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Customs 59 Buick Truck "Elvictamino"

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by DMFB, Jan 28, 2022.

  1. DMFB
    Joined: May 22, 2009
    Posts: 551

    DMFB
    Member

    Good evening! Looking to see if any of you have any info out there, because this old girl doesn't exist online. It is actually titled as a 1959 Buick Truck. It was redone in the 60's as a kustom. Has a 59 Impala dash, 56 Ford "Custom Cab" plaque on dash in place of the impala emblem. Very well done I might add. Shaved handles as well as roof scallops from an Impala. Pictures make her look a lot rougher than she really is. The frame is super solid, and still has the 401.

    I looked for this car for two years (last known to be 2.5 hours from where I live) and finally tracked it down (Get this...a whopping 3 miles down the street from me, lol) and finally made a deal. I'm super excited to get started and hopefully pick up a little info along the way. I recently found a 59 Buick "Commercial" that is a 4 door convertible with the same bed as mine. It has a series of cabinets throughout the back of it. Pretty strange (but cool). Owner knows nothing about it, and it doesn't exist either, lol. Both having the same bed, there has to be something to it. Anyway, I look forward to hearing your guys input!

    -Danny
    Buick1.jpg Buick2.jpg Buick3.jpg Buick4.jpg Buick5.jpg Buick6.jpg buick7.jpg image0 (1).jpeg image0 (2).jpeg image1 (1).jpeg
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2022
  2. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 14,491

    Budget36
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    That looks like fun!
    Are you thinking of a tail gate or leaving it open?
     
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  3. egads
    Joined: Aug 23, 2011
    Posts: 1,423

    egads
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  4. Very cool…hoping you plan to restore to previous glory!
     
  5. DMFB
    Joined: May 22, 2009
    Posts: 551

    DMFB
    Member

    My plan was to redo the top of the fins, and do an extended deck lid so to speak to make the tonneau cover, just like the model car I posted. I am not going to start cutting until I have exhausted research to make sure I'm not ruining something though.
     
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  6. DMFB
    Joined: May 22, 2009
    Posts: 551

    DMFB
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  7. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 14,491

    Budget36
    Member

    I was going to ask that too, but forgot;). If I had a clue about using fiberglass, I’d make a lid for it. No matter what you do or don’t do it’s a cool car to start off with.
     
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  8. 41 GMC K-18
    Joined: Jun 27, 2019
    Posts: 4,209

    41 GMC K-18
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Gotta love the oddball stuff that nobody has!
    You have distinguished yourself by choosing a path less traveled!
    Congratulations on a great score!
    "Money has no value, unless it's spent"
    "Everything old, is new again"
    " Everything odd or weird, can be beaten and reshaped into acceptable automotive art "
    Don't let anybody try to discourage you!
     
  9. oldolds
    Joined: Oct 18, 2010
    Posts: 3,474

    oldolds
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    I would guess the first one may have been a coach built flower car. I see it has Buick wheels on it so it is Buick suspension. Check it close. They may have used the El Camino cowl and roof. That is why it has the Chevy dash. If I remember right most of the GM lines used the same windshields in 1959. So it might have been the easy work around for the coach builder.
     
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  10. manyolcars
    Joined: Mar 30, 2001
    Posts: 9,359

    manyolcars

    there was one of those at Pate last year. it used 1960 Oldsmobile quarters and front clip. He said his father did it many years ago
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2022
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  11. That thing is friggin cool! Great find!
     
  12. That four door may be an Ambulance with the roof hacked off. Would explain the cabinets.


    image.png.759021cac72105f0c845182a1ab94941.png
     
  13. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,796

    Squablow
    Member

    That's really interesting, looks like it's got more '59 Buick than El Camino in it but the door tops look like El Camino, except for the vent wing area. It could be someone's custom that was pretty well built, or it could have been a coachbuilt type thing like a flower car, very hard to say. But it appears to have been finished out really well at one time. The lack of a tailgate, flat ended tailfins, and open rear body panel makes me think some kind of insert was in the bed/box at one time.

    I hope more history turns up on it. No matter who built it, it's a worthwhile project for sure.
     
  14. EurekaFreak
    Joined: Apr 18, 2009
    Posts: 23

    EurekaFreak
    Member

    Congrats on your cool project, enjoy it! I have no info on that one, but the "4-door convertible" is/was a '59 Flxible ambulance and was a relatively complete and original car less than a year ago... Apparently the top removal is a recent development. Too bad.

