Reproductions of Vintage Buick Neon Signs

[Centurion]

I figure that I'm probably not the only one here who's trying to create a cool, vintage Buick look to my garage, and the challenge is how to do it on a budget. I've looked longingly at the vintage neon signs offered on Ebay, but the real items from the late-1940's and 1950's are far beyond my ability to afford them.

Then I found this item and learned that there's a company in Oregon selling these on Ebay, where they are listed for as little as $79 plus shipping (expensive at about $70). Still, even with the shipping, they're pretty affordable. It's interesting that the same company offers the same sign for prices ranging from $79 to $249, which is the Buy-It-Now or Make Offer price, so pick your auction carefully.

I pulled my sign out of the box this morning and plugged it in. Wow! These are dynamite, and appear to be a fairly faithful repro of the original Buick dealership sign from about 1953, when the first V8 Buicks appeared. I do not know how the dimensions compare to the original Buick signs, but these are certainly large enough for most of us with hobby garages.

Here's a link to the seller's store. No, I have no connection with the seller.

http://stores.ebay.com/Mt-Neon

I figure if there's a decent response to this item, perhaps more Buick items will be offered. I'm going to send an e-mail to suggest that they add a Buick Dynaflow Drive sign:

[Centurion]

Okay, I've received a reply from Mt Neon regarding reproduction of the Buick Dynaflow Drive sign. I pointed out to Mt Neon that the Buick dealership catalog item shown in my above post specifices the color and size of the lettering.

Here's the exciting reply:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looks good. I can do these about as affordable as the Buick V-8 sign. All I would need is about 3 people that would promise to buy them and then the

rest would sell on there own. I usually produce in batches of 10. Get the

word out and see how many folks would be interested. I could produce much

more but 10 would be my minimum.

</div></div>

I'm thrilled to learn that he would be willing to do these. I'll commit to one, and, if anyone else is similarly motivated, please send me your name and e-mail address. You can contact me at brianL@americanconstco.com . I'll convey the information to Mt Neon.

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

Brian, thanks for looking into these. Well I guess you're calling my hand on the statement I made one time on the Dealership thread when I said What I wouldn't give for that Dynaflow Drive... So I guess I'll put my money where my mouth is and go for one. I have seen the V8's in the past but shipping made it a little pricey for me. However I would be interested in the Dynaflow Drive and maybe the V8 if they could combine shipping. The link is currently showing "No store by this name exists" or something to that effect. I would think 10 of these would be no problem to sell. Have you invited the vendor to the Nationals?

This by the way is one of my favorite dealership photos, I just love the old dog hangin out at the front door. Thanks again for taking the time to look into this...as if you don't have enough going on.

[Centurion]

MrEarl, thanks for your response. I've updated the link to the seller's Ebay store in my initial post; should work now.

Given the seller's proximity to the 2007 National Meet, the thought had crossed my mind about inviting him as a vendor. Thanks for the prompt; I'll follow up on it.

So, if we can find a few more '50's era Buick fans who would like to purchase the Dynaflow Drive sign, I'll get back with Mt Neon and ask him to proceed.

[Guest Silver Arrow]

Sign me up for one Brian!

-Al

[Centurion]

Al, sounds great!

[Guest Tom]

Brian, here is my original neon I bought in Plano in '04 from the Buickfarm before he sold the company. If you give me the dimensions of the one you just pruchased, I can compare it to mine. Seems like it is about 3' by 4' if I remember correctly. Also note the word "Fireball" as opposed to "Buick". Great sign and you can't hardly beat the price. I just paid $40 to have a "10 diameter single color neon ring made for a clock I have, so these signs are an affordable option compared to the genuine article. I've just about given up on the thought of a porcelain neon Buick sign due to the high prices and even the repro that is sold on this site is out of my league.

I would also conside the Dynaflow Drive Neon myself if shipping wasn't excessive.

[Centurion]

Hi Tom, I was thinking that you had one of these signs, and yours is absolutely incredibly cool -- and significantly larger than these repros at about 20" by 20". I'll try to get a more exact measurement. Shipping on these signs is $65, and mine arrived very carefully packaged for shipment.

We know that the dimensions of the original Dynaflow Drive sign is 33" wide by 23" inches high. I'll confirm with Scott that his reproductions would have the same dimensions.

[Guest gecco]

I'll commit to a Dynaflow sign if it is accurate in size and close in colors to an original!

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

Tom, what color are the neon lights on your original, it is hard to tell from the picture.

Brian, I think there might be interest in having these repro's made like Tom's original, with the Fireball vs the Buick. I suppose that would be doable?

Hopefully these will be priced in the lower of the $79 to $249 range. I'll have to qualify my commitment to ordering one to only if it is less than $160 incl shipping. Don't want to break my Buick piggybank before I even get to Seattle. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Centurion]

Thanks for all your responses, guys. I've received some additional interest via e-mail.

