Puget Sound Chapter's All Buick Open -- Buicks from the V8 era

[Centurion]

As a follow up to the initial post, which covered cars through the '53 straight-8's ( http://forums.aaca.org/showflat.php?Cat=...ge=0#Post387589 ), here are a few of the V8-powered Buicks from the June 10 show.

A new entrant this year was this 1958 Century sedan. This is a rarely seen model, and this particular car is evidently a completely original example. The car had been owned by a collector in the Dallas, Texas area, and you will spot the nameplate for the original, selling dealership on the trunk lid. The collector passed away within the last year, and his nephew in Washington state received two of his fine collector Buicks. I'm curious whether any of our Texas members recall seeing this car.

The Buick is an original factory A/C car, and even carries one of the original 1958 "Buick Air Conditioning" window stickers. Equally interesting are a couple of dealer-installed accessories. Perhaps one of the '58 experts can tell us whether these were "factory approved" items. The first item are these louvered sun shades, which were clearly designed to fit the rear seat door windows for '58 Special and Century sedans.

The car also had a rear window "venetian" blind, which I think is less likely to be a factory approved item. Clearly, the original buyer of this Buick was motivated to keep things inside as cool as possible.

[Centurion]

A perennial favorite is Dale and Diane Wilkins' 1957 Roadmaster convertible, which many of you enjoyed seeing in Flint in 2003. It is difficult to imagine a more striking 1950's era Buick.

Steve Eremenko was down from central British Columbia with his excellent 1957 Special convertible.

At the end of the day, I traveled with both of these '57 convertibles to the Dairy Freeze for dinner. As Steve headed for home in the Special, I made this observation, "This is what is so great about Buick. Even the lowest-priced models were stunning automobiles."

[Centurion]

Here's one of the most memorable cars of the show, and this one will be making the cross-country trek to Minnesota for next month's BCA National Meet. Dean and Linda Eldridge selected 1959 Buick "Lido Lavender" as the exterior color for their 1953 Super Estate Wagon. The car was finished with a burgandy vinyl roof and burgandy leather interior. Despite the car's color modifications, this beautiful automobile retains the Buick 322-cid nailhead and the Dynaflow transmission.

Linda displayed this car with the rear compartment arrayed for a picnic -- Hawaiian style.

[Centurion]

I think that Jack & Lynnette Saylor's 1955 Roadmaster 76R must be one of the finest examples around.

There were four very striking 1956 Specials on hand, and here's one of the 2-door Rivieras.

Don & Peggy DeMarco were down from British Columbia with their excellent 1959 Electra 2-door hardtop.

Wildcat power appeared in many forms. Here's my '59 Electra sandwiched between a pair of '64 Wildcats.

[Centurion]

We enjoyed a couple of fine '62 Buicks, including an original LeSabre 2-door hardtops. Puget Sound Chapter Director Lee Davis owns the red '62 Invicta Custom bucket seat convertible.

This show is always known for the excellent turnout of Skylark and GS cars. My favorite is often this very original 1966 Skylark GS post coupe. The car is so nice and unmolested, and it's refreshing to see one of these with the original spinner wheelcovers still in place.

The guys at V8Buick.com have done an excellent job of photographing the Skylark/GS cars at this year's show, and you'll find them in a couple of threads in the Events forums at that site. Here are a couple more of the GS's -- a '70 GSX and '71 GS455.

[Centurion]

The early 1970's large cars were well-represented by two excellent '72 Electra 225 Custom 4-door hardtops. This Champagne Gold example is a 46,000 mile car that is completely documented. The other was a 16,000 mile Limited in Hunter Green. Both cars carried the mid-year wide rocker panel molding option, and this car is somewhat unusual in that it lacks the protective bodyside moldings.

There was a strong showing of "Modified Division" Buicks this year, and a favorite was this 1957 4-door Riviera converted to a suicide door set-up. This car was purchased new by the present owner's parents, and he used the car to date his wife -- way back in the late 1950's/early 1960's.

One of my personal favorites among Buicks of the 1960's is the 1965 Wildcat 2-door hardtop, and this modified example sports my favorite original color for the '65's -- Midnight Aqua.

At the end of the day, I gathered with some friends for a cruise to the Dairy Freeze and a refreshing conclusion to a super Buick show. I shot this photo of some of our Buicks at our rendezvous point.

[Guest imported_Thriller]

Very nice shots Brian...thanks for sharing.

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

OK Where are the 54's............

[Centurion]

Mr. Earl, I was hoping there would be a '54 there for you, but not one showed up. We've got a few nice ones in the area, and, if you're able to join us in Seattle next year, I'll do everything I can to get them out for you! I do know that a '54 Roadmaster convertible will be one of the cars that the LeMay Museum will feature for our tour there.