Beautiful old Buicks
- Thread starter Steve Loftin
- Start date
I took these 2 at the Denver meet.
Attachments
Terry Lange
PCS Member
Keith Snyder
PCS Member
Just a quick note to Mr. Loftin regarding that photo of the South Hempstead, NY Flxible-Buick. The vehicle in the photo is a 1935 not a 1934. While almost identical, the 1935 Flxible-Buicks had a one-piece stamped steel roof while the 1934 models had the fabric insert in the roof. It's an easy mistake to make but, inspecting your image closely will reveal that this car had an all-steel roof with no insert making it a 1935. Thanks for posting the image.
Here's one for Brady!
Here's a better shot of one of the Buicks, also taken in 1963. Love that '54 Federal/General pumper, too!
(Ed Saliba collection)
Here's a better shot of one of the Buicks, also taken in 1963. Love that '54 Federal/General pumper, too!
(Ed Saliba collection)
Attachments
Brady D Smith
PCS Life Member / PCS Past President
Kick me again.......
For several years that red and white '58 belonged to a Buick collector/vendor in Pennsylvania. He used it to haul his parts to swap meets all over creation including the Buick National Meet in Flint a couple times. I had bugged him about that car for years. When he finally decided to sell it he called me up and he gave me the first chance to buy it........the asking price a whopping $75,000.00!! I was so peeved by that price that I never talked to the guy again. When I heard a year later that the car had sold for a fairly reasonable (but still high) price I was just sick that I didn't follow up on it and try to buy it. What a great car!!!! I shouldn't have let that guy get my goat.
For several years that red and white '58 belonged to a Buick collector/vendor in Pennsylvania. He used it to haul his parts to swap meets all over creation including the Buick National Meet in Flint a couple times. I had bugged him about that car for years. When he finally decided to sell it he called me up and he gave me the first chance to buy it........the asking price a whopping $75,000.00!! I was so peeved by that price that I never talked to the guy again. When I heard a year later that the car had sold for a fairly reasonable (but still high) price I was just sick that I didn't follow up on it and try to buy it. What a great car!!!! I shouldn't have let that guy get my goat.
Brady D Smith
PCS Life Member / PCS Past President
Wow.
I thought the only thing that came out of Texas was bondo sculptures, but that High headroom car looks pretty good.
I thought the only thing that came out of Texas was bondo sculptures, but that High headroom car looks pretty good.
Hey Brady - What's a phantom $25k between senile friends?
Onto some Dutch Ponchos.
'55 Smit-Joure Roadmaster ambulance #1 (note partition curtain):
With '50 Packard and '47 Buick (also both Smit-Joure):
'55 Smit-Joure Roadmaster ambulance #2:
'56 Smit-Joure Roadmaster ambulance:
With '50 Packard (again) and '55 #2:
Boy am I a sucker for that '56 front curved roof glass.
Brady D Smith
PCS Life Member / PCS Past President
My wife's memory is better than mine.
I said it was fifty, she said it was 75 and when I thought about it.....she was right as usual.
I said it was fifty, she said it was 75 and when I thought about it.....she was right as usual.
Happened across a partial ambulance shot from Sept. 30, '55 - James Dean's accident scene. That led to searching for more. Resolution isn't the greatest but reasonably sure this is a '52 Flxible Sterling ambulance, making it 1 of 132 made before Flxible took hiatus from producing procars.
While looking for more of the above, this previously unseen to me '52 Flxible Premiere survivor in Sweden appeared.
While looking for more of the above, this previously unseen to me '52 Flxible Premiere survivor in Sweden appeared.
Mike McDonald
PCS Member
Kind of odd for the era having a CA Ambulance as well equipped as ths one was with no markings? Does anyone have any additional information as to whose it was at the time and if it's still sitting where the last picture was taken? THX-MM
John ED Renstrom
PCS Member
now that's a sharp car. my kind of ambulance. lot of lines and style
John Royark JR
PCS Member
As ED said the lines on this year is very cool. I bet that had to be a challenge to make the body lines match so well.
Keith Snyder
PCS Member
Attila.....You are correct. That is a 1952 Flxible-Buick Sterling ambulance. I sent this straight away to Tom McPherson to see if he could shed some light on the vehicle. His reply was that there was only one Sterling straight ambulance sold in the state of California in 1952 and it went to a Stanely Bennett of Paso Robles, California. It was a model B22-552 (Sterling Ambulance) that bore body number 17503 and was delivered to Bennett on July 10, 1952. From what I've read on the internet regarding this accident, Dean was in the Paso Robles vicinity (about 60 miles away) when the accident happened so....it's logical to deduce that this was the car. I've not been able to find a Bennett funeral home in the area so...this could have been owned by a private ambulance operator.
Somebody needs to get this, restore it and then auction it off with Barrett-Jackson once it was authenticated and all the documentation secured. Then the PCS would have the last laugh on BJ once and for all.
Keith Snyder
PCS Member
Just got a message from Tom regarding Flxible ambulances for 1952. He says: "Flxible produced 132 Buick-based professional cars in 1952. Of these, 32 were straight ambulances. Broken down, these amounted to 28 on the Seres 70 Roadmaster chassis and only 4 on the Series 50 Buick Super chassis". There you have it folks. The James Dean ambulance was one of only four Sterlings built in 1952 and the only one that went to California. Wish we had the serial plate information on that Premier ambulance that is supposedly in Sweden. It would be interesting to kow where that went when new.
I had done some research on the James Dean ambulance some years ago along with a James Dean historian. Unfortunately I lost it along with some great later photos of the ambulance, but as I recall...
Paul Moreno was one of the attendants removing Dean from the accident. At the time of the accident, it belonged to Mr. Moreno, who also owned an auto repair shop in Cholame. While carrying Dean and while on the way to the hospital, the Buick was actually sideswiped, leaving minor damage to the front fender and door. It ended up in Moreno's garage, which was also storing Dean's Porsche and Turnupseed's Ford.
In some of the pictures I had, you could see all the cars stored together, and later pictures of the ambulance after it was repaired.
Paul Moreno was one of the attendants removing Dean from the accident. At the time of the accident, it belonged to Mr. Moreno, who also owned an auto repair shop in Cholame. While carrying Dean and while on the way to the hospital, the Buick was actually sideswiped, leaving minor damage to the front fender and door. It ended up in Moreno's garage, which was also storing Dean's Porsche and Turnupseed's Ford.
In some of the pictures I had, you could see all the cars stored together, and later pictures of the ambulance after it was repaired.
Lots more information, speculation, and photos here:
http://nunesfireandice.com/james_dean.html
http://deadwrite.wordpress.com/tag/james-dean/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_sj5HNKX0A&feature=player_embedded#!