The "beyond horrible" 1959 Buicks

[electra225]

Buick started seeing its sales plummet with the 1957 models. The three-piece rear glass "Suddenly It's 1949" went the Chrysler ads mocking Buick. Then the "B-58" 1958 chrome laden barges, barbaric in styling and execution, on to the even worse 1959 models. The new 401 nailhead ate pistons. The brake booster was mounted directly to the floorboards and were known to actually fall off the car due to rust. There was no front sway bars on early jobs. They changed model nomenclation, eliminated the portholes. Every 1959 Buick gulped premium fuel, even the straight-shift jobs. The 1959 models had a one-year-only frame. You had to remove the radio fuse before you jump started the car because the way they had the speaker grounded would kill the output transistors in certain cases. Flight Pitch Dynaflow and air suspension were still options, seldom seen. Buick's execution of "delta wing" styling for 1959 was not as well-received as even Cadillac. The front end styling was so bizarre nobody takes credit for designing it. The 1957-1959 model Buick sales were so poor, their reputation so damaged, that, if it hadn't been for Red Curtis being President of GM at the time, Buick may well have gone the way of DeSoto about the same time. Bill Mitchell styling on the hot-selling 1962 and 1963 models finally put Buick back on the map.

In fairness, we did a frame-off restoration on a '59 Invicta hardtop that we hauled out of our favorite California junkyard. There was no paint nor interior left at all, but we discovered it was a factory Lido Lavendar, with black, gray and white interior. The owner wanted it done, no expense spared, and it turned out fantastic. We put Kelsey-Hayes wires on it, not correct, but it made the exterior really pop. That was the first two-tone '59 we did. We painted the top and "between the chrome strips" black. If the '59's were done in a gawdy color, they looked pretty good. The original high-dome pistons for a '59 401 aren't available anymore. The later pistons produced 10.25 to 1 compression instead of 10.5. Lower compression and elimination of the dome solved the piston-eating proclivity of the new 401.

[Firedome]

I can't speak to the mechanicals as I never owned one, and maybe that aspect left much to be desired but imo the '59s were some of the coolest looking Buicks, certainly of the '50s, maybe ever, and the only GM car that came anywhere close to the Forward Look masterpieces of Virgil Exner. I'd gladly own one, especially the 4 dr hardtop with overhanging roof or sleek 2 dr coupe... it looks great even in conservative colors like this (green).

See below one of the proposed '59 Buick front-end designs that were tossed - thank heavens: bloated, overwrought, ridiculous. Comparatively the actual '59s were a breath of fresh air. And while the '62-64s are tasteful it's a fine line from there to boring imho. The '59s were definitely not boring.

Can't lay my hands right now on my Jan Norbye & Jim Dunne book:"Buick the Postwar Years", but iirc Ned Nickles and Homer Lagassey are generally considered to be the chief Buick studio designers under Harley Earl in the '55-58 period. When Chuck Jordan saw the '57 Plymouths in 1956 sitting behind a Mound Road Chrysler design building just before their introduction he started a mini-revolt against the proposed '59s that was backed by Bill MItchell (it was too late for the '58s) while Earl was away in Europe. When he got back he was about to retire, and reluctantly agreed that they were right, too far behind Chrysler styling, so the '58s became a very expensive 1 year styling/chassis refresh while new '59 designs were moved up a year, just as Chrysler had done for 1957. The low and linear '59 GMs were the result. Imo the Buick and Pontiac were the most successful, though the Olds is decent, especially in the rear. The less said about Cadillac the better, though of course sought after now for their very absurdity. I'd say any GM stylist would be and should be proud of designing the '59 Buick, particularly in contrast to what had been proposed. For you car lovers I highly recommend : "Designing America's Cars: The '50s" with Jeff Goodshall, a former Chrysler designer and authoritative commentator..
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After I sold my '58 Chrysler Windsor that I bought out of New Mexico to a guy in Sweden, the same NM seller had a super rust-free '59 Electra 4 dr hardtop in Lido Lavender (not my favorite shade of purple, Cadillac 1960 Heather Poly is, but still...) that I seriously thought about, and a bit too long it turns out, by the time I got back to him it was gone

[electra225]

That '59 Invicta hardtop you posted is Lido Lavendar. Ned Nickles was a mechanical designer, not body or styling. He is largely credited with the Straight Eight in its later years. He designed the nailhead V-8 and had a major contribution to Dynaflow. Harley Earl lost his way with Buick in his later years. Red Curtis loved the '57's, but most of the public didn't. "70 Years of Buick" is so full of mis-information that it can't be used as any type of documentation in BCA judging. Terry Dunham is a much more accurate Buick historian. "Buick: The Postwar Years" is more accurate, but nobody beats Terry Dunham when it comes to writing Buick history.

