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Post-War Cruiser! 1946 Buick Super

Anyone who’s a fan of the curvy beauties from the 1940s, check this out! This 1946 Buick Super is up for sale here on eBay, in Polk City, Florida and looks to be in rather nice shape! TEASER: There’s a Happy Days and low-budget film tie-in at the end of this article, so read all the way through!

Starting around 1938 or 1939, Buick was searching for a newer look, and they went with what they called a “torpedo” style for 1940, considered cutting-edge at the time. It could be argued that it was influenced by the Cadillac Sixty Special. Power for this first generation Special came from a 248 cubic inch straight-eight with manual gearbox. The second generation started production at the end of 1941, and the new car was supposed to have been much more streamlined and even more forward-thinking, but certain world events in 1941 led the U.S. government to put a stop to everything in February of 1942, after only 33,000 units had been produced.

Fast-forward to 1946 – the industry had to hurriedly re-tool for peacetime the year prior. G.I.s were returning home, life was returning to some semblance of pre-war normalcy, and people wanted new cars. There wasn’t time to make anything new or different, so manufacturers pretty much just dusted off their 1942 drawings and added minor new touches. Buick wisely kept the winning combination of spacious Roadmaster interior room with the economical drivetrain from before, and they sold 119,000 cars that year, 77% of which were Supers.

Presented to us in the ad, through some pretty decent pictures, is a seemingly-mostly-original example of a car that was once plentiful, but now not so much. We’re told that it is roadworthy, turn-key ready, with only cosmetic concerns.  We can see in the pictures a very nice car, with at least some fixup work having been done, and some things needing attention if one wanted to take it to Pebble Beach, but overall a nice piece of American steel from a bygone era.

Okay, I promised you a Happy Days and movie tie-in: If you’ve ever seen Happy Days, you’ll recognize a white Super parked between two Fords in front of Al’s, and If you’ve ever seen the Italian low-budget movie Superargo And The Faceless Giants, you’ll recognize a similar car as the fake police vehicle. When I was a kid, my dad bought a 1940 Special from a friend of his for a bargain-basement price, and I learned how to drive column-shift on it. The knee-action shock absorbers had given up the ghost years before, and replacements were nearly impossible to find back then.  That said, I’d enjoy having this car in my garage for cruising and show nights. There may have been a lot of them back in the day, but there sure aren’t many left now! What do you think of it? Got a story about one? Let us know in the comments!

Comments

  1. Avatar CapNemo

    Yep, this was on here a few days ago. It’s nice enough to look at again tho! Very nice car.

    Like 8
  2. Avatar Barry Traylor

    For some reason this Buick makes me think, ‘leave the gun, take the cannoli’

    Like 6
  3. Avatar Danh

    It would be interesting to see the number of comments for this car. Only because I think the market for the early post-war cars is declining rapidly and popular cars seems to attract more comments.
    Sure are beautiful cars, though!

    Like 5
    • Avatar Nevadahalfrack Member

      I’ll bet the continuing commentary/controversy about the Tucker convertible here has skewed your percentages!
      You’re absolutely right though, the cars my older brother thought as good rods are falling out of favor it seems, and to some small end the muscle cars, as well.

      Like 0
  4. Avatar Bob McK

    Beautiful and rare car.

    Like 1
  5. Avatar Stevo Baich

    I owned this car for 15 years until I sold it in June 2019. The car is in fantastic condition, roadworthy. Will stay up with modern cars.

    Like 0

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