With Buicks of the 1950s being such eye-grabbing designs, it’s only natural that they easily stand out in vintage images. As such, it’s time again to celebrate the brand from Flint with this collection of images featuring Buicks on the road, as they were back in the day.
CC readers know this is an ongoing feature, as Buicks from this era have their following (Part 1 is found HERE and Part 2 HERE). In today’s collection, the images once again concentrate on photos taken mostly in the 1950s. Each image, with at least one Buick to be found.
That black Buick in the snowstorm must have just pulled out of the garage. There’s not a spot on it!
#7: Three persons on front steps
I getting a tropical vive here. The wide open windows to capture the breeze, functional storm shutters, metal roof on house, vegetation in the yard, gravel road, etc. I’ll take a guess its Puerto Rico since the remaining islands were dominated by European territories.
Someone familiar with plant life could pin it down further.
The fronds look like Norfolk Island Pine, a native of the tropical South Pacific, but they have a Christmas tree growth habit, not the multi-branching seen here. The people do appear Hispanic.
The two older gals with their blue `53 sedan must be proud. Their car has factory AC–a rather pricey & scarce option that was new at GM that year! The wire wheel covers add a nice touch!
Two rarities. A ’51 Frazer (I think) in the first picture and a Pontiac sedan delivery in the 8th.
That white or cream ’57 Buick is perfect!
I called the ’56 taillights Daffy Duck when I was a kid. ’57 fixed that.
#4 – the 50 still looks like a trimmer with a No. 2 guard.
#8 – I love the 49 Roadmaster in the foreground. Assuming the Lark in the background to be new-ish, it shows what 10 years would do to even the nicest cars back then.
Your haircut metaphor is right on. Give me a high fade, please.
We had a 1950 Buick hand-me-down from Grandma Babe. It ended up in our driveway and became my “first car.” Before I was of age I used to sit in it and read, loving that old wool smell of the upholstery.
Dynaflow!
’55-’57 are some of the best styled cars of that era. I love the full rounded wheel openings. On the other hand, who signed off on the hideous 1950 grille?
I was going to say the same thing about the ’56-7 and include Oldsmobile. Makes me wonder if the horrid ’58s caused the famous recession.
To me these ’50’s Buick perfectly personify the postwar Pax Americana: overwhelming US power and hegemony: massive, powerful, dominating, somewhat restrained compared to Cadillac. The ’56 Buicks, Lincolns and senior Packards were the zenith of this confident American zeitgeist, but it all started to get out of hand in the ’57-59 time period. The restraint disappeared, perhaps a reflection of the feelings of vulnerability and fear of threats of nuclear war and losing the space race and a need to declare that we’re over-the-top, untouchable, the stylists tapping into the current psyche. The hysteria being expressed by crazily extroverted designs so typified by the insane (to our eyes) 1959 Cadillac. I’ll take a ’55 or ’56 Roadmaster anytime: confident, powerful, elegant, in a mid 1950s vein. Merry Christmas!
A great collection of pictures! I really love the styling of the ’57 Buicks, they commanded attention and suggested wealth but in a much more subtle way than Cadillac did. To me, Buicks suggested old wealth and owners who were wealthy but did not flaunt their wealth as opposed to Cadillac. The sad thing is now compared to the vehicles of the 1950’s, Buick is building nothing more than nondescript SUVs, CUVs and crossovers. How sad.
I too find every one of these pictures to be positive, I don’t want a Buick but they were always a clearly aspirational car to me .
My favorite was the early 50’s Pontiac Sedan Delivery .
-Nate
The blue 1950 (Roadmaster?) For me please, exactly as is,or was.
Loved my 52 special purchased from the original owner in 1974 or so.. Great car with straight 8 and 3 on the tree. Only had about 75k miles. Actually owned it twice
Everything looks simply swell in these photos. As a kid back then, I thought the early 1950s grille designs made the car look angry.
The best photo to me is the snazzy convertible parked in front of the nice hotel, perhaps in Florida.
It’s the Riviera Apartments, an appropriate name, with automatic elevator!
I love that ’57 Buick convertible. That is my favorite Buick of the 50’s with the ’55-56 right behind it. Buick really had it going on in the 1950’s and no wonder they they did so well in the mid fifties.
Man, the one in the first pic “photo’s” well!
In 1973 my wife’s dad purchased a 2 tone green 57 Buick Special with floor mounted a/c. Car only had 35 k miles on it and she and I dated in it in and around Bakersfield, Cal. We had lots of fun driving out through the cotton fields to the drive to Merle Haggards house and all over Kern Co. Good memories. Thanks for sharing the pics.
The 1955, 1956 were smooth riding but they didn’t expect win any drag .races.
The 57 Buick sedan in one picture reminded me of an elderly friend of the family who had stopped driving and was trying to sell his 4 door Hardtop.
Not sure what model, but it was in very good condition with minimal rust around the headlights and the rest of the car solid as he and the wife never drove the car any great distance. I think I was around 20 years old at the time and he was willing to let me have it for $1,000. I was already working full-time in the broadcasting industry and his big Buick was simply not the additional car I needed at that point in time. Would have gladly snapped it up a decade later.
