Vehicle Description
1941 Buick Special Touring Sedan
Buick or formally the Buick Motor Division of General Motors, is a
division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors.
Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was
among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the
company that established General Motors in 1908. Before the
establishment of General Motors, GM founder William C. Durant had
served as Buick's general manager and major investor. In the North
American market, Buick has been mostly marketed as a premium
automobile brand, selling luxury vehicles positioned above GM's
mainstream brands, while below the flagship luxury Cadillac
division. Buick's current target demographic, according to The
Detroit News is "a successful executive with family". After
securing its market position in the late 1930s, when junior
companion brand Marquette and Cadillac junior brand LaSalle were
discontinued, Buick was positioned as an upscale luxury car below
the Cadillac.
For consignment, "look up in the sky, it's a Cadillac!" No! It's a
Buick Special from 1941 and it's now gracing our Hallowed Halls in
all its black painted and big chromed style glory. This 1 repaint
example is recognized by the AACA with an HPOF award, sports its
original "Fireball" engine with the correct 1 year only dual
carburetor set up, and some refreshing of normal wear items has
been performed over the course of the years. It's a turnkey and
impress the pants off your neighbors and car show enthusiast's
showpiece.
Exterior
All sides have their highlight features including the side view
where trim spears run from the beltline of the hood through the
doors and to the rear quarter. Another mid front quarter spear is
highlightingthe fronts of the rounded fenders on the side and top
with both spears streaking back from the integral headlights. It
has a grandfather's mustache style grille which rises to a bulbous
hood which is nearly a mile long. Fenders which are now melting
into the sides with a body bump out at the bottom of the doors
creating a faux running board. The roofline in the back, flows down
past the oval rear window and into a rounded trunk lid sporting a
chromeBuick Eight badge, a chrome trunk release handle, and chrome
bezel tail lights. An art deco styled bumper is below and is
showing with heavy peeling of the chrome finish revealing rusted
steel. Upfront a wide curved bumper shows with a few areas of
delamination and rusting but overall is nicer than its counterpart
in the back. A split front windshield leads the way for the 4-door
passenger compartment with door handles neatly tucked into the trim
spears at the belt line. We note a missing lock on the driver's
front door. On all 4 corners we see lightly rusted steel 16-inch
wheels with Buick dog dish caps and trim rings wrapped in Firestone
blackwall rubber. All in a single respray of black with some rust
pitting seen in various stages and touched up over.
Interior
A swing of the door and we are greeted with a richly appointed door
panel in fuzzy tan broadcloth as the background for chromed
bakelite escutcheon cranks, a worn leather arm rest in dark brown,
some surface rusted faux wood grain metal above, and nicely chromed
thin dividers showing an art deco design pattern. More broadcloth
for the full benches inside with a black cloth slipcover over top
of the front bench and in the back another bench showing some wear
of the fabric on the rear bench due to age and use. Also in the
rear bench are wider armrests and there is plenty of legroom and
some more faux wood on the back of the front bench with a grab bar
in cording. Upfront more art deco styling with the use of round
chrome trimmed bezels around warm bronze and cream gauges and a
chromed dash front around the speaker with various bakelite pulls
and the factory AM radio below. Twin gold machine turned overlays
face the driver and passenger with a round clock in the center of
the passenger side glovebox. Below the dash is a lineup of more
chrome in the form of dual ashtrays, the ignitionswitch, and
embellishments of the art deco style. Below the dash is a heater
blower which hovers above heavily aged black rubber matting and
brown carpeting in the front. The headliner is mohair and shows
some signs of slight age wear but remains tight.
Drivetrain
Under that big hood is a big 248ci inline Fireball Dyna-Flash
8-cylinder engine. It appears as original with a coating of dust
and patina covering all the ducting, hoses, and wires along with an
oversize air cleaner covering in black are hanging from the
driver's side of the engine. It cleans air for 1 one year only dual
1-barrel carburetors. On the back is a 3-speed manual transmission
sending power back to a 4.40 geared rear axle. Our consignor notes
that the radiator was recently rebuilt and it is still operating on
its 6 volt electric system.
Undercarriage
Fully encased in surface rust but remaining structurally solid are
the X frame, floor pans and rockers inside the frame. Independent
coil springs are in front and a leaf spring rear suspension is on
and looking good. Hydraulic drum brakes are noted all around and
for the exhaust we see a surface rusted but intact single pipe
system.
Drive-Ability
This car is a wonderful piece of automotive art and a true pleasure
to drive. All is working famously, and it performs like a Buck
Rogers rocket with adequate acceleration, bias free braking, and
acceptable handling for a car of its size. We did note that the
fuel in the tank is old based on the aroma of the exhaust but it
does not effect the overall performance.
A very nice piece of rolling automotive styling and art form
straight black painted and chromed steel. Even better than a
Cadillac, and a survivor with some AACA provenance to boot. Hurry
into our Halls as pre-war rides like this have a tendency not to
last long.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 500 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.
