Saturday, February 26, 2011

Buicks

I have never owned a Buick, but yesterday's post and the comments thereon suggest that a sequel is in order. A few days ago, I saw this 1939 phaeton model Buick parked on a downtown street. It evoked memories. I saw this same car yesterday as it drove down the street.

One pleasant day somewhere in the early fifties, a bunch of us drove from the Springs to Denver in a 1939 Buick. It belonged to the parents of one of the girls in the group and was driven by her boyfriend, who was a wildman behind the wheel. But we survived without incident. The purpose of the trip was to spend a day at Elitch Gardens, Denver's "fun park." The old wooden roller coaster, The Wildcat, got well used that day. I suspect that it met its demise decades ago. Given a car full of teenagers and the freedom of choice they had, it hardly needs to be told that we arrived back home very, very late at night.

About the same time in history, I had a friend whose father owned a 1951 Buick Roadmaster. This beast was a beautiful bronze color and was equipped with "Dynaflow" transmission. I vividly remember the "winding up" as one attempted to accelerate from a stoplight. The auto had a quite powerful engine, a 320 ci straight eight, and once you got it going, the car would cruise at exhilirating speeds. But the Dynaflow was not designed to win any drag races!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

My father preferred Pontiacs but the big news in the neighborhood was when Mr. Bauso got a Chrysler Imperial with ::gasp:: automatic windows!

I know this has nothing to do with Buicks but it brought those things to mind.

Also I am firmly convinced, this comment being evidence, that people do not comment on what you write bur rather on what springs to THEIR mind when reading.

Don't know if that is good or bad, tho it can be frustrating.

Anonymous said...

The Dynaflow was nicknamed "Dynaslush" because it gave such slushy takeoffs.

vanilla said...

Grace, let's just say it is a conversation. I like that. And your comment is about autos, no?

Jim, a lot of oil had to whirl to make the car go. Slushy, yes?

Secondary Roads said...

Not much of a performance car, but it did look good!

vanilla said...

Chuck, great looking cars!