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Customs Special order Buick

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by TCTND, Jan 4, 2021.

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  1. TCTND
    Joined: Dec 27, 2019
    Posts: 543

    TCTND
    Member

    Back in the early '70s I befriended an elderly neighbor who had a '56 Buick HT under a tarp in his yard. When I asked about it he told me he had bought it new in '56 and because he "knew someone" at GM, he was able order an option that was not in the book. That consisted of a Cadillac engine that was presumably installed on the assembly line. I looked at it and the underhood view was just like a '56 Cad. As Buick, Olds, and Cadillac shared the same basic chassis and body shell it would certainly be feasible. Assuming this was true it surely could not the only time this sort of thing happened so there must be other examples of similar factory swaps out there. I'm not talking about "COPO" cars or other semi secret programs, but special order one-offs for favored customers who had a bit of pull for one reason or another. Does anyone know of others of this ilk or have any idea how often this might have occurred?

    regards,
    Phil
     
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  2. 41rodderz
    Joined: Sep 27, 2010
    Posts: 6,540

    41rodderz
    Member
    from Oregon

    This will be interesting.
     
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  3. Jay Leno did an episode of his show with a 1967 Country Squire wagon with a 428 4 speed bucket seat interior that was a special order with documentation because somebody knew somebody at Ford. Bucket seats with a console and 4 speeds were not an option on a wagon. One of One build according to Jay.
     
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  5. wicarnut
    Joined: Oct 29, 2009
    Posts: 9,052

    wicarnut
    Member

    Many times I've heard these stories at shows about 1 of 1 cars and always wondered if true, also about cars that a mistake was made on the assembly line, also 1 of 1 cars. I tend to be skeptical, because of the BS factor in our great hobby. If Jay Leno has one with documentation, him I believe and I do believe in the power of money, knowing the "right" person, I guess anything can be or has been done with factory built cars.
     
  6. Bob Lowry
    Joined: Jan 19, 2020
    Posts: 1,488

    Bob Lowry

    I grew up in the hot rodding/car era of the '50's to the 70's, and back then you could go down
    to the dealer and order your car the way you wanted it. In September of each year the new models
    would be introduced along with all the new car brochures. As a kid and having no money to buy a
    car, this would be the next best thing you could own. Wait time for your car was generally 6 weeks,
    and if you had a good relationship with the owner or GM of the dealership, yes, you could get
    any combination you wished. This might mean a wait time of up to 8 weeks. People today don't
    understand waiting for anything, and the excitement and anticipation that comes with it. This
    truly was Christmas for the "big kids".
     
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  7. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,707

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    There was a single bachelor in my home town growing up that bought a new Chevy every year. In about 1974 or so, he ordered a new Impala. It came dark blue with orange and green interior! I don’t know if that was what he ordered or if it was a screw up from the factory. I do know the next year the Chevy dealer didn’t want to take it back in on a trade for another new Chevy! He ended up with a new Pontiac that year!
     
  8. greybeard360
    Joined: Feb 28, 2008
    Posts: 2,074

    greybeard360
    Member

    I know now you pretty much get "packages" to get certain options. Interior colors.... choice is almost non existant. Want a Nav system? You gotta get a sunroof. Strange combinations. Working at dealers for over 25 years we saw some weird factory screw ups too. Cars coming thru with Ford badges on one side of the car, Mecury on the other side. Tan interiors with grey or black dash.... should have been tan. Makes you wonder how many cars went thru out of sync before they got back on track... LOL.
     
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  9. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,377

    indyjps
    Member

    Consider all of the engineering dept cars or styling exercise cars that were out there. also the " first run down the line test assembly cars" many of these became the engr test cars.
    They were supposed to be scrapped or never had VIN'S. Never know.

    I was a GM mgt employee from 2000-2007, could buy out of the corporate motor pool or high level mgt car pool, at significant discount.
    Managers of a certain rank got a company provided new car every 3-4 months. Had to buy one every few years. Consider back then, if they had enough pull they could probably have anything they wanted built as their "purchase" vehicle.
     
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  10. 31Apickup
    Joined: Nov 8, 2005
    Posts: 3,365

    31Apickup
    Member

    I believe the Cadillacs of that era were built at the Clark Street Assembly plant in Detroit, and it was only Cadillac’s at that plant so there would of been no Buick’s on the same line. It could be possible it was hand built at the GM tech center.


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  11. JJK
    Joined: Feb 9, 2005
    Posts: 944

    JJK
    Member

    I had a 65 Riviera with a special order tag on the radiator support. I googled the name and it belonged to a AAA baseball player who never went on to do much after that. I hope he got his money out of the Buick it was a pretty well optioned car for the times.
     
