NGC - So, who here remembers seeing one of these when new?

[ohiorider]

My older brother was a true car freak all his life.  And one unhappy individual when my dad bought a 1948 Chrysler Windsor 6 cylinder with Fluid Drive instead of the highly anticipated Olds Rocket 88 with Hydramatic.  I remember tagging along with him to see the 1953 Studebakers, low and lean machines.  And somewhere along the line, he brought this Buick to my attention.

Of course it was a monster, built on a Roadmaster body and chassis.  A crossover of sorts, it was a blend of the late 1940s/early 1950s GM styling, with a hint of things to come.  It always reminded me of a Jag XK 120/140, only about 2x the size.

A factory custom, the windshield and top were lowered several inches, the tops of the doors were modified with a downward sweep, and it came with beautiful Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels.

FROM WIKI:  Created to mark Buick's 50th anniversary,[2] the Roadmaster Skylark joined the Oldsmobile 98 Fiesta and Cadillac Series 62 Eldorado as top-of-the-line, limited-production specialty convertibles introduced in 1953 by General Motors to promote its design leadership. Of the three, the Skylark's run of 1,690 units proved the most successful, and an amazing sales feat considering the car's 1953 list price of slightly in excess of US$5,000 was over 50% more than the well-equipped US$3,200 Roadmaster convertible on which it was based. Nevertheless, many languished in dealer showrooms and were eventually sold at discount.[citation needed] It appeared around the same time as the Jaguar XK140, and shows styling influences from the imported car.

Bob

[JJ]

Cool ride!  Back in the day, my dad had a '55 Buick Century, just like this one...same color and all. 

Talk about a all metal "WHALE!"      You would not want to get broad-sided with this car at 60 mph!!!




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[Chuck in Indiana]

You would not want to get broad-sided with this car at 60 mph!!!

Ahem.. sniff.. they would just hose off the dash of that Buick and resell it. 
My old man bought a new Buick every 5 years whether he needed it or not. Never changed the oil, just topped it up when it got low. 

[Tusayan]

My old man bought a new Buick every 5 years whether he needed it or not. Never changed the oil, just topped it up when it got low. 

My dad did the same thing with a slant 6 Chrysler, and it went over 100,000 miles with no oil change.  At the point the rusted body of the car fell off!

[wymple]

In 59, my parents went uptown to buy a new 60 Chevy. Mom came home with a gorgeous 55 Cadillac instead. Same money. It was the fanciest car in our poor neck of the woods for years, and was a very good car. They bought 7 more in the following years and all were good stuff.

[JJ]

For the most part, my late father was a Buick / Olds / Cadillac guy, with the occasional Chevy thrown in for fun. 
To the best of my recollection growing up, these were the only two cars he ever bought "brand new!"  All other cars he bought used. 

1963 Chevy Impala 283 V8 AT and a 1967 Chevy II 6-cylinder, 3-on-the-tree, just like in these photos.

The Chevy II is the car I learned to drive on... :1:

[Arizona Wayne]

My father bought a new '54 Cadillac at the factory after watching them being built.  Sounds strange but that's the way I remember it.  When he saw how they built them (slapped the bodies  on the frame) he was disappointed.  As I recall he payed $5,000 for it.  It had AC and the air came out metal vents you could adjust above our back door windows.  The air was so cold in the back seat the vents would frost  over. I was 11 yo then.

[JJ]

My father bought a new '54 Cadillac at the factory after watching them being built.  Sounds strange but that's the way I remember it.  When he saw how they built them (slapped the bodies  on the frame) he was disappointed.  As I recall he payed $5,000 for it.  It had AC and the air came out metal vents you could adjust above our back door windows.  The air was so cold in the back seat the vents would frost  over. I was 11 yo then.

1954 Cadillac - - Another all-metal big bruiser!!   

Funny, how we all remember cars, etc. from our misspent youth!! (lol)

[Devildog]

I can just remember our Buick Roadmaster, bronze and black, then our mother had a mid life crisis and came home with a blue Pontiac Tempest convertible. With 5 kids it wasn't a very practical choice.

[PeteS]

My Dad was also a Buick guy. We had a '48, '53 Special, '56,  '62 convertable, and many more until has last 2005. The '53 Skylark was a rare bird. I don't remember seeing any back in the day but have seen them more recently at car shows.
The '53 was my Mom's favorite due to the dynaflo transmission. No gear changes.

Pete

[ohiorider]

My dad was a Buick guy by default.  My older brother  loved them (and sold them) for several  years.  I don't have a photo of this land yacht my dad owned when I got my license, but the attached photo is very close.  It was a metallic green 1959 Invicta 4 door hardtop.  It had its issues, for sure, but with a 401cubic inch Vertical Valve V8, rated at 325hp and 440 ft/lb of torque,and Triple Turbine Dynaflo, this big aircraft carrier of a car felt fast, even if it wasn't.  However, it would out-drag my buddie's dad's '59 Olds Super 88.  I guess it was the experience of driving a 4400 pound car that put you back in the seat when the pedal was to the metal!  Damn, were those some good times!