I've asked the seller to confirm the dimensions of the Dynaflow sign, and have also inquired about expected shipping costs and his ability to combine shipping for multiple signs. Further, I've invited him to become a vendor at the National Meet, or at least bring signs to the meet for those who have ordered. This could save on shipping dollars for those who drive their Buicks to the meet and have the means to transport their signs home.

I'll let you all know as soon as I receive a reply.

[Guest Tom]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Tom, what color are the neon lights on your original, it is hard to tell from the picture.

</div></div>

Mr Earl, The "Fireball" and "V" is a pinkish red and "8" is white with almost a bluish cast to it. I have seen some that are pink and blue and also red and blue too, so don't know for sure what is totally original. I took mine to a neon repair guy after I got it as it needed some new wires and a transformer and he did not think it had ever been repaired at anytime, so I'm assuming it came that way. Don't know if you could have ordered it in different color neon or not.

[Guest imported_Thriller]

Brian,

Keep us in the loop. If he's there as a vendor, I'd bet he'd sell a few. If he could be at the National is probably the only hope I would have to get a sign (probably the V8 over the Dynaflow) as shipping and border charges can get expensive to the Great White North.

[Guest 53Nailhead]

It's hard to read but the 'Buick Dynaflow' ad specs looks like 33x38?? I like them all but like Derek would be interested to know the cost to ship above the 49th. as well as the cost of the 'Dynaflow'sign. Ogdensburg NY is only about 40 min. from Ottawa so I could pick it up there. Keep us posted & thanks again Brian.

[Centurion]

Thanks for the interest, guys. I've sent a couple of follow-up e-mails with all of your questions, but no reply so far. We'll see if anything develops.

[Guest unclefogey]

Brian,

In this thread and the one on the Mueller Hawkins Buick dealership, you posted a page from what was described as the 1948 authorized Buick signage catalog. Do you have the complete catalog which might show what the neon sign for the Dynaflash, Fireball Eight looked like, if one existed? In the meager amount of literature I have collected in the past two years, I can't find anything which might have been converted to neon signage.

John

[Centurion]

Hi John, I do not have the 1948 sign catalog, but saved copies of some of the scans when one of these was offered by Walter Miller on Ebay. There was indeed a neon window sign offered during the postwar straight-8 era, and this would be another cool item for reproduction. The Buick 8 sign is referred to as the "Standard Window Sign" in this page from the catalog:

To view all of the scans from the catalog, you may search on my gallery (username "Centurion") in this site's photo gallery. The scans appear on pages 14 and 15.

No reply has been received regarding my inquiries on the Dynaflow sign. If it comes to fruition, I think there are a number of cool, neon window signs that would be of interest to Buick fans in the future. I'm thinking we'd want to tackle these one-at-a-time. I have a telephone number for the seller, and will try to give him a call early this week.

[Centurion]

Well, folks, I had given the "Dynaflow Drive" sign idea up for dead. Frankly, I was a bit embarassed about the whole deal.

Today, I received a new e-mail -- at long last -- from Mt. Neon:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I just wanted to follow up with you. We will have the Dynaflow sign

completed in a couple of weeks and then we will have about a month of

lag time waiting for our other pieces to complete. Can you send me a

full page copy of the original ad you sent me? I would like to put a

nice clean copy of that in the box with the sign.

As soon as the prototype sign is made and I have a picture I will send

it over to you.

</div></div>

I replied that I will, of course, be eager to see the photo of the prototype sign. I assured him that there will be interest in the sign, and I promise to keep you all posted.

There has been no response to the questions regarding combined shipping of multiple signs or delivering signs to the National Meet. With respect to combining shipping, I think that this is probably impractical for the seller to offer. The V8 Buick sign I received was beautifully packed in a box that was precisely the correct size for the sign. I doubt whether the signs could be readily packaged in a box that can accommodate multiple signs.

[Guest gecco]

That is great news! I was starting to mill around the garage a week or so ago and was thinking about how great an addition the neon signs would make! I am still in for a Dynaflow sign, and would consider others.

Thanks!

[Centurion]

Kevin, thanks for your reply. I'll keep you posted. And I want to tell you, by the way, that I thought your biography in the April "Bugle" for the Board of Directors position was absolutely excellent. You captured that great sense of Buick history that has kept so many of us collecting Buicks. I wish you great success in your bid for the BCA Board.

I look forward to meeting you in Seattle.

[shart]

Well MrEARL I'm happy and proud that you like this photo as its one of MY favorites simply because I wrote the story of Keller Motor Co, Fayette, MO back in the Dec 1999 Bugle. It was one of the highlights of my BUICK hobby. It's fortunate I did write that story because now the only daughter of the Keller's, Mrs Ann Keller Slagle passed away about a year ago. I still miss her. She was quite a spunky lady and being from the country she told-it-like-it-is. Steve (sent you the 54 items a few months back)

[shart]

Brian, these signs are really cool. They would go great with my Lubricare sign. I'd like to sign up for a V8 sign like yours and a Dynaflow sign if/when they're made. I'll be flying to Seattle so won't be able to take one on the plane with me. I'll try to remember to look back at this thread but sometimes I forget. See you in July. Steve