Classic Hifi Care

This lady was a friend for over 40 years. The video fills in the details, but she went into an assisted living facility a few years back. Bill knew her. She called him "the tall guy from Michigan". She was a grand lady. She drove this Buick as her daily driver until she was up in years and bought a Toyota with air to drive daily. I didn't know she had died, and was wondering what happened to her Buick.

"This Buick"?? What I see is a '63 Bonneville 421. I'd drive that home if you gave me the keys.
Chris Campbell

That '63 Bonne is one of Bill's favorite cars. That wagon is ultra-loaded. I have a picture of Marie with her Buick, but that picture was the closest on hand. It was taken at Art's memorial service when she was 93. I don't know how that link got messed up. Try this..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvuw4u3TNeY

Qyute the car. Obviously no teenage boys ever drove that one!

Chris Campbell

Beautiful car, Rest in Peace Marie.

Bill

I've done a lot of work to Marie's Buick. God love you if you got a fingerprint on it. I had to cover it with a car cover, then turn it back enough to work on the car, covered by approved fender covers. The car was a standard shift car, unusual for a Buick. The torque ball seal had to be specially made for it. I wanted to put power steering on it, but she wouldn't hear of it. They built it without power steering, that's just the way it was. I think the last repair I made to it was fixing the radio. NOBODY drove that car besides Marie. And I do mean NOBODY.....

So did it sell? $?

Still here in AZ?

D

The guy on the video I linked bought it, apparently. I have no idea what he had to give for it. Other than being a one-owner car, it was not really that desirable of a car. It was a Special, with few options. Radio and antenna, whitewall tires, full wheel covers, heater and defroster were about the only options. By the background of the video, it is possible it's still in AZ, but I have no idea where. If it is in AZ and if I were to hazard a guess as to where, Tucson would be my guess. Marie was in assisted living in Tucson. She owned a house in Sunnyslope, and I was there once, but don't ask me to take you there. It's probably been 35 years since I was at Marie's house. She never married, never had kids. I know she bought that car in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She worked for the phone company and did a stint in the military. She hung on to 85 cents of every dollar she ever made....When it came to spending money on that old Buick, cost was no object. Do it right and she wrote you a check....

I looked for an hour for this photo. Taken in 2018 in Kawanis Park in Tempe, she was 90. She took care of this car herself....

Ill bet that whoever owns the car now would love to have some of your photos.

Chris Campbell

The cars Marie and I were what she called "cousins". They had the same paint, DuPont Centari "99A", "the blackest black" according to Art, who painted both cars. We attended many of the same shows, and we liked to park next to each other. Both cars had "Arthurized" plaques on the radiator core support. Her Buick was done a couple of years before mine. So the paint on the '54 Special is approaching 35 years old, a phenomenal life for black paint. I met Marie in 1985. That Buick was her only ride, and it was getting very long in the tooth. I don't remember seeing any rust, but the paint was dull and the chrome was not very good. I have lots of pictures of Marie and Dave Jewett. Ironically, they both lived to be 97 years old. Dave had a side-mounted '38 Special he had had forever. The two black Buicks had little in common outside of being black Buicks. Hers was a Special strippo and mine is a loaded Electra.

That is a great photo of Marie and her Buick. I was surprised from one time to the next that she remembered me, because the only time I would see her was at the car show and that was only once a year.

Bill