55 Buick

Run out and get the November 2008 issue of Rod & Custom! The Buick is featured on page 28!

I can't tell you how pleased I am with the story and the photos. Kevin Lee did a fantastic job shooting The Buick and Kev Elliot tightened up my ramblings about the car.

R&C also have a web version of the article here.

I don't want this to sound like I'm complaining... But, I don't intend to commute from Santa Cruz to Silicone Valley. Isn't Silicone Valley near Vegas?

Get out and buy that magazine!

Thanks, R&C!!!

You guys are killing me on eBay!

I try to find great collateral material on 1955 Buicks to share with you guys. Once in a while a fantastic opportunity shows up. For example, there was recently an auction for a Buick Engineer Approved Accessories pamphlet.


And there was the auction for the 1955 Buick Product School Manual.


I lost both of these auctions to you fervent 1955 Buick fans! I know, I should have bid higher! It’s not like I’m running the J. Paul Getty Museum. I don’t have unlimited resources or the time to make sure that I’m the last bidder. Obviously, there are some sour grapes here; I’d love to covet those manuals and cherish the glory of ownership.

That’s where I start wondering what’s wrong with me? I’d probably ruin them with drool or coffee stains. I don’t need these manuals as much as I need the information stored in them. You know that my entire modus operandi is to share what I have with the 55 Buick community.

I know that you have philanthropic desires, also. I know that if you can afford to pay $30 for a 50 year old hunk of paper that you also probably have a scanner. Why not scan any ‘55 Buick collateral that you have and contribute it to 55Buick.com? I’ll do my best to get it on the site and share it with the world. My email address can be found here: http://www.55buick.com/andy.html.

This also brings up another point; why do I have a copyright on material on 55Buick.com? The whole point of this site is to share information with you. Sure, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time and effort getting this material together and thought that I needed a copyright to protect my investment. But, the entire point of the investment is to share it. A traditional copyright does not make sense here. That is why I have rebranded 55Buick.com with a new Creative Commons license that allows you to basically do what you want with this material.

As the curator of 55Buick.com, I notice that there is a real potential for disaster. Without me, 55Buick.com goes away. This is the weak link in the chain. I have opened up the copyright protections on 55Buick.com not only to share this information, but to help it persist beyond my tenure. Is there a way to archive this data and make it live as long as these beautiful automobiles will be around? I’m not expecting to depart this earth any time soon, but you have to think about these things. What happens after I am gone?

I don’t really have the answers to this, but as a tech-weenie, it does pose an interesting problem to ponder.

So, there you have it. What’s mine is yours. Now, I just want what is yours to be mine! Please, share your ’55 Buick advertisements, sales material, parts lists, training guides, and anything else with us! The money I save by NOT winning on eBay could keep this site alive for a long time.

After 58 years, the Skyview Drive-In in Santa Cruz is closed. We made a special trip there in the last few weeks to pay homage to this American Icon.

The 21st Texaco Havoline West Coast Nationals in Pleasanton must have had more than 3000 cars. This awesome event, put on by The Goodguys, was enormous in size, scope, and execution. I told my wife before I left the house at 5:00 AM to head to the fairgrounds that it was just fun to be there and to be part of the action. It is not important to win an award – it is just fun to talk to other car nuts.



I had to give her an update call at 10:00 that same morning to tell her that winning still feels good! I was selected for the Coolest 50’s award! There is nothing like being recognized for all the hard work that went into The Buick. I had to admit, winning does add a bit of adrenaline to the whole affair.

But, it did not stop there. Art Morrison and Brock Baker from Art Morrison Enterprises, the wizards that built the chassis for The Buick stopped by to say hello. Art was smiling ear to ear as I described how happy I was with the John Deer green powder-coated Art Morrison frame on The Buick. Brock was familiar with Steve Sellers, who did all of the custom fabrication on the Buick. We both share an appreciation for his genius.



Later, I was approached by Kevin Lee, a Rod & Custom editor. Kevin started asking me what size jacket I wore. I mentioned a size with a bunch of X’s. He then went on to say that he was looking for me on Friday and couldn’t find me. I mentioned that you don’t get a bunch of X’s in your jacket size without visiting a beer booth once in a while. It was then that I noticed that Kevin was filling out the form for a winner in the Rod & Custom Top Tin category.

Kevin had a bunch of questions about how long I owned the car (20 years), who built it (GMP Speed & Machine) and how many miles were on the odometer (5000). He then asked if I ever got down south. I indicated that The Buick had already made two trips to LA from Santa Cruz. He then wondered if I would be willing to drive The Buick down south for a photo shoot. I think I gave him a bear hug.

