Affordable cruisers are always a great find to us here at Barn Finds. This 1956 Buick Special clearly has some patina, but is in nice shape, with a nice interior as well. Although this Buick is lacking its original drivetrain, it is now powered by a more modern and cheaper to maintain Chevrolet 350. Looking ready to drive as is, or ready for some paint and body work, we think this Buick is a great project at $4,995. Find it here on craigslist out of El Paso, Texas.
The interior is in adequate condition considering this car has likely lived in, near, or around Texas for most of its life. The door panels are now upholstered with red velvet, and the seats appear to be re-upholstered as well, but we are sure this is much nicer than the original sunbaked interior that was in this Buick. The body appears surprisingly straight, with what may be some minor surface rust on the top of the trunk, and the hood. The Paint is still there, although wearing a patina like appearance. The chrome looks wonderful with minimal rust that could likely be polished out. The modern Chevy engine and transmission, isn’t ideal, but really make this Buick more affordable to live with. 350 parts are extremely common, and maintenance would be cheap.
Many folks are against engine swaps, but this swap is less extreme compared to what some people execute. The idea of a vintage car with a newer, more affordable, and often more powerful drivetrain can be the ticket for a lot of folks too. We like that this Buick is pretty much ready to be driven and enjoyed. The cost of this project seems fair and it would certainly be an awesome daily driver if you could brave the modern drivers and traffic. Add a swamp cooler, and a hidden stereo, and you’re ready to hit the streets. What would you do with this Buick Special?
It’s a cruiser for sure, but I’m not a big fan of the interior, and I think I’d eventually get it back to a correct drivetrain.
It’s a ’57. Cool if it had two less doors…
It’s pretty nice…and it’s a ’57 !😉
Always liked the 3 piece rear glass on those, looks totally custom still to this day. Olds did the same thing in ’57. Anazing how both Buick and Olds had such nice looking cars in ’57 and then for ’58 both marques loaded up with chrome trim and looked way stupid in the process
Remember passing thru Flint back in 57 on my way to Minnesota Boundary Waters with a bunch of scouting buddies from Albany NY. Going in the other direction was a caravan of dozens of identical white 57 Buick four- door hardtops loaded with Flint Boy Scouts headed for Jamboree. three window back glass , red stripe in the side chrome and a matching white wagon for a caboose. Classic evolution in 57, Buick went baroque in ’58 to be reborn in a different era in ’59.
’57 Buicks are my faves. I would stuff in a 455BU and roll…love that split rear window. Buick, Olds, Pontiac, had it going on in ’57, went ass-backwards in ’58…
Back when Buicks had style and personality.
Would have kept the 364 nailhead, they run so nice. The dynaflow is another story. Had a 58. Slower than Dutch Love. Paid $20 for it in 72. Drove the hell out it. Wish I still had it.
I have seen that same interior on many of these cars. It must be really cheap. Makes my eyes burn to look at it too long. I like 50’s Olds, 57 may be my favorite. They were/are cool wagons as well.
My dad drove Buicks his entire life and back then he was buddies with the local Buick dealer, so I rode in a LOT of Buicks in the 1950s. That seat doesn’t look original to me; it looks like a cheap seat cover (I remember them, too).
A lot of people said the ’57 Buick was ugly, but I loved it from the get-go. A very cool look for a big GM car of the era with those full cut rear wheel openings and the dramatic yet refined trim compared to what else was on offer. And I love that it’s a 4-door. When’s the last time we saw one of these 4-doors on the road? Three-piece rear glass tops off the great styling. I’m not a fan of big cars but if I were, I’d be taking a look at this. Needs a Buick drivetrain back though. On second thought, the modern drive train could be just the thing for a daily driver.
Love the Buicks body style from that era; try to put one’s mind in theirs at the time: if you could keep the beautiful body style, why wouldn’t one put the most up to date items to help. That would be disc brakes; a more efficient engine that would fit in easily; A/C. Had these items been available when the cars were made, they would assuredly been used.
Love the dog.
These have a coil-sprung torque tube rear suspension. Putting in a modern drive train would require redesigning it and who knows how they chose to do it? When we discovered a cracked block in our ’57 two door, we found and built a later 425 nailhead in order to keep the rest the same. Our car had to have been the cheapest Buick made that year, but one good side effect is that it has a three speed manual transmission instead of the DynaFlush. We even bought a six Stromberg induction setup for it, but sanity kicked in (it occasionally shows up here..) and I’m using a four barrel to get it going. I really like the looks of this year.
My first car was a ’56 Buick Larry. It was a manual transmission too. Not many people believed me. I broke the driveshaft once and getting another was very rare as it was 1 inch longer than the automatics. I cracked the outer casing too. It was a pig on gas, good thing it was 1964 when I owned it.
Really like seeing these old 4 dr sedan’s, especially this ’57. It looks to be in decent shape cosmetically, I think I would turn this bad boy into a local state hiway patrol or trooper car, paint it black leave the top white, have some decals made for the doors, place a vintage cherry on top, locate and install a vintage siren, would be a cool parade or cruise night ride! Oh, and don’t forget the spotlights and old motorola 2 way radio for under the dash….
The trunk ornament should say that it is a 1957.
Loved the way you start these!
I find that the more candles I get on my birthday cake, the more I don’t mind the additional doors. Man, getting old stinks.