With the 1960 models, Buick rounded off the fins and made the grille not so busy. Plenty of mechanical improvements made them much more reliable. On a one-year frame. The 1960 Electra 225 models rivaled Cadillac in interior refinement. The stainless trim that went up to the body trim was a unique and popular feature on the 225 models. The biggest gripe I ever heard with the 1960 Buicks was the huge transmission tunnel. Buick moved the engine forward of the crossmember for '62 and fixed that issue.

[Firedome]

I always liked this send up of GM's '58 styling!

[electra225]

Chrysler got the fins right. You gotta give credit where it's due.

[Firedome]

"Ned Nickles was a mechanical designer, not body or styling. He is largely credited with the Straight Eight in its later years. He designed the nailhead V-8 and had a major contribution to Dynaflow. Harley Earl lost his way with Buick in his later years."

"Dunham is a much more accurate Buick historian. "Buick: The Postwar Years" is more accurate, but nobody beats Terry Dunham when it comes to writing Buick history."

Hate to be the contrarian, but to set the record straight: you may wish to re-read Dunham, which I also have:

I'll refer to you Mr. Dunham's work, pgs 245-298 of the definitive Buick history: "The Buick a Complete History" by Dunham and Gustin.

Nickels had no role in any mechanical engineering. He was hired years after the straight 8 (Dunham pg 244) which came out in 1931 and had nothing to do with it. Dynaflow was the work of Oliver K. "OK: Kelley of the GM Technical Center, with follow up work by Buick's Roland Gorsky (Dunham pg 260). The nailhead was the work of Joe Turlay and Verner Matthews (Dunham pg 261-263). Turlay also designed the original straight 8 (Dunham pg 248) and the later V6.

quotes from Dunham:
Pg 245: "He was Harley Earl's protege, hired by him before the war on the strength of drawings Nickles submitted to GM. .. Nickles taught himself car design...Nickels was a flambuoyant sort, which appealed to Earl... He was named Buick's chief designer in 1945."

Pg 271 of Dunham, referring to the 1957 designs, "Said Buick Chief Designer Ned Nickels: "We did have some off years in styling, and there was the competition (Chrysler), they were doing some things right in that period."

Pg 154 of "Designing America's Cars" Jeff Gottshall says: "1955 Buick: with Buick in a tough battle for third place in the industry, any edge was critical. Ned Nickles and his assistant chief designer Homer Lagassey and their styling staff handled the appearance part".

Nickles even designed the Ventiports for 1949, putting lights behind those on his personal '48 Roadmaster convertible (Dunham pg 250) that fired with the 8 cylinders! He was also alleged to have had a part in designing the first hardtop '49 Roadmaster Riviera along with Ed Ragsdale (pg 250).

So his role was strictly styling. He's also credited with the first sketches of the '63 Riviera (originally to be Cadillac LaSalle II).

https://rivowners.org/features/evolution/evpt1a.html

I'd say on the basic of his sketches for the Riv alone, he was one of GM's best stylists ever...

'nuff said and no offense intended, believe me I've learned the hard way my memory is not to be relied upon anymore lol.
and I agree the 1960 was an improvement in many ways... except styling, but that's my own take.

[Dr. Radio]

I'm the one that started this new topic. I shoulda kept my mouth shut!

I stated in the other thread (the "we're going to need a bigger dash"), that I do NOT care for the 1959 Buick exterior styling. At all.

The front looks like Mopar (sorry if you are a Mopar fan), It's just that frowny, angry looking front never sat with me well.

The rear was joke. Big swooping horizontalized wings, and what kind of awe-inspiring tail lights did Buick choose? Two round pieces of plastic. They shoulda called Ford and asked for some of their left-overs.

BUT, I do like the 1959 Buick instrumentation. Very symmetrical, and unique with the vertical shift indicator.


Now, what's a Buick I'd love to own (that is pre-muscle car era), Well, let's see what you guys say!

I would love to own a 1961 Buick Invicta.


1959 cluster:

[electra225]

Roger, you are right. I misspoke. I had my engineers messed up. Joe Turley was the mechanical engineer. Nickles was the body guy. Sorry. Old age, I guess, what can I tell you?

BTW, this is a great topic, Doc. Thanks for the suggestion....

