After writing 2,429 posts for Barn Finds, I’ve seen and had the pleasure of writing about a lot of distinctive cars. This custom one-off roadster based on a 1925 Buick is certainly one of the coolest of the bunch! It’s listed for sale here on eBay and resides for the moment in Nevada City, California (how do most of the cool cars end up 3,000 miles away from me?). The buy it now price is $69,500 but lower offers are invited.
As told by the seller, the story goes like this: an all-around car fabricator/restorer/tinkerer by the name of Bruce Wyman decided to build himself a one-off roadster that was intended to be reliable enough to drive on classic car events. The combination of components that went into it is mind-boggling! Here goes:
- Engine: 1950 Buick 263 cubic inch straight 8
- Induction: Dual Weber carburetors
- Power: Approximately 150 horsepower
- Gearbox: Borg Warner 5 speed Camaro gearbox
- Rear Axle: Nissan truck
- Front Axle: 1948 Chevrolet truck
- Frame: 1931 Chevrolet (narrowed at the seating area)
- Wheels: 1931 Chevrolet 18 inch wires widened 1-1/2 inches each
- Steering: 1970s Ford pickup
- Body: Hand made 18 gauge steel, based on 1925 Buick radiator shell
- Headlights: Adlake 3150s (1916 Stevens Duryea) fitted with halogen bulbs
- Total Weight: 2520 pounds
The “speedster” windshield looks great, and Mr. Wyman even fitted the car with a convertible top that has enough arch for a driver to comfortably fit underneath. The car was broken in during a ~1,000 mile trip and was said to perform flawlessly. Additionally, the vehicle was awarded first in the Individually Created Automobile class at the Ironstone Concours.
You can read more about the history of the man who created this cool statement here, and see some of his other projects here (there’s also a picture of this car under construction).
I thought I’d end this posting with a shot of the twin sidedraft Weber carburetors. What an eccentric choice for this fine car — but apparently Mr. Wyman had the brains and ability to make it work. I wish he were still around to ask why and how, but we’re told this is from his estate. Do any of you think this is as cool as I do?
Yup, that’s cool alright.
Agreed. Pretty damn cool.
The creation of an engineer that learned metal working, or was he a craftsman with a keen eye for fitment to function and detail?
IHMO he’d of been a valued team member of Durham Body, LeBaron Carrossiers or Fisher Body in their heyday!
That body metal is massively thick. Reminds me of the CSS Hunley (first ever operational submarine), which the Confederates built out of a locomotive boiler.
Extremely cool car, but a little pricey to be in my toy collection.
Love it. I wonder when it was built.
I found an obituary from 2007 that I think was the builder, but I wasn’t sure. This was his last project.
Good sleuthing, Jamie! Nevada City isn’t all that big as I’ll bet you know; wouldn’t it be cool to find if he’d done others like that..
Sounds like a good excuse for someone to make a road trip!!
I thought it was cool when I saw the first photo. Then when I saw the back I was totally blown away. It only got better when I read the specifications; Twin Webers on a straight 8 Buick – JFAwesome!
With my retirement looming ahead this is truly inspirational. I’ll never die because I have too many things to do.
Meh, I’ll admit, it’s neat, but the “coolest car ever”, is a bit of a stretch.
HoA- But you have to admit, the ability of one man to metalsmith, think through and construct a vehicle with so many disparate design and component elements is pretty damn cool!
Don’t want to get all panties bunched in a wad, but I’m just freaking amazed it came out of one guy’s mind. But then I’m a simple fella.
I have a 1926 Henney Hearse that a speedster build is planned for. Now if I can just get these darn kids graduated and outta my house… :)
Coolest car ? Have you got tunnel vision ?
Have a look at ENGLISH VETERAN CARS. Then you will see a different View on KOOL
of course it’s cool…it’s a Buick !
While I love the car and it’s lines, I’m curious why he went with the side draft Webers instead of the stock Buick two 2 barrels or the single four barrel. Guess we’ll never know for sure, but one could speculate that he did it just because he could.
From working on straight sixes, the front and rear cylinders tend to run lean when working with a single carb of any sort. On the eight, running three two barrels or two small four barrels with the appropriate intake runner size would be better. The Webers are very forgiving and the way they are plumbed probably makes the smooth running straight eight stay that way.
I suspect part of the reason is that he race-prepared Morris Minors (and owned a shop that specialized in them). Typical performance carb choice for the A-Series engine is a Weber.
I think the back is “butt ugly”. A boat tail would have looked better…IMHO
Wouldn’t You Rather Have a Buick…Sure, but does sticking a Buick engine in this Creation make it a Buick? I think its more like Johnny
Cash’s…..www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws-_syszg84
Drive by a Boy Named Sue……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR5XGTpophI&list=RDZR5XGTpophI&start_radio=1
Hats off to the builder, he was more than a little talented. He actually replicated a classic helicopter from scratch: http://www.rbwyman.com/id16.htm
A very complex build according to the article you found. Thank you for sharing that discovery, Rod, it pretty much confirms what many here have said-we lost a true craftsman when he left us.
“Coolest car ? Have you got tunnel vision ?
Have a look at ENGLISH VETERAN CARS. Then you will see a different View on KOOL”
And a trip to the Auburn Auto Museum in Indiana will blow your mind. I just got lost in this very special place and couldn’t believe the array of beautiful machines on display. Even my wife who doesn’t like car museums of any description had a special day and I had to drag her out of the place.
Take a “gander” at this beauty in Australia –
http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=198894&country=au
If you want to see how ugly it can really get look at it with the convertible top on it. It actually goes to fugly. I am the one who usually encourages out of the box projects as I have had many of them, but just can’t do it this time. To each his own.
Why do they say the builder was a wiz on the english wheel? There in’t a single compound curve in the whole plate-built body! I mean, it’s a cool build and all, but it’s all flatwork. When I built my 32 Buick speedster, it got some curves! Some flatwork, plus lots of pieces cut and welded to the final form – close to the original concept. Here’s a set of still images (posted in a ‘video’): https://youtu.be/JCbF67liaOw