History Buick dealership porcelain sign

I picked up my first porcelain sign and thought it was worth sharing. The date on the back is 6-2-51 and overall is 11' tall and 28" wide. Still trying to convince the wife it will go well with the 12' ceilings in our living room... wish me luck. I'm going to talk to some local neon companies and see what it will cost to get a housing made and neon replaced.

I also left with a 57 Ford Skyliner but that will get its own thread.

 

Great find. Nice piece as is, I have a passion for old signs.

 

Congrats - so, now post pics/details on '57

 

That's a sweet sign! Now find a neon shop!

 

Reached out to a few neon shops already. It came with an extra "valve in head" lower portion that will probably go up in the classifieds shortly.

 

I had one of those and had to leave it when I moved back from NM in 1988 The Uhaul truck had no room as it completely packed roof to floor. Now I'm really kicking myself in the ass......

 

Oh man, that's cool.

 

^could have tied it to the roof!

Nice piece,let us see it in all it's neon glory when it's finished.

 

If she does not agree with that, I'm sure the sign will go better with a new wife. Nice find!

 

what good are 12' ceilings if you won't be putting 11' signs on the walls.

 

Finally got a quote back on getting neon and a housing added back to this beast, $2,600. Anyone know if this is worth the investment? An identical sign(in worse condition) with working neon is priced at $19k on that auction site.

 

Those were generally a 2 sided sign with a metal band between the 2 sides,with the neon transformer sandwiched in the middle. It would have hung on the front of the dealership. The "extra" piece you have is actually the bottom half of the other side of the sign. The one for $19k on the auction site seems high, but is probably a complete sign with new neon. The $2600 actually doesn't seem too out of line. you would have had $5k into new neon if you had both sides.

 

After doing way too much research on cleaning porcelain signs I finally took a cotton cloth, water and eventually glass cleaner to the lower part of the porcelain signs. I couldn't be more pleased with how well these shined up. If only my cars could look this good after 50+ years.

 

$2600 sounds like a good investment.

 

DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

My club mate had one. He got real good money for it.

 

Any updates on this baby. Do you still have the extra bottom?

 

That is a real beauty!

 

No news yet. The extra "valve in head" portion will be sold as soon as I can find a box to pack it in, 28" x 28" has turned out to be an odd size (funds then put to the restoration of the full marquee). If it wasn't for the flange I'd be able to pack it flat.

I did finally find the original color should be light blue, looks much better than the one with red neon on eBay.

 

Finally got to see the finished product today.

 

Hang it and light it up in the dark!

 

That is so cool ! My dad worked for Buick for years. In fact my first dealership job was behind the same parts counter that he worked behind for the same boss 18 years after he worked there. Here is a picture of the belt buckle that my dad gave me the night before I started work.

 

If anyone has something similar for sale I would to have one and a Pontiac one as well.

 

Nice sign. We'll worth the investment. Congrats.

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Beautiful sign, great find!!

 

made this one. 8' tall.

 

Got a lit photo finally.

 

Great pic of it lit up...
...but don't quite look like it is hanging in the living room

 

I love that sign!!!!