1948 Buick Roadmaster Convertible 2 Dr 58k Original Miles Power Options Restored on 2040-cars
San Juan Capistrano, California, United States
1948 Rare Restored Buick Roadmaster Convertible
Period Correct Restoration with Proper Interior One of only 11,503 Convertibles Made The last '48 Roadmaster Convertible with the same color combinations and options sold for almost $130k (including premium and tax) at a Gooding & Company auction in Scottsdale. Easily capable of cruising at modern highway speeds, with a comfortable ride and surprisingly good brakes, you can drive it anywhere. This beauty has been driven less than 100 miles since being fully restored earlier this year. Everything works perfectly including the power top, power windows, power seat, radio, electric horns, clock (which rarely work in these cars), mechanical horn, exterior lights, interior lights, signals, crank rear windows, and any other option you can think of. Original Fireball DynaFlash 320 Cubic Inch Straight-8 144 -- 150 HP (it depends on who you ask at GM) Automatic Transmission -- first torque converter equipped transmission on an American built car, originally a $244 option Convertible -- Power Top Power Windows Power Seat 58,400 Original Miles Best Color Combination or Cream and Red Although they probably didn't know it at the time, Buick's 1942 redesign of their entire lineup would make post-war Buicks some of the most fashionable cars on the road. With other automakers scrambling to update older designs, the 1942 refresh brought sweeping fenders, longer wheelbases, and the trademark toothy Buick grille that would be an icon for more than a decade. In 1948, Buick also introduced the Dynaflow automatic transmission on the top-of-the-line Roadmaster, and it proved so popular that they had to double production at the factory. In 1949, there would be yet another restyle, making the 1948 Buicks the pinnacle of early post-war design and styling. This 1948 Roadmaster convertible has been in the same family since being restored earlier this year. Showing just 58,224 original miles, she runs beautifully with a recently rebuilt engine and transmission. The cream color paint is factory correct which is the most sought after color and suits the big flashy convertible. The car spent its entire life in the southwest and has never been rusty with zero signs of patching or filler used anywhere in the body. Panel alignment is perfect, although Buick's trademark side-opening hood was notoriously difficult to fit and even the factory only did a fair job of it. The paint and chrome is excellent with no flaws. The chrome and trim is 100% original and was refinished as needed. Decals and logos are fully preserved, and the legendary Buick "bombsight" hood ornament is extremely nice. All the lenses are intact and great original condition. Red interior, and lots of it, is the interior of choice in the post-war Roadmaster convertibles. Authentic materials, patterns, and colors were used to create a proper Buick interior in fact the seats might be the original material. Lovely button-tufted door panels are befitting Buick's most expensive model (except for the station wagon), and the seats are fitted with proper pleats. Fresh carpets were also installed throughout to give this Buick a fresh look. The gauges are all original and all functional including the Sonomatic AM radio and glovebox-mounted clock. The Sonomatic Radio is the only noticeable flaw on the vehicle as the radio buttons were reassembled out of order (the buttons say "CUBICK" instead of "BUICK"). Overhead, the tan canvas convertible top and boot cover are new and factory correct material and color. The vacuum-actuated mechanism works flawlessly as it should. Both front windows and power seat are also hydraulically operated and 100% functional. Starting a Buick of this vintage is easy: simply turn on the key and step on the accelerator pedal. The big 320 cubic inch OHV straight-eight fires quickly and settles into a smooth idle with a pleasant mechanical whir coming from under the hood. The oil bath air filter has been converted to take a dry paper filter but still has a factory appearance. The exhaust makes a low subtle rumble which is the unmistakable sound of eight cylinders running in perfect harmony. Engine and transmission were both rebuilt during the recent restoration and everything under the hood has been finished to factory correct colors, logos, and decals. A transmission cooler was added as the only visible known non-factory addition to this car which is well hidden. The generator puts out plenty of amperage, and steering is light although there was no power assist in 1948. Insert bearings were used in 1948 for the first time, increasing reliability and improving high-speed durability, making this a Buick that will cruise effortlessly at modern highway speeds. The transmission works as advertised, with a seamless flow of power and no perceptible gear changes, which always feels unusual to those of us accustomed to typical automatics where you can discern the shift points. The brakes are firm and confidence-inspiring, even at high speeds, and the ride is typical Buick luxurious. However, it is unflappable on the open road and swallows large bumps without disturbing the passengers in a way that only large luxury cars are able to do. Four new wide whitewall tires have been mounted to the original steel wheels fitted with the original hubcaps. Mechanically excellent and still quite handsome, this Roadmaster convertible is a no-compromises collector car. It will easily float along at 70 MPH with a comfortable ride and surprisingly good brakes, so you can drive it anywhere. Parts are plentiful, service is easy, and the Buick 320 cubic inch engine is one of the most reliable machines to ever come out of Flint. Perfect specimens are trading hands for over $125,000 at auction, so this one also represents something of a bargain for a fully-sorted rust-free Roadmaster convertible. |