Needless to say, this made me very happy. Now, I had to get on the phone and tell GMP and Steve Sellers about the great honor of being selected by Rod & Custom. I was a tad giddy. Oh yeah… I called my wife to let her know that I had won another award! She no longer thinks I go to these shows for the pure love of cars and the camaraderie of other car nuts. She is convinced I go there for the awards! I’m not so sure she isn’t right.

I can't say enough good things about this event. It is in a perfect location - on the esplanade in beautiful Capitola, California. The event this year (and last) was blessed with perfect weather. The cars at this fantastic show are first class and the organization, by the Capitola Cam-Snappers Club was top of the line. After the killer parade from the Santa Cruz boardwalk to Capitola, head to Zelda's for that "wake-up" bloody mary to set the pace for the day.




This is one of those car shows where you want to hang out all day. The beach... The food... The cars...

I want to thank the Capitola Public Safety Foundation for selecting The Buick for a Sponsors Choice award!

Do NOT miss this show.

The Buick was the car that pushed the style envelope of the mid-50's. They pushed the chrome threshold and sprouted budding tail fins. Buicks showed us what true automotive elegance could be. From a GM perspective, Buicks fit nicely between Chevrolet and Cadillac. Although a Cadillac was a sign that you had made it, the Buick was a sign that you were on your way. Admit it - your father owned a Buick. Or, your grandfather. This was probably the first brand new car they ever owned. And, when your father or grandfather talk about that car, they get a gleam in their eye and the story always ends with, "I never should have sold that car..."

These cars are special. They hold the history of mid-America. They hold the dreams of entire generations.

Although these road machines of the mid-1950's are incredible, 55Buick.com is dedicated to another machine. It is dedicated to the engineering and marketing machines that made up the Buick Motor Division of General Motors Corporation. It was these teams of craftsmen, artists, capitalists, marketeers, salesmen, and engineers that turned out such a fine car and such a fascinating assortment of collateral material to promote their hard work.. The 1955 Buick collateral material allows us to focus on a microcosm of an era. The era of big steel, flashy chrome, and huge white wall tires!

We took the Buick to the 2007 Goodguys All American get together in Pleasanton, California. I bet there were more than 2,000 cars there! I saw the sites, saw the cars, ate the food, and managed to get a reasonable sun burn! I didn't return for the Sunday event as I wanted to nurse the melanoma I developed on Saturday. The weather was perfect.

There were quite a few people that recongized the car from either Blacky's Fresno Autorama, GMP, or Steve Sellers. You would be suprised how many people have or have had 55 Buicks! I think I will go to the Pleasanton summer Goodguys show and hang out for both days... I really had a good time.

The trick to Goodguys is to pre-register and get there early. I can't count how many guys were cruising around at 10:00 looking for a place to squeeze their car into. Any place that looks like a parking spot is a parking spot. Don't be too picky!

I did the first road trip with The Buick this weekend. I left Santa Cruz on Friday to visit friends in LA. The start of an epic journey.

Preparation was straight forward. I stopped in Capitola to top the tank off and ensure that I had 34 pounds of air in each tire. I fired up the onboard entertainment system and selected an appropriate XM station. I then pointed The Buick north toward the Eastern-most part of Monterey Bay and stepped on the gas!

It is highly tempting to ride with all four windows down on a Riviera. There is nothing like the hardtop look and nothing like air rushing by. This lasted about 10 miles. It was too cool out to justify looking cool. Windows up also cut down on road noise. You can't cut down on all road noise in a 55 Buick because of aerodynamics. As svelte as this car may look, it is not what you would call slippery. Even with the windows up and liberal applications of Dynamat, this car is not a sound studio. Fortunately, the Alpine amplifier had enough punch to neutralize wind noise.

I hung a left at Castroville and then hung a right at Salinas. This put me on 101 South with almost exactly 300 miles left on my trip without having to make another turn. Historically, 55 Buicks love straight highways. This one always did. Even before its current incarnation.

Now, with a straight road, I switched the entertainment system to MP3 mode. I selected some ZZ Top and turned the volume up. Before long, I glanced down at the speedometer and realized that I was going 100 MPH. Nice. The next thought was - "How fast can this thing go"? I eased it up to 120 MPH and my next thought was - "I'm scared". I gave up well before The Buick did. I was more interested in getting to my destination than setting a new 55 Buick land speed record. On the open road, California drivers are normally in the 80 MPH zone. Regardless of actual speed limit. This worked for me and I kept the speed at between 80 and 90 for the rest of the trip.

