- Seller: James A (Contact)
- Location: Mason City, Iowa
- Mileage: 68,000 Shown
- Chassis #: 15278135
- Title Status: Clean
- Engine: 248cui Inline-8
- Transmission: Automatic
For a glorious postwar period of about five years’ duration, the beautiful American fastback ruled the road. Its time was brief; the “hardtop convertible” was popularized by General Motors in 1949 and roofs were never quite the same after that. However, I’ll make an argument that the 1949 Buick Sedanet, seen here in Super guise, ranks among the most beautiful of that all-too-brief period of fastback popularity. This swoopy Buick is being listed as a 68,000-mile car that has been restored to original condition, and it’s being offered in Mason City, Iowa, as a Barn Finds Auction with no reserve.
The 1949 Buick Super was completely restyled from the 1948 model, which was itself carried over with few changes from the prewar 1942 Buicks. The engine was largely a carryover: the 248-cubic-inch version of Buick’s straight eight. The 248 was the “small block” of the series; in 1949, only the Roadmaster got the big 150-horsepower 320. The Super’s 248 still developed a respectable 120 horsepower when paired with the optional Dynaflow, which our featured car has. The 248/Dynaflow combination had an extra five horsepower compared to synchromesh cars, the difference being a slightly higher compression ratio thanks to a thinner head gasket. Additionally, Buicks with Dynaflow also had hydraulic valve lifters. The Dynaflow itself was in its first year of availability in the Super in 1949.
The seller tells us that his Super has a new interior, including headliner, upholstery, door panels, and carpet. If you’re not accustomed to driving a 1940s Buick, it takes a minute to accustom yourself to the little quirks that make them fun. The starter is not engaged by twisting the key; instead, you switch the ignition to “on” and push down gently on the accelerator; a microswitch on the Carter two barrel engages the starter, and a vacuum lock in the switch itself and a cutout in the generator circuit keep the starter from activating once the engine starts. The system can get confused, however, because if the engine starts to stall while your foot is still depressing the gas, the starter can try to engage. You quickly learn to remove your foot from the gas with haste, but it’s a rare occurrence.
Additionally, the selector pattern for the Dynaflow is not the traditional P-R-N-D-L, but rather P-N-D-L-R. Reverse is located at the bottom of the range; it’s no sweat once you get used to it. Then, you’ll enjoy shift-free driving; there are no traditional “gears” in a Dynaflow. You can select low range, which has a planetary gearset, but it will never shift on its own. The torque multiplication in “drive” is provided by the torque converter alone, so you will never feel a shift from zero to top speed if you leave it in “drive” range.
But in this case, the fun of owning and driving an old Buick is magnified by the beautiful styling of this particular model, the 56-S Sedanet. The black paint and rechromed bumpers are shiny (and you will not have to go to the expense of having the paint redone or the bumpers rechromed), and the car “runs excellent,” according to the seller. It has a new fuel tank and, shockingly, “no leaks”; the Dynaflow is not the most leak-free transmission on the highway, so to find one that’s dry is a special treat. As a matter of fact, the whole car is a special treat, and if you’re ready to relive the fastback period in American automotive history, bid now!
Bid On This Auction
Car Lover bid $12,500.00 2025-09-25 10:58:50
Ken bid $12,100.00 2025-09-25 10:45:13
Abel bid $12,000.00 2025-09-22 09:17:25
Tom Mack bid $11,000.00 2025-09-22 07:04:05- Abel bid $10,000.00 2025-09-19 12:09:49
AUTOMANRUSS bid $3,500.00 2025-09-19 12:01:09- Tom Mack bid $3,000.00 2025-09-19 08:52:12
Anders bid $1,600.00 2025-09-19 04:41:56
freeman bid $1,500.00 2025-09-19 01:11:00
Olderguy bid $1,000.00 2025-09-18 20:54:40
That is one clean Buick!!
Absolutely gorgeous.