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  12. Fordors
    Joined: Sep 22, 2016
    Posts: 5,372

    Fordors
    Member

    A cross division COPO like that sure sounds unlikely even back in the 1950’s but the biggest hang up I see in this story is the fact that Buick used a torque tube and coil spring rear suspension at the time. With the other GM’s using semi-elliptical springs for axle location a major redesign of the Buick’s rear suspension would also have been in order.
    As @indyjps said, yes superintendents and above got a different vehicle every 3 months or so and were required to do an evaluation of the car, truck or van.
    I had a super that had a red Corvette in 2000 or so and three months later he was driving a brown mini-van :( and I commented to him with this- Hey Terry, nice soccer mom van!
    From what I remember of the program they had to purchase one of the vehicles they had driven for evaluation, there was no ordering what they wanted.
    Salaried employees had a discount program for decades, it was not until 1982 that an hourly worker (which I was for 35 years) enjoyed that benefit.
     
  13. 51504bat
    Joined: May 22, 2010
    Posts: 4,754

    51504bat
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I had an OT '78 GMC p/u that I bought new. One of the line items on the build sheet in on the inside of the glove box door was "conversion to GMC" I always wondered if a truck ever came off the line with Chevy badges/trim on one side and GMC badges/trim on the other.
     
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  14. bill gruendeman
    Joined: Jun 18, 2019
    Posts: 807

    bill gruendeman
    Member

    I knew some guys that worked at the St. Paul Ford plant in the 70s. When a employee car would come down the line it would get up grades by “mistake “, less inventory control then?
     
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  15. jaracer
    Joined: Oct 4, 2008
    Posts: 2,417

    jaracer
    Member

    Back in the 60's I worked at a Texaco station and we had a steam cleaner. We steam cleaned the bottom of a 62 or 63 Cadillac so it could be undercoated. The car was less than a year old. It was a special order car and had a 3 speed manual transmission with column shift. I never saw another.

    My brother in law's dad was a police chief. He was tight with other law enforcement. They rode down to DuQuoin, Il with the local State Police Commander. The car was on loan from Ford for evaluation. It was a 4 door police special sedan, maybe a 1964, with a 427, dual 4 bbls, and 4 on the floor.
     
  16. Unique Rustorations
    Joined: Nov 15, 2018
    Posts: 623

    Unique Rustorations
    Member

    With no disrespect meant to the OP or the elderly gentlemen that made the claim, I am more than just skeptical. This claim isn’t about colors, options like transmissions or the like. It’s about a completely different division engine being installed. And to boot, just because he knew someone? He better have known the president of Buick and still then for a factory trying to roll out as many cars per day as possible to stop and mess with going to a different division and getting a power plant to install?!

    Could it have been installed in a tech center of sort? I don’t know the 50’s engineering well enough (I have studied the 60’s era of Pontiac) but I think that would still be a stretch imo. Without any documentation it’s just an old wives tale that will propagate more due to this post. Again, no disrespect meant at all. Regards, Randy


    Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
     
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  17. My Mom had the pleasure? of owning a 1964 Mercury Marauder 427/4sp, that must have been special ordered by someone who clearly wasn't concerned about luxury. She acquired the car because when Mom shopped for a new car, bottom line was king. Sitting on the back row at the dealership was, best as I can describe, a stripped down version of a luxury car. Bench seat, radio delete, rubber floor mats, no power anything (except steering) all BLACK Marauder. And I mean all black. It didn't even have full wheel covers. Found out later it had wider rims with more expensive tires, along with a heavy duty suspension, and heavy duty everything else that translated into higher replacement costs(something that didn't make Mom happy). And since it was my job to keep the four wheeled football field washed and waxed, it didn't exactly push all my 'like' buttons either. But I gotta say, that what it lacked in luxury it more than made up for in performance which, as it turned out, ended up infecting dear old Mom with the need for speed. From the 67 Cougar xr7, 390/4sp, that the Marauder got traded in on, to the supercharged Bonneville she picked up from the dealership on her 83rd birthday, that old Marauder had left its mark.
     
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  18. Somehow I doubt this was done at the corporate level given the internal competition between divisions at GM at the time. But in those pre-smog-control days, there were dealers who would do these sorts of things for favored customers or to build showroom traffic.
     
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  19. 302GMC
    Joined: Dec 15, 2005
    Posts: 7,856

    302GMC
    Member
    from Idaho

    Phil,
    You didn't really believe that story, did you ?
     
  20. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    I was a story about a 1950 Pontiac that came from the factory with an Olds V8. This could be true since both cars came with open drivelines.
     
