Vehicle Description
FROM THE MISSOULA AUTO MUSEUM COLLECTION: Vehicle to be offered for Auction sale WITHOUT RESERVE and SOLD to the highest bidder January 19th - 22nd, 2017 at Russo and Steele's 17th Annual Scottsdale Arizona Auction at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Please contact us for more information.
Introduced for 1936, the Buick Special succeeded the 1930-1935 Buick Series 40 and delivered upscale Buick prestige and immense value for the money, a tradition that continued through 1958 as a full-size model and returned on the new GM mid-size chassis for 1961. By the 1970 model year, the Special nameplate was no longer applied to a standalone Buick model line; rather it announced a trim level for 1975 to 1979 and the 1991 to 1996 Century. While the Special continued to be known as "Series 40" prior to America's full-scale entry into the WW II, the second-generation Special range was enlarged, refined, and updated with the restyled 1940 models featuring restyled bodies and a wheelbase length increased by one inch.
All-new bodywork arrived for 1941, with both the Special and Century featuring front fenders that extended nearly to the front doors, headlights that were almost fully integrated with the line of the front fenders, and a wider grille up front. The 40-A Special subseries also arrived, with its wheelbase three inches shorter and its bodies shared with the 1941 Chevrolets. The 40-B designation was assigned to the original Series 40 Buick Specials with the regular wheelbase. Styling was outstanding and quite reminiscent of the various elements of the landmark "Y-Job" of 1938, which was designed under Harley Earl and generally regarded as the world's first "true" concept car. This winning design theme continued into the war-shortened 1942 model year and it continues to be considered a stylistic landmark.
For 1941, the "Senior" Series 40-B Super models ranged in price from $1,052 to $1,463. Body styles included the 4-door/6-Passenger Touring Sedan, the 4-door Sedan with Super Equipment, 2-door/3-Passenger Business Coupe, 2-door Sedanette, 2-door/6-Passenger Sedanette with Super Equipment, and the 4-door/6-Passenger Estate Wagon. The 4-door/6-Passenger Touring Sedan was especially popular, with 91,138 examples produced for 1941. Offered from the Missoula Auto Museum Collection, this 1942 Buick Super 4-door Sedan is a nice driver-quality example equipped with bumper guards, a radio, steel wheels with bright hub caps and trim rings, white sidewall tires, and an original-appearing interior including an engine-turned dash insert. Underhood, the famed OHV Buick straight-eight engine with a complete factory intake system has less than 100 miles on a major over haul.. As such, it offers a sampling of Buick's highly successful entry-level models of the immediate pre-war era.
