Vehicle Description
1918 Buick E50 Series Sedan
My dad bought Buicks. He was a doctor and in his day, Buick was
still the "doctor's car". Buicksgot that reputation early on,
because they were reliable and doctors needed reliability because,
in the early years of the twentieth century, most doctors were
country doctors. When the telephone rang at two in the morning to
tell the doctor that Mrs. Smith had gone into labor, the doctor
needed a car that would get him to the Smith farm. Doctors drove
Buicks.
Other than the above, there is absolutely no reason this car,
through any features, or configurations, was made for a doctor. As
above, they were reliable. Then there is the Cadillac factor.
Doctors were paid by patients and pulling up in a Cadillac may give
them the impression that they have plenty of money, and because of
this stigma, they may just not opt to pay. SO Doctors bought the
Buick, as it was less ostentatious, still had plenty of luxury, and
they were more apt to get paid! Offered for consignment is this
Buick E50 Series sedan right out of 1918. Similar to the Cadillac
of the era, but without all the ostentatiousprestige that comes
with Cadillac ownership, this car comes to us out of long term
static display storage, but has been previously restored and is
ready to have some new life breathed back into it.
Exterior
First and foremost, this tall and thin car is wearing an
olderrestoration. It has aged well and appears to need just a
simple buffing and waxing to bring it back up to snuff. Beautiful
olive green dancing in between black above and below is giving a
taller look to this already tall car. Starting from the roof down,
classy and classic black drenches the roof and all of its support
pillars before coming to an abrupt halt at the upper body beltline
embossment. From here the olive green takes over, encompassing the
second body bump out and dripping downward to the lowers of the
body. Thisgreen also graces the long contoured dual cowled hood
that is complete with side cooling louvers before ending at the
blacked out capless radiator surround. A Buick badge in blue leads
the way on the surround and black trimmed headlights hang off the
sides, connected by a black tiebar. No front bumper, just straw
colored framing and suspensionthat are exposed for all the world to
see. Black fenders are connected by a running boards that run along
each side of the car and sandwich the green nicely. 4 doors with
tarnished ring style handles and a wrap-around rear tub along make
up the body of this 7-window car. Four 34-inch wooden spoked wheels
along with a single spare mounted to the back are seen on this car.
with all wrapped in 34x4.5 wide whites.
Interior
Yards of textured check pattern broadcloth in a tan color way cover
the front bucket seats, as well as the rear bench seat. The buckets
sit within tan tubs and show with various tears of the upholstery,
exposing what may be the original material and padding underneath.
A sprawling rear bench, in the same material and color races
between the mohair clad sides and while this seat has no tearing
but there is substantial staining. Small folding "jump seats"
appear from the back of the buckets and coulddouble as a footrest
if one chooses not to use the floor mounted board rest. Faded,
tattered and soiled tan textured carpet floats this interior and
the long armed shifter and parking brake handle rise from the
center, just in front of the dash. More tantextured cloth adorns
the door panels as well and the headliner to boot with all
presenting varying degree of soiling and water stains. A wood
rimmed4 spoke steering wheel with spark advance and throttle
controls rests atop the long black column and a tilt out
windshieldis noted above the black steel dash. Speaking of the
dash, it is bedecked with a smattering of factory gauges and
push-buttons for the lighting, all showing a properly aged
patina.
Drivetrain
A massive inline 241.6 inline 6-cylinder Buick power plant sits
under the folding hood. This mill is dressed in slightlygreasy and
worn straw yellow paint and is a mechanicalmarvel with exposed
pushrods, rockers and valve springs. The engine does turn over by
hand but we madeno attempt to start the car or drive it. A 1-barrel
updraft fuel system is seen, and this engine is overhead valve. The
transmission is a 3-speed which needs to be double clutched, as
most cars of this size were for the time and a 4.61 geared axle
turns the back tires.
Undercarriage
A light coating of surface rust is seen underneath on the untreated
components and the wooden floorboards and running boards remain
solid though. The framing has a nice coating of straw yellow paint
and the rest of the undercarriage follows suit with a slightbut
appreciable patina to it. Leaf springs give the ride for the front
and back andmechanical drum brakes are on the rear, which was the
standard of the industry in 1918.
A massive car when sitting next to a typical Model T. Plenty of
interior space and has the potential to be a nice car with some
work. The Buick sedan for the wealthy who wanted to remain fairly
anonymous but enjoyed the finer things in life, now it's your
turn....doctor.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 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.