Wow!
What a beautiful Buick! Buy it drive it and enjoy a beautiful old car. End of story.
Gorgeous car. For “no leaks” there’s a goodly amount of oil dry on the shop floor beneath the gas tank and 3rd member.
But how are you going to tell if you are out of oil?
Absolutely beautiful!! Another nice GM Fast Back on Barnfinds.
Another beautiful Sedanet here this week. Beautifully done. 1949 they were finally getting to a fully automatic transmission. Buick called theirs Dynaflow, Caddy and Chevy the Hydramatic and Packard the Ultramatic. And I guess Chrysler first had Fluid drive and then the Torqueflyte. It gets confusing. Interesting note on the carb controlled starter on this Buick. This one looks like a true turnkey car.
One of GM’s best designs of all time in my opinion. Will never win a drag race but will get you there and can cruise at 70 mph all day in close to silence.
Buick’s later triple-turbine Dynaflow of the mid-fifties could snap your head back especially when you mashed the pedal to pass. The ’55 Buick Century I was driving surprised the heck out of me! Also Buick designed the engine to work with the Dynaflow, instead of vice-versa.
“Torpedo-Back, toothy grill! What more could you want in a classic automobile? Nowadays, even BMW’s look like Toyotas, Kia’s, and Hyundais! This Buick, is distinctive. A beauty.
Great looking car! I drove one in high school during the early 70s. My grandparents bought it from Cumberland Motors in Nashville. The vacuum operated wipers would quit working when taking off from a stop light. The interior of my car was perfect. The exterior, well Memaw was not best in the K- Mart parking lot considering that the car did not have power steering. My car was a green color. When I started driving the car, the trans leaked. It cost me $2 for seal and $50 labor. I loved the lines of the and the radio antenna. The antenna was mounted at the top of the windshield and swiveled 360 degrees. I attached a fox tail to it. It still had the 6 volt system.
Would love to have this car but I am not wild about the color black.
The Dynaflow transmission was around for a long while. I had one on my ‘63 Buick Riviera. Great for cruising but not so much for racing. Great looking car, love the straight 8.
they did put the “pass” in passing gear however! From a standing start, they were always a slug.
Could the current bid really be 1,000,000 dollars? I like older Buicks but…….
Could the current bid really be 1,000,000 dollars?
Most people will use the word “Sedanette”, but the Buick name was Sedanet.
I am thinking that someone’s finger hit the 0 too many times
Or that someone isn’t familiar with decimal points.
JON, this is Abel who put in that bid for 100,000 and you’re right I was not familiar with how to put the numbers in. I meant to put a bit of $10,000 and I can’t seem to correct it. I’ve looked all over the website, I’ve tried to contact Barnfinds
I also try to reach out to the owner seller so I’m hoping I’ll get a response to get this corrected. I apologize and definitely don’t want to discourage other bidders.
Cleaner tail lines than the Cadillac Sedanet. This makes you want two (2) . One (1) to keep like this and another to chop and low-ride.
Brings back lots of memories, learned to drive In same car. It was a nice shade of blue. Wishing I had room .
Great description of the starting switch and the Dynaflow transmission. 90% of the commentary about these old Buicks says the starter is under the gas pedal and the tranny is a 2 speed. :(
BTW, Stormberg carburetors were also used on these straight eights. They used a slightly different switch.
The gas pedal starter was a Buick trademark it was used until 61 and transmission shifting or was kelt until the end of 1963
Buicks weren’t the only cars with starters that engaged when you depressed the accelerator pedal. Packards did so, too.
Nashes were also bit quirky. To start them, you had to fully depress the clutch pedal. Later models with automatic transmissions (Ramblers, I suppose) were started by moving the gear selector rearward, toward the driver, while it was in the park or neutral position.
I know from growing-up experience that even the ’37s had the “switch ON, step on the gas” starter set-up. My folks had a Special. These had Marvel-Schebler carbs. It was followed by a ’46 Super.