I decided to get gas in Pismo Beach. Not because the tank was empty, but I needed to clean the bugs off the windshield. The bugs were on there so thick, it looked like I drove through a maple syrup factory. As it turned out, I only needed 9 gallons of gas. It is 275 miles from Capitola to Pismo Beach. That means I was making 19 MPG! I don't recall the gas mileage for an original 55 Buick, but I would think it would be in the low teens. An original 55 Buick could not do 19 MPG if it were in a free fall.

You would be surprised how many people ask me what sort of gas mileage I get. I think they ask to have something, anything, negative to say about the car. My stock answer was always that it gets better mileage than it used to with the original engine. Even though the new LS1 gets almost 180 more horsepower. The LS1 is a great engine. No doubt about it. Now, I can actually quote a real MPG under a real condition. Me driving a car at 90 MPH is a real condition!

The trip was fantastic. The Buick was flawless. And, now we have the first big road trip under our belts!

Drive-ins and old cars just seem to belong together. We took The Buick to the Skyview Drive In Nostalgia Night 2006 yesterday. It was pretty cool seeing the old cars in the classic drive-in setting.

At the end of the day we ended up taking home the Best Paint award. Of course, my thanks go out to Emilio Belmonte at Evil Wheels - (831) 476-0788 - for the nicest paint job I have ever seen!

We have added a new advertisement to the 55 Buick Advertisement page!

"Its got Glamor": A classic ad shows a red 1955 Buick Special Convertible cruising through the country, at an obvious high speed, with a dapper gentlemen at the wheel and a happy blond in a yellow outfit at his side. He appears rather pleased. The interesting thing about this ad is that it shows 5 color swatches for the different convertible tops.

Of course, there are 6 other ads featuring 1955 Buicks on the site that we are sure you will find interesting.

As we find more ads (and find time to post them) we'll be adding them to our collection.

Enjoy!

On a lark, I entered the Buick into the Aptos, California 4th of July Parade (The "shortest parade" in the USA!). My 78 year old mother-in-law is always going on about parades and such. We invited her to be our official "waver" sitting in the passenger seat. The parade really was short. We spent more time in the parade staging area than in the parade.

It was fun! It really made the crowd go wild when I'd drop all the air from the air ride system. The Buick litterally sits on the pavement when I do this. I got such a kick out of it that I did it every 150 feet or so. My little compressor was going wild trying to keep the large air tanks filled. After about the 8th such drop, there just wasn't enough residual air in the tanks to get The Buick all the way up. We took out a few of the reflective markers in the road before I got the car a couple of inches off the ground. No worries. The compressor caught up after a minute and we were fine again.

The Aptos Chamber of Commerce called last night and said that we won! I never expected this. We certainly were not doing it for glory - we entered the parade because it was one of those crazy last minute things that just got out of control. These are the types of events that no level of planning could have improved upon. We really had a great time and I expect that Aptos will see us again next year!

We have Wiki! Check out http://wiki.55buick.com. This great tool provides a community resource to document all things 55 Buick. If you want more information than is currently available at 55Buick.com, this is your chance to contribute!

The 13th Annual Cops 'n' Rodders show in Scotts Valley, California will be held on July 15th. I'll be taking the Buick there to hang out with the locals! This should be a nice show... Outdoors, won't last for days, and in a park setting. I'm looking forward to it.

1280X1024 version of photo

Update: I am sure you guys are getting tired of this, but we won again! We won first place in the 50's division. The show was perfect with a great mix of cars on a perfect Santa Cruz day. This, by far, was the lowest stress car show I have been to. The day started with a cruise from the Santa Cruz boardwalk through Capitola and then up to Scott's Valley. Great people. A great cause. And great fun.

I took the Buick out for a spin today... A "June Gloom" day in Santa Cruz. I wasn't expecting much in the way of photographic opportunities. Thanks to Photoshop, I salvaged the day! This picture came out well enough that it may make a reasonable wallpaper.

You can download a 1280X1024 picture here.

There is a new feature at 55Buick.com! Use the upper menu, click on Project, and select "Random 55" (or just go to this URL: http://www.55buick.com/random/index.html).

This is a collection of cached images of 1955 Buicks on the web. There are hundreds of pictures here. You can see what other folks have done to their 55's or you can see what the inside of an engine compartment should (or should not) look like for a stock vehicle.

 

Ever wonder about upholstery? There are several interior shots that obviously show original patterns.

 

Have you seen the '55 Buick truck? You can see it here!

There are also a few crusty "field" vehicles. There is something about seeing a fine car with a few age spots that makes you appreciate restored cars that much more.

 

Anyways - it is great fun to just browse through the pictures. If you have any pictures that you would like included, let me know and I'll make sure they become part of our "Random 55" collection.