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  21. big bird
    Joined: Feb 16, 2014
    Posts: 158

    big bird
    Member

    Now, if this was built in the O.T. 1970s G.M. made a LOT of Oldsmo-Buicks.
    You had to know WHICH 350 was in your Cutlass Supreme to get the right parts.
    I dunno about the 50s though...
     
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  22. GordonC
    Joined: Mar 6, 2006
    Posts: 3,140

    GordonC
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I knew a girl way back in the early 70's whose father drove a 1963 or 64 country squire Ford wagon that was also a 390 4 speed bucket seat car. Don't know if it was ordered that way, original, or done at the dealer, but even back then it was a pretty cool ride. Also my dad bought a 68 country squire wagon off a dealer who had ordered the car for his wife. It had power everything and stuff I had never seen on a wagon before like fuel level warning light and power door locks and power windows.
     
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  23. southerncad
    Joined: Feb 5, 2008
    Posts: 949

    southerncad
    Member

    Don't know if this is true or not, but when my Dad ordered his '56 Buick they said it came with a "export cam & kit" if he wanted it...so he said Yeah...and whatever it was it was quicker than every other '56 Buick on the street, and other pontiacs & even a lot of Chevies. Anybody ever heard of such a set up?
     
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  24. 302GMC
    Joined: Dec 15, 2005
    Posts: 7,856

    302GMC
    Member
    from Idaho

    ^^^^^^^^
    Sure do ... around 1970-1971 I did some work on a '54 Century 3 speed solid lifter 4 bbl 2 dr hdtp with no options .... and I mean NONE !! The firewall data plate had "EXP" or ''SPEC'' stamped on every item but the body style & year. Ever see a '54 Buick burn tires for half a block ?
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2021
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  25. The original post, if true, would have probably been done by a dealer. But, not impossible. Lots of weird things went on back then. Got to sit by the creek one afternoon and listen to an old GM tech guy. I do know if you had pull you could option ANYTHING you wanted. My dad was sponsored by Dr Olds in Div5 for the 1970 season. He got to sit down and spec out his F85 however he wanted. twas a combo that was never technically built. Car didn't even have sound deadener as per dads order
     
  26. lostone
    Joined: Oct 13, 2013
    Posts: 2,820

    lostone
    Member
    from kansas

    Yep I had a 68 400 firebird that way.

    I bought it from the second owner who bought it in 1970.

    It was a coupe with padded convertible A pillar mouldings and bonneville pattern headliner and other trim changes.

    When I restored it, it was a pain in the butt. Had to buy bulk material and have the headliner custom made to keep the right pattern on the headliner. Had factory custom interior with different insets in the seats. Never got around to having them repo'd due to the large elm tree that fell right in the middle of it and crushed it... Sad day that was....

    Every option but full gauges, trunk release and cruise.
     
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  27. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,751

    Deuces

    That was the Fleetwood plant... I used to work at a Shell station as a auto tech on Springwells and Fort st. across the street from there.... Caddys were pre assembled at Fleetwood's and then hauled to the Clark St. facility for finishing....
     
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  28. CAVEMAN_1960
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 74

    CAVEMAN_1960
    Member
    from Michigan

    I started working for GM's Buick Division in August of 1970. As I made the rounds at Buick City in Flint one of my stops was the Engineering Building (#78). I saw some engineers working on a new Buick station wagon in the shop area. They were converting the car to manual transmission. At the time the automatic transmission was an extra cost option and they expected everyone to pony up the extra bucks. I guess one guy insisted on the "standard" transmission so they had to build one for him. No, I don't know who the lucky buyer was or even if the car was going to be retailed after the upfit. But if you ever find a manual transmission Buick station wagon from 1970 call me. It might be really rare!
     
  29. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,751

    Deuces

    Yes!....;)
     
  30. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    I have my doubts about this story too.....however, mating the Caddy engine to the Dynaflow was at least possible. Some old timers (like myself) will recall when the Hydramatic Plant burned to the ground in early 1953, causing a severe shortage of Hydramatics for Caddy, Olds and Pontiac. The short term solution was quickly engineering parts to use Dynaflows in Caddy and Olds models and (reportedly) Power Glides in Pontiacs.

    So, mating a ‘56 Buick Dynaflow to a Caddy V8 with off the shelf GM parts is at least theoretically possible. Between ‘55 and ‘56, I believe, the rear of the block changed on Caddy engines, so it probably would have been necessary to use a ‘55 block to facilitate installation using parts designed for ‘49/‘55 era engines. Not saying I think that’s what happened, but does add an intriguing element to the story.

    Ray
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2021
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