Wisconsin car show

[electra225]

A friend sent me this video. I thought you guys might enjoy it. The cars are too hotrodded for me. A really nice '56 Buick Special four door hardtop turned into a 2-door powered by an LS1. A '53 Pontiac wagon powered by a Chevy 350. Nobody will step up and rebuild the original drivetrain anymore. Nice cars, nonetheless. There is a really nice seafoam green (?) '62 (?) Cadillac Sedan Deville in there. I'm a sucker for a four door hardtop with that roofline.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHdtcGq6gqE

Another video you might like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9V_uSniFOM

[walyfd]

Lot of nice stock iron there including the '62 Sedan de Ville. I agree a car loses a LOT without its original engine or one the car should have. I tend to not look at those cars and concentrate on original or top restorations.

Seems to be a movement now for original cars, though. They're pulling higher prices and command a lot of respect. Used to be a shabby original would end up in the junkyard and the hot rod was going for crazy money. I think that's leveling or the nod is going to the original.

Cars were built for the masses with options and colors to the owner's preference. A hot rod is built for or by one person to their liking. If nobody shares that taste, the car is basically worthless and impossible to return to original.

[electra225]

We think alike! I'm not impressed when somebody replaces the original drivetrain. It's lots easier to drop a crate motor in a '56 Buick than it is to fix the old nailhead, but then it's not a real '56 Buick anymore. If people want something with an LS6 drivetrain, then they should buy a car that had one from the factory. If they want a '56 Buick, they should be prepared to put up with its foibles.

[William]

I'm with you two, leave old vehicles original.

Bill

[TC Chris]

I don't mind a creative build when the original is beyond repair... a body without running gear, for example. But if you've got an intact or restorable original, then the priority ought to be keeping it original. For me, what makes a vehicle interesting is what it tells us about the state of the art at the time it was produced, and the choices the manufacturer made.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

I don't mind a creative build when the original is beyond repair... a body without running gear, for example. But if you've got an intact or restorable original, then the priority ought to be keeping it original. For me, what makes a vehicle interesting is what it tells us about the state of the art at the time it was produced, and the choices the manufacturer made.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

The only part on my '63 Electra that gives me pause are the brakes. Buick brakes with the finned aluminum drums were the best there was in the day. The hotrodders followed old Buicks to the junkyard to steal the front brakes for their hot rod. But now, every car weighs half of what the Buick does and they have four-wheel disc brakes. You gotta drive the Buick like you would a dump truck. Drive well ahead of the car and not in a big hurry.

[walyfd]

Agree on the Buick brakes. Most other cars were cast non-finned and single master up to the early '60s. My 57 needs a parachute and an anchor to stop.

And there's always a rebuildable engine someplace. If someone wants a 350 in a 48 Desoto, fine, but keep the original engine...

[Firedome]

I'm also an originality bug, with the exception of safety. Brake upgrades make sense to me, drivetrain swaps do not. Luckily the non-power drums on my '69 Cutlass work great since fully rebuilt and have excellent pedal feel as manual brakes do, and as they don't see situations of multiple high speed stop that induce fade, are more than adequate, plus has the dual master cyl that year so it was left alone.

That '56 Buick 4 dr hardtop still has it's rear door cutlines (my former '56 Olds 98 Holiday Sedan had the same body) so I suspect that he merely took off the exterior door handles to make it look cleaner and more like a 2 dr hardtop. But I have seen some idiots actually convert 4 dr bodies to 2 drs buy cutting and welding... so dumb.

[electra225]

The hood letters are commonly left off the 1955-'56 Buicks because they are a pain to install. Particularly the 1956 models. The "Special" script that goes on the rear quarters are especially prone to pitting, so good ones are hard to find anymore. So some people just leave them off. 1954 to 1956 are all the same. The little "cow lick" above the model nomenclature on the rear quarters, hardtop models only, debuted with the 1954 Skylark models. The hood on a 1954 to 1956 Buick requires careful fitting. If not done just exactly right, the paint will get chipped on the corners of the hood and also on the fenders, a very galling development after the car is done. I learned to remove the engine from a done '54 to '56 Buick by leaving the hood on. I'd remove the grille, moustache bar and core support, then sneak it out forward, over the bumper.

[danrclem]

Here's some pictures I took last summer at a cruise. I thought about Greg when I took the pictures of this car..

[TC Chris]

Handsome vehicle! I grew up in a time when we didn't have to worry about m.p.g., or air pollution, or even much about car safety. We could just enjoy the lively designs and new features that Detroit brought us each fall.

I just walked out to my shop to lock it up and it was 58 degrees in the back yard. In the middle of December. In northern lower Michigan. Yup, guess we do need to worry about what we're putting into the atmosphere, but I do miss having cars that were handsome and fun.

Chris Campbell

[danrclem]

Today's cars don't have any character and most of them look very close in styling. Back in the day you could look at a car and know right off what brand and what year it was. I really miss those days.

[electra225]

You need to keep a picture of that car. VERY uncommon to see a single-color 1955 Buick. Tri-tone combinations came out for the 1955 models and were popular. That may be the nicest '55 Special I have ever seen. Thanks for thinking of me. I saved a copy of that picture.

[danrclem]

You need to keep a picture of that car. VERY uncommon to see a single-color 1955 Buick. Tri-tone combinations came out for the 1955 models and were popular. That may be the nicest '55 Special I have ever seen. Thanks for thinking of me. I saved a copy of that picture.

You're more than welcome. I was planning on posting it earlier but it slipped my mind until the subject of Buicks came up. I save all of my car pictures and I have quite a few of them from shows, cruises and drags.

That's the first time I saw that particular car but if I ever see it again and see the owner nearby I'll try to get some more information about it for you.

When I was a wee lad of around eight years old my cousin took us for a ride in a 1955 or 1956 (I think) Buick. If my memory serves me right the speedometer was a bar instead of a needle. Is that correct?

[electra225]

That would either be a '56 or a '55 senior car, Super or Roadmaster. That black '55 Special begs for dark metallic gray under the sweepspear with a white top. OR yellow under the sweepspear with a white top. Or red under the sweepspear with a gray top. OR......It's a beautiful car, period. Thank you again for posting a picture of it.