We are on the same page about the '59's, Doc. Grandpa refused to drive a '57, '58 or '59, so he drove his 1956 Special four door sedan, black over red "work" car, his company car until the 1960's came out. He had over 200,000 miles on it. He got a '60 Invicta four door sedan as his next company car. He got Invicta four door hardtops in '61 and '62. He was going to retire from GM in 1963, so his '63 company car was an Electra four door sedan. Grandpa had to buy his "company" cars, but he got them super cheap. He could get the color he wanted and always got power steering and brakes. He got an allowance for expenses, which more than covered everything. He did all his own mechanical and service work, so he pocketed that money. He got one every year until 1957. He sold his year old company car to the lady who lived down the road and worked at Guide Lamp. He bought a new personal Buick every year at the same generous discount. He could buy a Century or Roadmaster cheaper than the guy off the street could buy a Special. He was "expected" to buy a new Buick every year whether he wanted one or not. Grandma thought it was "showy".

[Dr. Radio]

Roger, you are right. I misspoke. I had my engineers messed up. Joe Turley was the mechanical engineer. Nickles was the body guy. Sorry. Old age, I guess, what can I tell you?

BTW, this is a great topic, Doc. Thanks for the suggestion....

We are on the same page about the '59's, Doc. Grandpa refused to drive a '57, '58 or '59, so he drove his 1956 Special four door sedan, black over red "work" car, his company car until the 1960's came out. He had over 200,000 miles on it. He got a '60 Invicta four door sedan as his next company car. He got Invicta four door hardtops in '61 and '62. He was going to retire from GM in 1963, so his '63 company car was an Electra four door sedan. Grandpa had to buy his "company" cars, but he got them super cheap. He could get the color he wanted and always got power steering and brakes. He got an allowance for expenses, which more than covered everything. He did all his own mechanical and service work, so he pocketed that money. He got one every year until 1957. He sold his year old company car to the lady who lived down the road and worked at Guide Lamp. He bought a new personal Buick every year at the same generous discount. He could buy a Century or Roadmaster cheaper than the guy off the street could buy a Special. He was "expected" to buy a new Buick every year whether he wanted one or not. Grandma thought it was "showy".

Greg,

What did your grandfather do at GM? This is news to me that he was a GM company man.

[electra225]

Grandpa was a factory "troubleshooter". His job is done by a computer nowadays. He had a territory he would travel, stopping at each Buick dealership. If they were having an issue with a car, he'd get on the phone, or go out and dig around in the trunk of his car for some kind of printed update pertinent to the situation. He mostly did mechanical stuff, not much body and trim work. Buick had another guy for that. Grandpa had an office in the local Delco-Remy plant. I went with him occasionally. I thought his job was boring, but I learned a lot hanging out with the guys in the various dealerships. Grandpa worked for GM from 1918 to 1963. He went thru "GM Tech", a company training and mentoring program. He worked at Buick when Walter Chrysler was the head of Buick. That's partly why grandpa liked the Chrysler flathead engines. The best part about going with grandpa was we would always manage to go past a White Castle before the day was over.

An anticdote, I think pertinent to this topic was that, if it was raining and you raised the hood on a '57 Buick, there was a large chance the engine would not restart. It was found, by the people in the field who had the same position as grandpa, that water was running down the hood then landing on the distributor. Apparently enough water would run down to drown the ignition system. The company came up with a little rubber flap, installed in the holes that hold the hood weatherstipping to the cowl, covering the distributor, to keep the rain off the distributor cap. IT is uncommon to find that little flap still on the car, since mechanics hated them, being in the way when they had to work on the distributor.

[Firedome]

That history of your Grandpa's job at GM is fascinating, I'd have loved to absorb info from a guy like that. 1918 - wow! No wonder you love Buicks, it's in the genes. What a great history, I had no idea of it.

I'd have bought the bad years '57-9 too just to re-sell them with a profit like that! I don't mind the '57s all that much, they do have sort of evolutionary look from '56, not a radical change like '58, and the rear window struts they shared with Olds never bothered me, I never understood the big fuss about them. And I like the audacious but clean modernity of the '59s, but the '58 was way too much. A lot of current and recent designers like Chuck Jordan, Irv Rybicki and Ed Wellburn at GM point to the '59 Buick as the high point of GM styling in the late '50s, but the mechanicals sound like a real disaster, I had no idea. Olds was pretty much bulletproof in that era, and had a better frame. The '59 Buick dashboard is excellent, one of my favorites, I put a big emphasis on dash designs of the cars I will own, after all it's what you always look at. Wish it was on the '56s.