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Junkyard Gem: 1993 Buick Roadmaster Sedan
Mon, Oct 31 2022In 1931, GM's Buick Division introduced an eight-cylinder engine in its stolid rear-wheel-drive sedan models, and Americans could buy big, comfortable Buick four-doors with straight-eights and — starting in the 1954 model year — V8s driving the rear wheels for more than a half-century after that. Then, the last rear-wheel-drive LeSabre left the assembly line in 1985, and it seemed that an era had ended forever. But wait! For the 1992 model year, Buick revived the Roadmaster name and applied it to an old-timey giant sedan with a V8 engine sending power to the proper wheels. Production of the Roadmaster sedan continued through 1996, and I've found one of those throwback Buicks in a Denver self-service car graveyard. Yes, in an America full of front-wheel-drive cars contaminated by European or — even worse — Japanese influences, The General brought back the spirit of the 1931 Buick sedan. Sure, it was really a near-identical twin to the "whale-body" Chevy Caprice, complete with Chevrolet small-block V8 engine, but that didn't matter. This was the kind of Buick that our prosperous great-grandparents bought in 1932 and 1948 and 1957. And the appeal of the great big eight-cylinder Buick sedan wasn't just limited to the United States. When the film adaptation of the great Marguerite Duras novel, L'Amant, was made, only a 1932 Buick 90 sedan would have made sense for the wheels of the wealthy Saigon heir. A big reason Buick is such an important brand in China right now is the legacy left by the memorable Buick machinery that owned the roads of 1930s China. These days, most of the 1992-1996 Roadmasters you'll see will be the station wagons, but we mustn't forget the sedans. Looking at the interior of this car is like a flashback to the 1960s, when stately Buick sedans had squishy seats you'd just disappear into when you climbed in. Cool-sounding names for ordinary features had gone out of style decades earlier, but not for the Roadmaster! Dynaride was a rear suspension that used air shocks and a compressor to keep the ride height level regardless of load. The last model year for a genuine Buick V8 engine was 1980, though you could make the case that the Rover V8 (made until 2006) was really a Buick all along. The engine in this car is pure Chevrolet: a 5.7-liter small-block V8 rated at 180 horsepower. Buick was a big Olympics sponsor at this time, while Oldsmobile handled golf. Still, the Buick-buying demographic of 1993 tended to approve of golf.
Buick really wants us to know the new Cascada convertible won't leak
Thu, Apr 16 2015Quality testing on the factory floor is nothing to joke about. Automakers need to make sure the work being done is up to snuff, and that means some extensive checks. For Buick, that means using a lot of water for each of its Cascada convertibles. Each vehicle that rolls off the floor is subject to a high-pressure, ten-minute soaking that sprays nearly 20 gallons of water from each nozzle during every bath, just to guarantee the fabric roof hasn't sprung any leaks. For some reason, Buick has chosen to show off this testing with the help of what we imagine is the Gorton's Fisherman's baby cousin. Check out the strange testing video, available up top.
We hear Buick is testing a Regal wagon with focus groups
Mon, Sep 26 2016Rumors about a possible Buick Regal wagon have come and gone for the past few years, and today we have another one. A friend of Autoblog recently let slip that Buick is talking with customers and running focus groups of a new car against the Acura TSX wagon and an unnamed Volvo wagon. Of course the Buick model being used in the focus groups wasn't mentioned, but the Regal is the only Buick in the lineup of comparable size and with a wagon version overseas. Plus, we've heard that Buick told dealers a wagon is in the works at a meeting a few months ago. We reached out to Buick for comment, however no details were given. A Buick spokesperson told us, "By the end of 2017, we'll be revealing three more new models for a total of seven new Buicks in just 24 months." Of the seven new models, four have been launched: the Cascada, Encore, Envision and LaCrosse. Looking at Buick's current line-up, that leaves three models that haven't been updated yet: the Enclave, Regal and Verano. This is where a Buick Regal wagon could come in. We know the Enclave is definitely getting a replacement. The large crossover market is huge and GM has a platform for it. We're also expecting a new Regal sedan to come out next year. The Verano, however, is unlikely to see another generation. If the Verano goes away, that leaves an opening for a new Buick model. Rather than another sedan, Buick probably wants more crossovers, as the company said it expects its current line-up to bring in 70 percent of its sales. It could very easily add another CUV to the line-up by giving the Regal wagon the Volvo Cross Country treatment. Raise the ride height, gird it with plastic fenders and bumpers, and give the wagon a trendy name like "Tourx" or "Regal Tourx," which the company has already trademarked, and Buick's newest crossover is ready to go. In fact, GM has effectively already done this to the Regal's German sibling, the Insignia, in the form of the Insignia Country Tourer, pictured above. In summary, a CUV-like wagon could give Buick a trendy car in a hot class for a minimal investment. It would even provide Buick with a model that has no equivalents elsewhere in the GM stable, giving the company a bit more distinction. If the company does bring us a wagon version of the Regal, we would expect to see something next year, possibly with the reveal of the normal Regal variants.