Vehicle Description
1950 Buick Custom "Truly Rare"
NO TITLE-SOLD ON A BILL OF SALE ONLY
The custom car of the 1960's is a uniquely American creation. The
melding of automotive styling and hot rodding came to a high point
in this era. The pure artistic expression of these rolling
sculptures has brought new appreciation to these cars as
expressions of their time. Custom cars of the 1960s varied from
mildly modified stock machines to the most ambitious re-workings
like "Truly Rare". Heavily reworked customs are completely new cars
as they bear no resemblance to whatever served as the starting
point. Because of their impracticality most elaborate customs are
lost today. Since they were not typically intended for road use,
they did not have much practical use. Until only recently were they
appreciated for what they are and but then it was too late as the
majority that had been lost to time.
For consignment the results of what would happen if you took papers
from the desk of George Barris, some key elements of design from
the likes of which would be a Lotus 7, a 54 Corvette cove, throw in
not 1 but 2 sets of futuristic Plymouth 60's rocket style tail
lights, and carved out a cove in the rear quarter just for them. A
powerful blinged out mill, and all wrapped in white Naugahyde and
threw it all up in the air? When the dust settled...I could give
you for consignment the 1950 "Truly Rare" custom Buick
creation.
Exterior
This ambitious undertaking by body man Gene Howard of Bloomington,
Illinois survives in time warp 1960s condition. At the heart of
this car is a 1950 Buick. The body bears little resemblance to a
Buick as it is equal parts '51 Olds and '50 Cadillac. The front end
and sides are heavily reworked with a flowing plastic look. All
this is bathed in red, a respray over what was purple. The red is
showing some age with cracking and crazing and a bit of orange peel
from overzealous spraying. Headlights are a teardrop tilted at an
angle and these melt into the front of the car which looks more
like a 1960s Indy car than a Buick. On the front quarter is a large
Corvette cove that forms itself into the shaved doors, chopped roof
line and eventually the rear of the car with the Plymouth
futuristic taillights in their own custom cove within the rear
quarter. The back half of the car utilizes a fastback pontoon style
rounded look and has some pinstriped flourish highlighting added on
just for fun. 16-inch chrome steel wheels are wrapped in medium
wide white sidewall rubber on all 4 corners. A major crack is in
the front windshield. Body-wise some invasive rust has taken over
areas of the rockers, and plenty of paint chip off can be noted on
all the seams. The front of the car has had a few encounters with
something that was not friendly to the steel surround of the
"grille".
Interior
A swing of the custom doors and we are in white Naugahyde heaven.
Here it's been overstuffed and buttoned, piped, and made into 3
separate panels to cover the mechanicals of the coved exterior
doors. Simple buckets, in white Naugahyde sit directly on the white
shag carping, and we are talking Elvis Graceland long pile
shag...yeah baby! A wide central buttoned and tufted white
Naugahyde console runs the length of the interior and there are 2
more simple buckets sitting on the shag in back. Not to be outdone,
the dash is also buttoned white Naugahyde. Within this dash front
are 4 chromed headlight styled complete with visors round gauges
aimed directly at the driver all on an angle towards the driver. A
wonderfully futuristic Buck Rogers style speedometer in the center
and it has shades of the personal jukebox oft seen in days of yore
on your table at a diner. I'll pick H2... A rally steering wheel
fronts this dash, and as for the future vision, things are kept
fairly simple!
Drivetrain
Don Wallace prepared the hot '51 Chrysler engine. The 364ci Hemi
features a � cam and six 2bbl Stromberg carburetors on top of an
Edelbrock intake. A 3-speed manual transmission propels the car
into the future. It all looks good under the ...well...no hood!
Undercarriage
A smattering of areas of light surface rust is noted where the
rustproofing has worn off over time. A solid X frame remains, and
floorpans and rockers are in good condition. Independent coil
springs for the front, and a 3 link with coil springs is on back.
Drum brakes are on all 4 corners and dual glass pack steel exhausts
are noted underneath.
These not for everyone self-styled customs were once ubiquitous on
the American car landscape. All the new crop of body men who wanted
to create a name for themselves were all trying to outdo each other
on the outrageous scale. This car definitely accomplishes that and
then some. It's in fair condition, needs a bit of TLC and currently
does not run. BUT it does have the reputation preceding it...just
Google "Buick Truly Rare" and you too can be the only one on your
block that drives a work of automotive art!
NO TITLE-SOLD ON A BILL OF SALE ONLY
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 600 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