I love the '55 and '56 Buicks, imo they had THE best "pre-flambuoyant"era styling, (along with the '56 Lincoln Premiere - man o man what a car!)...conservative, but massive and powerful looking, like the country was, The US at it's non-braggadocio best. Our neighbor had a '56 Super, baby light blue and white, that I rode in several times... I'd love to have that car now! I may still look for one, but I"m getting old...

[Firedome]

And yes I like Mopars, they indisputably had the best styling of the late '50s. Virgil Exner was amazing, peak MCM car design. I've had 7 Forward Look cars, here are 2 of them. Several went to Sweden, including my black '58 NYer convertible with Kelsey-Hayes wires, the only Raven Black with Spruce Green interior NYer ever made. Fabulous 392 Hemi engine too, The Firedome (sound familiar?) went to Yuma Arizona!

Walter Chrysler was a genius on par with Henry Ford, until Tesla it was the only successful auto company started since the '20s. Those flathead sixes were incredibly tough, and used for many purposes besides cars, if outmoded by ohv V8s eventually.

[Dr. Radio]

Greg,

Thank you for that. That's amazing. Your Grandpa sounds like an amazing guy! What "futuristic" changes he must have witnessed during his career!

[Ken Doyle]

I like the 1959 Buick more than the severely overdressed 1958 Buicks. The 1961 Buicks are georgeous.

[TC Chris]

What the heck... I grew to like the '57 Buick, although the 1958 anythings were way over the top--Buick and Olds especially, parodies of their predecessors. My Dad had a '56 Chrysler Newport 4-dr., like this one, but red and white:

https://www.thelastdetail.com/1956-chry ... -c-716.htm

The '56 was handsome and I've always wondered why it doesn't get more attention.

The New Yorker version had a different grille, and if you look at that one and put the photocopier on "reduce," you get a Karmann-Ghia. Well, Chrysler improved the tail lights a bit. I read somewhere that Pinifarina was involved in the concepts for the Chrysler.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I don't ever remember not having a Dynaflow Buick around. I grew up with interesting characters of all kinds. Grandpa was an interesting guy and he raised me. He taught me things that have stood me in good stead all my life, but, in fairness, also taught me things I'd have been better off not knowing. His relationship with his son was strained because he tried to make his son follow in his footsteps. He didn't do that with me. He let me get by with stuff I should have had my ears boxed for doing. I could do anything, and, as long as I 'fessed up and took my lumps, I was not in trouble, ever. I don't ever remember his punishing me, per se, and he never laid a hand on me, ever. My greatest punishment was knowing I'd disappointed him in some way.....

[walyfd]

Going to try to stay on topic...

1959 was the transition from Harley Earl leading GM design. He was retiring and guys like Bill Mitchell (designer of the 1938 Cadillac 60 Special) and Dave Holls were on the way up to replace him. If you saw how absolutely HIDEOUS earl wanted to make the 58s... what came out was restrained...

Chrysler was in this fin race. GM wanted to finish it so out came the 59 cadillac by Holls. He drew it on a plane trip and it was so wild he never thought it'd pass, but it did... that fuselage body tapering like a cigar defined cadillac through the 70s. BUT, the 59s were repulsive to many buyers when new and it threw sales to other makes in and out of GM. Lincoln was wretched... the cadillac 60 Special looked like it drove through the JC Whitney catalog... buick was actually a decent looking car... Chrysler and imperial were regal and elegant compared to the TOTL 60 Special cadillac and Lincoln looked like it was built with Legos...

Overall, I think Buick wasn't all that bad in 59. The headlights could have been tweaked horizontal and some better taillights but that wing design was cool. It couldn't last or be built on but it was neat...

And who remembers the stories of the 59 chevies "flying" off the road?

[electra225]

Thanks, Walter. I told you guys I was the worst at staying on topic there was. Thank you for setting me straight.

[Firedome]

One of those hideous, insane almost, '59 proposals done under "Mistearl" is the front-end design shown in my earlier post in this thread.... I didn't think LSD was used much back in '56! lol

Chris your dad would have had a Windsor, Newport was a 2 dr hardtop in 56, the Windsor as a model started in '61.
The Karmann Ghia was a crib of Exner's '53 Chrysler D'Elegance:
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2017/1 ... -delegance

In '58 our neighbor at the lake in VT got a new '58 Limited 4 dr hardtop in metallic green, to a kid it looked huge compared to our '57 Ford wagon. Then in October '58 our neighbor at home Mr LaForge bought a new black '59 225 just like this one, what a difference!! And the car, with him posing, had their picture in the local paper as the first '59 Buick that was bought in our smallish town, that was a really big deal back then!