    A few pics -

    91bd457752cb46e9bc58f3d707ee8135_ful.jpg a64bffed486c477db1a6006d4fe9052b_ful (1).jpg 6a643512fe77217782939bf31e2a96bc.jpg 24abe21b252dd75e33fc11faf512d132.jpg c0f36b26546ae1b456716521da81cb83--steampunk-house-goth.jpg
     
  15. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,796

    Squablow
    Member

    A crying shame that ambulance lost it's roof, I wonder if someone was fixing a Cadillac hearse without any glass and used the whole roof? Seems like it might be the same roof and I know those Cadillac ambulances/hearses can sell for a bundle of cash, seems a shame to destroy that very intact Buick though.

    Glad to know the red example above isn't going to receive the same fate. Interesting though, I wonder if it was also a conversion, maybe a flower car with some kind of wooden bed insert? The fin modification sure looks like what was on that Ambulance.
     
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  16. buford_59
    Joined: May 30, 2010
    Posts: 80

    buford_59
    Member

    Danny, First congrats on getting the '59. Second, I'm envious. I have a '59 Invicta wagon as well as a Le Sabre 2dr. post. I've often dreamed of building a Camino style truck by grafting the roof and rear window from a Camino and using wagon rear cargo panels.


    A bit of history; GM told Buick to design the new "59's and the other divisions would follow. They all used the same "tub". Therefore things like the glass, model to model, inter change. The common "joke" is that a Chevy door will fit a Caddy. Although I haven' throughly checked I think a Buick door would also. The raised belt line trim on a Buick on the front door is a bolt on. Maybe yours has a Chevy door. Can't figure out the the rear window on yours. The dashes are welded in so as stated before it's probably a Chevy cowl and roof and doors(?) Maybe was a flower car or somebody just wanted a Buick/Camino (and I can't even think of a catchy name) just like we dream of. By the way, Collectible Automobile had a very good article on the development of the '59 Buick.
    Hope this helps a bit and good luck.
    DoUg
     
  17. DMFB
    Joined: May 22, 2009
    Posts: 551

    DMFB
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  18. DMFB
    Joined: May 22, 2009
    Posts: 551

    DMFB
    Member

    That is awesome info. The reason I'm hesitant on thinking it was converted after it left the factory is the fact it is titled as a "1959 Buick Pick up". Flower car was my first thought the very first time I seen it, but they are titled different.
     
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  19. papajohn
    Joined: Nov 2, 2006
    Posts: 899

    papajohn
    Member

    Would like to see pics of that!
     
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  20. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 14,491

    Budget36
    Member

    Something to think about and not knowing the state licensing where your at, but in California you can license a pickup for less money as a car, going with non commercial plates. Same thing with an El Camino/Ranchero too.
    This allowed you to legally if licensed as a commercial vehicle, to have a load above the bedsides without being in an enclosure (shell, canvas structure, etc ).
    I wonder if that is why it was titled as a pickup?
    I had a Jeep pickup with non-commercial plates I used to moved back to Ca from Az, my load was in plain sight and the CHP stopped and gave me a ticket for the exposed load in a non commercial vehicle


    Gotta love California;)
     
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  21. WQ59B
    Joined: Dec 14, 2005
    Posts: 2,619

    WQ59B
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    Definitely not a coach built flower car. Would not have a Chevy dash for starters., but there were no coach-build B-59 flower cars when new; last (one-off) Buick flower car was '49... until '92.
     
  22. WQ59B
    Joined: Dec 14, 2005
    Posts: 2,619

    WQ59B
    Member

    B-59 dash is bolted in. As the GM '59s share the same firewall, the Chevy dash likely bolts in too (I can only directly attest to B-59s).

    There is a very minimal cross-Divisional sharing in '59, but they do share the front floor pans, front doors, front seat frames & firewall.
     
  23. DMFB
    Joined: May 22, 2009
    Posts: 551

    DMFB
    Member

    Thank you for all the info from both comments!
     
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  24. Anderson
    Joined: Jan 27, 2003
    Posts: 7,454

    Anderson
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    That is very cool! Would love to see that one back on the road.

    here’s an Olds version I saw at the Pate swap meet last year.
    0939E15F-0158-4A53-8499-CFD160433F8D.jpeg 18A5CFC4-9E7C-4B66-B189-7780A39F420F.jpeg
     
  25. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 33,844

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    chevy dashes are welded in
     
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  26. Someone by me has a Buick Elky, looks like it has been running around for years. I'll try to catch a picture of it when cruise night season opens.
     
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  27. BJR
    Joined: Mar 11, 2005
    Posts: 10,530

    BJR
    Member

    Wasn't Titus building one?
     
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  28. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 33,844

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    yup, his is an Olds
     
  29. Jackson Morgan
    Joined: Oct 3, 2021
    Posts: 15

    Jackson Morgan
    Member
    from Australia

    That’s awesome, any updates on this?
     

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