The ’49 fastback is the epitome of slick, from the “waterfall” grille, through the buttery-smooth straight eight, the Dynaflow (yes, it IS a two-speed only you’ve got to manually shift it) to its pointy rear fenders and bumper, this thing just reeks of “smooth.” Kinda like Perry Como on wheels… and that’s REALLY dating me!
Will, I actually think that describing this year Buick as Perry Como to be pretty accurate. The kind of car you also drove while wearing sensible shoes and hat.
A straw hat and a vest with “saddle shoes”……would be perfect
Perry Como, from Canonsburg, Pa. Wife’s uncle Ned, used to sing with him early on, before he became famous.
My first car, in 1965, was a black ’49 Buick Super (albeit a sedan) given me by my car-dealer uncle. Though it had accumulated about 150,000 miles, the car proved smooth, powerful, and comfortable, particularly on drive-in movie dates. The original engine didn’t misfire or consume or leak oil.The 248 ci straight-eight had never been overhauled. Nor, for that matter, had the Dynaflow. Indeed, in the roughly two years I drove the car, I seem to recall replacing two (at least) generators–the only problem, mechanical or other, that I encountered.
I have always said that this is where the 1971-1973 Riviera design originated from. It’s a modern, sleek take on these beauties.
Wow! What a beauty! Big time class and style.
My ’48 Packard has the same start-up procedure.
My grandfather bought a new 49 Roadmaster 4-door. The speedometer was considered quite trick and we took it down to our mechanic to show it off.
He liked the car so much he bought one for my mother. She was tiny. Did these have power steering?
I used to ride on the package shelf.
One more memory: I can remember having my hand in the door when it was closed. Ouch!
Power steering didn’t show up in the Buick cars until 1952. My granddaddy had a ’52 Super, which was later my first car. I liked to ride on the backseat armrest.
I always loved the 1949 Buick and regretted the frumpy 1950 re-style, which even the 1953 re-working couldn’t rescue. But I never cared for the Sedanet type (I realise that I’m in the minority on this!). I prefer either a four door sedan or the Riviera. This was the first year, I believe, for the Cruiseline Ventaports: three on the Special and the Super; four on the Roadmaster. Hard to fault this restoration, except for those added seat-belts. The 1949-1953 Buick radios tended to fail within 10-15 years, and I wonder if this one works? They had Borg clocks, which are easy to work on and very reliable time-keepers (Packard also used those during these years). Very beautiful Buick! Gas fills under the left tail-light, which was very neat. Glad that the million-dollar bid got corrected!
I’m sure the seller had that million dollar check spent =). I believe it was the early 50s they started with the gas filler under the taillight assembly. It would be interesting to know how many cars were blown up when fumes and sparks met.
The 1948 and 1949 new body Cadillacs had the gas-filler under the left tail-light, and the 1949 Buick had that as well. The 1950 Buick did not. Our 1957 Chevrolet had the filler under the trim piece above the left tail light. It was popular, with many 1950s cars, to locate the gas-filler behind the spring-hinged rear licence-plate. I lived through the 1940s and 1950s, and I do not recollect any filling-station fires caused by alternate locations of filler-caps. But, even in those days when an attendant filled your tank while you watched the whirling balls in the pump; a number of disastrous explosions and fires from emanating gasoline fumes were set-off by that ubiquitous lit cigarette.
The 1949 Buick had a door on the driver side rear fender. The fire risk was related to gas fumes if the taillight bulb blew out.
Ah, yes. I recall working part-tine at a gas station in the mid-sixties (back when Esso regular cost ~27 cents a gallon and ethyl ~32 cents). The mechanic and owner routinely smoked as they pumped gas.
Damn-fool thing to do! But just about every adult and nearly every teenager smoked 60 years ago.
Military, 1960’s, the only way to be outdoors doing nothing was to smoke.