For 40 years, this car lived its life as a bone stock, all-original 1962 Buick Special. When it was acquired by Ted and Sue Richardson in 2002, everything changed. Ted partnered with Ryan Butler of Hot Rod Fabrication in Auburn, WA, to bring to life his vision of what would become the first of its kind in the custom world. The goals were simple: build a sleek and drivable car with an awesome power plant and stance to compete for 2003 Street Machine of the Year. They wanted to do this while maintaining the overall look and feel of the original car, yet build it to drive and handle like a true high-performance machine. The build started in September 2002, and by June 2003, Bu’Wicked was ready to revolutionize the custom car world. At the heart of Bu’Wicked is a Pro-Charged, fuel-injected 455 Buick big block putting 555hp to the rear wheels through a Richmond 6-speed manual transmission. The car sits on a custom Art Morrison Chassis, suspended with a custom coilover suspension. It rolls on 17” Budnik Arrowhead wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot sport tires, all brought to a stop by Baer Pro 13.5” rotors with Alcon 4-piston calipers. The interior features Fiero bucket seats up front with a custom-made rear seat and full roll cage. The door panels were custom-made to match the lines of the front fenders of the car, with everything upholstered in hand-stitched green leather to match the paint scheme. After making its debut, Bu’Wicked went on to be a top-five finalist for Goodguys 2003 Street Machine of the Year. Since then, the car was on the cover of Custom Rodder in the January 2004 issue, was featured in the December 2003 issue of Popular Hot Rodding and was profiled by Popular Hot Rodding in their March 2004 issue. In addition to the magazine articles, the car has been immortalized in videogame history as a playable car for all to drive in Sony’s “Gran Turismo 4,” released in December 2014. The Barrett-Jackson Collection Showroom is proud to offer one of the most famous custom cars of the modern era.