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[Scud]

I had a 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood Imperial Sedan (the 7-seater limo) for many years. I got it after I graduated college and did a little informal limo business. Drove for most of my friends' weddings. Even used it in my own wedding. She was a massive white tank with grey crushed velvet interior. One day I went to a breakfast car club in it. When I strolled into the restaurant, a member said; "What the hell was that? Did the fog just roll in?"

Finally sold it about 8 years ago to a collector who shipped it to Poland. In fact, it was advertised on Craigslist, and everything seemed like a scam... "My friend will send you the American money... and you will load the car in a truck so I can send it to Poland... please send video of it running."  But it actually worked out and I got paid.  One of the videos is still on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_EdnjwOMlM

When I sold it, the deal with my wife was... someday, I get to fill the same amount of space in the garage with motorcycles. Any time I think I might miss the Cadillac, I just look at the bikes.

[twowings]

All we had in my neighborhood were Chevys, Fords, Plymouths, and Studebakers...the Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Caddies, and Lincolns were on the OTHER side of the tracks...

[mjptexas]

I remember taking a cutting torch to the rear fenders of a 55 Road Master to get tail lights for a dune buggy my brother and I were building.

[LowRyter]

The only car I can ever remember seeing new the first time was a gold split window coupe.




I think color was called "fawn beige Saddle Tan".

[Arizona Wayne]

The only car I can ever remember seeing new the first time was a gold split window coupe.

Jeezus, I was in Jr. College then.     A friend let me drive his.  It was way too much power for me even retarded for regular gas.    I was driving a Volvo P1800 at the time.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 I remember those old buicks, and all the other old iron of that age.  I loved the Buicks best because of the overhead straight eight engines.  Very smooth runners with gobs of torque.
 My own Buick was a 55 that my dad gave me after I left the Army in 65.

[cookiemech]

Too young to remember them new (I was born in 1956), but I do have a fair amount of experience with 1955 Buicks . . .

In college (c. 1974) my one-time roommate had several (varying from one to four) 1955 Roadmasters. Ed was the most amazing mechanic I have ever known. All his tools were in a satchel no larger than an old-fashioned doctor's bag. The primary Roadmaster lived in the parking lot next to the dorm. Since he bought it for $40 (no, not four hundred), it had a couple of issues. Biggest was that the Dynaflow transmission needed rebuilding. No problem for Ed. I am not making this up; he removed the trans in the parking lot with nothing more than these tools and a couple of jacks, horsed it over to the elevator, rebuilt it in his dorm room (I wasn't his roommate at the time, but there were witnesses), took it back down, reinstalled it, and drove the car for years. Anyone familiar with Dynaflow transmissions can appreciate the enormity (literally) of this project. The car was cosmetically challenged, but was as quiet and smooth as you could ever imagine.

Another problem was that the exhaust had some leaks, and the body had some rust holes. As a result, it could not pass Pennsylvania safety inspection, and that presented some logistical problems since our school was in the heart of Pittsburgh (Carnegie-Mellon U.) Ed was quite adept at navigating side streets and alleys, and was never stopped by the police.

The exhaust leaks and rust holes did put Ed to sleep one day. He was very proud of his car and encouraged others to take the wheel to show how smoothly it drove. Ed was in the back seat and became very drowsy from the CO (not sure why the driver wasn't affected). Some fresh air was all it took to restore Ed.

Finally, one time Ed had taken the Roadmaster home to Baltimore and needed to come back to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, the car lacked a few bits of documentation, like valid plates, insurance, and inspection. So he devised a plan whereby his buddy would tailgate him all the way back on the Turnpike so no one would see the bad plate. He made it as far as Somerset before being pulled over. Ed was such a sweet guy that the cop was almost apologetic about having to impound the car. I went out with Ed the following weekend (after he obtained insurance and a valid plate) to pick up the car from the impound lot. The charges should have been at least $150, as I recall. But after Ed chatted with the impound lot owner, he wound up paying about $30.

He had at least three others, one of which was an actual creampuff (gorgeous original car). But his favorite was the $40 one.

[Gliderjohn]

My father retired from farming when I was a senior in high school and bought these! Not bad for a 69 year old Mennonite farmer. I had a fun senior year.







The Charger had all the sport stuff except it had a standard 318, the El Camino had the 350hp 396.
GliderJohn

[PeteS]

All we had in my neighborhood were Chevys, Fords, Plymouths, and Studebakers...the Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Caddies, and Lincolns were on the OTHER side of the tracks...

My Dad had Buicks but purchased used. I think he was 42 before he bought his first new Buick. We lived close to the tracks. Close enough to see the other side. Not sure what side we were on.

Pete