Post-war United States saw the beginnings of ever-increasing vehicle sizes, chrome, highways, and luxury. A big, heavy, comfortable car was now solidly included in the idea of the American Dream, and General Motors was ready to fill that need in spades. Buick’s entry was the Special, and this 1951 model is relatively bare-bones, as far as Buicks are concerned. Regardless of options, this barn find is in great shape, especially since it’s been in North Dakota for its whole life. You can find it here on eBay.
Buicks, through the middle twentieth century, developed a bit of a reputation for being an old people’s car. Deservedly so, they were comfortable and sedate rather than fast and exciting. Being an old people’s car isn’t a bad thing, though, and this is a car that is comfortable with its identity. Buick introduced some exciting cars later on, but this one is powered by a 263 cubic inch straight-eight Fireball engine, producing around 120 horsepower and spinning the rear wheels through a three-on-the-tree transmission. That 120 horsepower was pushing nearly 4,000 pounds of American metal down the road, so breakneck acceleration wasn’t exactly its strong suit.
Inside, there is room enough for as many as eight people across two bench seats, and I can’t for the life of me think of anything modern that comes even remotely close to that seating capacity, especially nothing with just two doors. “They don’t make them like they used to,” that’s for sure. Those bench seats have some stains on them, but everything else looks to be in okay condition.
The picture of the trunk is perhaps one of the clearest images provided by the seller, so we can discern the condition of the rest of the vehicle from this. It can be summed up as “good, driveable, not museum-quality.” There are no holes in the floor, the paint is decent, and everything is there. Really this car would make for an amazing cruiser with original and genuine patina. I have a soft spot for Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, and nicer Chevrolets. I come from a GM family and have personally owned two Buicks and an Oldsmobile, and my extended family drives that number up exponentially. Take it from me: this is the quintessential Buick, and it should be driven and enjoyed like it was designed to be.
Low rider!
Aww, what a good boy/girl!!
Maybe not a lot of acceleration, but it was smooth, as straight 8’s are.
Does it come with the doggo??
It looks to be in pristine condition. How do I know? Because that is no junkyard dog. 😉
How much just for the dog? Is there a reserve perhaps?
My dad bought a new ’51 Buick Special in dark green. I was born in 1952 and this particular car he had was the one that got me addicted to cars at a very young age.
I used to sit in it in our carport and pretend I was driving. My dad used to tell me to be sure not to move the shifter because the car might roll. So I “shifted gears” using the turn signal stalk. And like any new driver, I began shifting harder and faster until one day I broke the lever off!
Boy, oh boy was my dad mad about that. My punishment was no more driving the Buick.
Looks like a genuine 36,000 mile car. But the only thing “Special” about this is it’s name. The cheapest Buick model for 1953, only has a radio and heater, not even Dynaflush or overdrive. This is a great car for someone wanting to enter the old car hobby. Sad to say, it’s probably gonna end up as a custom.
No Buick came with overdrive until 1981.
Marty,
I know Buick never offered the typical Overdrive/stickshift, my comment was a veiled attempt to point this out, thanks for catching it! I’ve always wondered why they didn’t offer OD, especially when Packard, starting in 1940, offered OD on every model and series cars thru to the end. {Even on models where Ultra-Matic was standard, you could still get stickshift and OD, I’ve even ridden in a V8 Caribbean convertible with stickshift & OD.}
Nice car, and dog!
Located in:
Pelican Rapids, Minnesota,
BIN price $11,900
I bought a 1953 Buick Special in Baltimore in October 1957. It had about 16,000 miles on the odometer. Straight eight, stick shift, had an am radio. Drove it across country in 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962. Had very few problems. Odometer failed at about 72,000 miles, so I don’t know what the true miles were. My wife was in Pittsburgh, about to join me in Germany, and sold it to my cousin. He changed the oil, put in a new filter and drove it to California, where he kept it for several years. Finally, it just wore out and he junked it. Loved that car.