Tag Archives: Dynaflow

Red Hot Convertible – Buick Special Convertible

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Today’s featured car is a 1958 Buick Special Convertible from the last year of manufacture of the second generation Specials which dated back to 1949.

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

The grill looks vaguely similar to the keyboard of my G4 Power Book Steve Jobs however would have been all of three when these cars were new. Polishing the 165 1/2 inch chrome squares is an act of extreme endurance and dedication.

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

Looking closely at the Special and it’s apparent acres of chrome detailing, with no less than three bombsight bonnet / hood ornaments it is hard to believe that the Special was in fact Buick’s base model.

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

First seen on 1946 Buicks, the Bombsight ornaments were a huge hit in post war America.

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

The sweepspear chrome body moulding was first seen, as an option, on the 1949 Buick Riviera and like the Bombsight it soon became a trade mark Buick item.

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

Sitting on a 122 inch wheel base and with a 208 inch long body the Special is 5 inches shorter than the contemporary Buick Supers and Roadmasters.

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

The interior is a upholstery is a combination of cloth cloth and vinyl with a nylon rug, the 2 speed Dynaflow is operated by the chromed column shifter on the right of the steering wheel.

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

Scalloped rear wings / fenders were all the rage in 1958 …

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

but they were not a guarantee for success as demonstrated by marketing disaster known as the Edsel.

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

With a top of the range 250 hp 6 litre / 365 cui nailhead V8 a model like this could reach 60 mph in under 11 seconds,

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

which would substantially reduce the average 8.6 miles to the US gallon fuel consumption.

Buick Special Convertible, Shakespeare County Raceway

5,502 of these 109 mph Buick Special Convertibles which weigh 4,165 lbs were built in for the 1958 model year, they retailed at US$ 3,041 and today can be worth in the region of US$ 70 – 80,000 at auction dependent on condition.

Wishing all GALPOT readers a Red Hot Valentines day.

Thanks for joining me on this “Red Hot Convertible” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Toothbrush Not Included – Buick Roadmaster Riviera

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As some of you may have noticed I some times identify vehicles incorrectly, another misidentification came to light while I was looking into the identification of today’s featured 1950 Buick Roadmaster Riviera. It turns out that the curved ‘observation car’ windscreens on Buick Roadmaster’s were first seen in 1949 and therefore the Jetback Sedanet Coupé I looked at last April must be a 1949 model and cannot be a flat screen 1948 model. I live and learn and hope that you will bear with me while I inevitably make a few mistakes. Please do not hesitate to chip in and correct these errors as and when you see them.

Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Back today’s 1950 Roadmaster Riviera which is immediately identifiable by the huge teeth in the grill unique to the 1950 model. When these cars were first seen in public one journalist is reported to have said “a toothbrush for the dentures comes extra.”

Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Like all Roadmaster series Buicks the mandatory motor remained the 5247cc / 320 cui “Fireball” straight eight, it would not be until 1953 that a Nailhead V8 would become available.

Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The pillarless Roadmaster Riviera coupé was one of 18 1950 Roadmaster variations which broke down into Jetback Sedanet, Tourback Sedan, Estate / Station Wagon, Convertible, Hardtop and Pillarless Coupé body styles.

Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Just as the Fireball motor was standard so was the 2 speed Dynaflow transmission which was derived from a World War 2 tank transmission.

Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

This Roadmaster Riviera was given the 76R model code with the body code Fisher Style 4737. Fisher was a bodywork operation that was gradually absorbed into General Motors between 1926 when GM bought 60% of the stock and 1984 when the Fisher Body entity was dissolved thanks to mergers with other GM operations.

Buick Roadmaster Riviera, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

Thanks to the popularity of the Buick Special sales of all Roadmasters fell by over 13,000 to 75,034 in 1954 representing just 12% of Buicks 1950 output.

Thanks for joining me on this “Tooth Brush Not Included” edition of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Ferrari Friday. Don’t forget to come back now.

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Perfect car for a wedding #1 – Citroen Traction Avant

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I don’t propose to post photos of cars used at Weddings every Saturday but I thought I’d give today’s blog a topical theme, though I suspect the summer wedding season is probably already over.

Most of the photo’s I have taken of cars used at weddings are not even taken on a Saturday, this is because just down the row of buildings from my city centre bank is an old court house that has been rebranded as a Registry Office. The City centre location is of course used for weddings 6 days a week though as can be seen from these photo’s the location is not without a few ‘parking issues’.

The Citroen Traction Avant is probably most famous as being the car that the cartoon detective Tintin used in the, now deemed less than politically correct, series of stories by Belgian artist Georges Rémi who published his work under the nom de plume Hergé.

The Citroen Traction Avant Garde was a revolutionary vehicle for it’s time, which spanned 1934 -1957, it was the worlds first front wheel drive steel monocoque production car, setting a trend that is almost ubiquitous for passenger vehicles 76 years later.

The construction without the hitherto universal separate chassis was available with a variety of 4 and 6 cylinder engines from 1.3 litres / 79.5 CUI up to 2.9 litres / 176 CUI which sit behind the gearbox driving the front wheels, optimising the weight distribution on the independently sprung wheels.

There were plans to build a 3.8 litre / 231 CUI V8 version of the Traction Avant featuring an automatic transmission with a torque converter, similar to that later employed in the GM Dynaflow transmission, however after 20 prototypes had been built Citroen had gone bankrupt and Michelin who bought the company to primarily test its tyre and other rubber products cancelled the project.

In 1954 a Traction Avant was used to test the self levelling hydropneumatic suspension of the later equally revolutionary Citroen DS which would eventually replace the Traction Avant series in 1955. 759,111 of these vehicles were built in Paris (France), Forest (Belgium), Cologne (Germany) and Slough (England)

Best wishes to anyone who is getting married to day, hope you have enjoyed my first week as a blogger as much as I have, I look forward to to hearing from you all, ‘y’all come back now ! Hear !.’

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