I’m sure Studebaker would have been proud of picture #8; their compact Lark wagon looks like it “belongs” there in that (relatively) upscale neighborhood, and could hold its own against the full size Buicks & Pontiac Sedan Delivery/wagon.
#1: 1955 Buick Roadmaster; 1956 Chevrolet; 1951 Chevrolet; maybe a 1951 Frazer behind that tree?
#2: 1953 Buick
#3: 1953 Buick — coastal New England, here?
#4: 1950 Buick Roadmaster
#5: 1953 Buick (Special or Century?)
#6: 1954 Buick Buick (Special?)
#7: 1956 Buick (Century?).
#8: 1950 (not 1949) Buick Roadmaster in rough shape; 1956 Buick Roadmaster; (1960?) Studebaker Lark wagon; (1949-1952?) Pontiac sedan delivery
#9 1957 Buick Roadmaster convertible
#10 1957 Buick Roadmaster convertible; 1956 Chevrolet (Bel Air?) wagon
#11: 1958 Buick (no Cruiseline Ventaports, so I can’t tell which model it is)
#12: 1956 Ford Custonline; 1959 Buick; 1957 Buick (Special or Century?);; 1957 Chevrolet (Bel Air, if that is aluminium trim; 210 if it is white paint; can’t see clearly).
I love the Buick in the lede photo. Great color combination. I think it’s a ‘56 like the Chevy parked in front of it.
And that Chevy looks like my Dad’s first car, a Chevrolet 210. If the Kodachrome doesn’t lie here, it appears to be India Ivory over Sherwood Green just like his car.
That ’57 convertible was cool then and still is, to me!
The Buick dealership we got our ’82 LeSabre Estate Wagon from (as a retired demonstrator, after the ’83s were out) from, had on their used car lot a few years later, a ’54 Special 4 door sedan, in yellow and dark olive green. If it had not been that color combo, but one a little bit easier on the eyes, we probably would have bought it (as I recall it wasn’t too expensive, considering what it was, and was in good condition).
Dad always said that the ’56 Buick taillight looks better on a ’55 Chevy. He had them on his Bel Air coupe, and free of the chrome surrounding, the lens does have a nice shape that complements the lines of the Chevrolet.
I still have a pair of genuine GM Guide lenses with the white inner lenses, dirty from sitting on the shelf but in very nice condition otherwise. Dad would get these at swap meets when he found them, since they are not very common.
Buicks from the fifties always stood out, even among their GM brethren.
#1 A ’55 Super 2 door Riviera with three tone paint. Behind it is a ’51 Kaiser DeLuxe, and in front a ’56 Chevrolet Two-Ten or Bel Air. In the foreground is a ’51 Chevrolet with a sun visor.
#2 A ’53 Roadmaster 4 door Riviera that pulled over so the driver could rest his legs.
#3 Another ’53, this one a Special or Super 2 door Riviera with a Massachusetts license plate issued in ’57 with a ’58 sticker on the upper edge of the windshield. It is out on a cold, cloudy day.
#4 A ’50 Roadmaster 4 door Tourback Sedan with a Dynaflow and blackwall tires. Perhaps it was affected by the whitewall tire ban of the early fifties.
#5 Two ladies posing with a new looking ’53 Super 4 door Riviera loaded with the Buick Airconditioner, tinted glass, and wire wheel covers. The lady outside is color coordinated as well.
#6 A ’54 Special 2 door Riviera. In the background from the left a ’50 Ford Country Squire, a black ’53 or ’54 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 door sedan, and a ’53 Pontiac Chieftain De Luxe convertible.
#7 A clean ’56 Special 4 door sedan in a warm climate somewhere with interesting crosses along the upper edge of the fence.
#8 In the foreground a ’51 Roadmaster Riviera Sedan with the Dynaflow that is weather beaten and has damage on both doors. In front of it is a ’50-’52 Pontiac Sedan Delivery. Across the street is a ’56 Roadmaster 4 door Riviera, with a ’61 Studebaker Lark 2 door wagon behind it.
#9 A ’57 Century convertible with a same year Michigan license plate issue in Genesee County where the seat is the city of Flint, GM’s hometown. It has the Easy Eye Glass and a combination spotlight and rear view mirror.
#10 The Riviera Apartments in a warm location with a snazzy ’56 Century convertible with a ’56 Chevrolet Bel Air Nomad in the background.
#11 A graduate parked on a ’58 Special or Century 2 door Riviera with a California plate used from ’56-’62 and perhaps a ’49-’52 Plymouth or Dodge in the background.
#12 From the left a sharp V8 powered ’56 Ford Customline Tudor Sedan, ’59 Buick, ’57 Special 4 door sedan, and a ’57 Chevrolet Two-Ten 2 door sedan.
Thanks for the photos.
I wonder why some have three portholes and others have four?
This used to be how you could tell a senior Buick from the lesser models.
Why can’t I successfully post, here?
You mean post pictures with your comment? They need to be reduced in size, about 1200 pixels maximum width.
Buck: When Buick started the portholes Roadmasters had 4 and Super and Special got three. When Buick came out with a V8 in 53 Roadmasters also had 4 portholes and Super and Special got three. But in 1954 Buick brought back the Century which could come with the big V8 like the Roadmasters. Big V8s got 4 portholes, small V8s got three.