Nationals in Flint.

Today I got response from seller." NO ONLY PERSON BUYING CAR CAN SEE AND DEAL WITH ME DOES HE NOT HAVE COMPUTER." Message was not even signed. In my opinion, if you want to sell any vehicle you would gladly invite someone interested to inspect, be it a buyer or someone acting for a buyer.

Jim Schilf

palbuick@aol.com