I’m pretty sure it has seen only routine maintenance or a rebuild here and there, and it was no surprise to see it in Berkeley at the Bowl (a little beyond home turf). It’s been used pretty much as a whimsical third car since the early ’90s, sometimes as a draw at open houses, other times as a grocery-getter when the mood strikes. In fact, you’re looking at the very car that saw him through college, early marriage, and his fledgling Real Estate career in early-80s San Mateo County. Now, just how do I know this buxom beast? It belongs to my Uncle Albert’s neighbor, a Real Estate agent who works in my hometown and who attended high school with my mother. At least (and thankfully), we were still a few years away from the horrible Flight Pitch Dynaflow. That was par for the course in 1956, as even Oldsmobile softened spring rates and found ways to control the unruliness of its Hydramatic. The Variable Pitch Dynaflow helped liven things up a bit, but the rest of the driving experience was pretty soggy. At that price range, it was not only obtainable by upper-middle class buyers in 1956, but in fact a relative bargain for what it was: a full-boot luxury sedan. Adjusted for inflation, a Roadmaster would cost between $35,000 and $40,000 today. From subtle creases to totally unnecessary parking lamps and then-traditional ventiports, you got a lot of detail for every dollar you spent. The Roadmaster looks every pound of its girth. Comparable Cadillacs looked like they’d hit the gym and muscled up after consuming too many bon bons between 19. The Ninety Eight, which had been demoted to a “Super B-Body” in 1954, was restrained to the point of embarrassment trying to hide its true weight and size. Few cars possess the presence of a mid-1950s Roadmaster, including its C-Body siblings. King-led Drifters.īut two years before the show was over, this particular unsinkable ocean liner was produced. For 1959, the whole royal family was sent packing and replaced by a new cast of Buicks–in musical terms, it was the Clyde McPhatter-led Drifters becoming the Ben E. Priced halfway between comparable 62-Series and DeVille Cadillacs, its return proved to be an act poisonous to both it and the Roadmaster.
1950 buick roadmaster sedan series#
In truth, the King actually shared the stage with the Emperor-in-exile during the last year of its reign, as the Series 90 Limited returned after a 15-year absence. In 1958, Buick attempted to hide the Roadmaster’s weight with unduly harsh plastic surgery that finally forced the former king of the road to clean out its desk. Twenty years in the same career role makes a harsh mistress, especially following a consistently good run. The quality lapse likely affected more of the Specials and Centuries that represented most of the sales tally, but nevertheless tarnished the whole family. But the pressure to get the cars out the door resulted in quality deficiencies that many regular buyers of Flint’s usually peerless products found off-putting. Nineteen fifty-five was a record sales year, for Buick and the industry in general. Its quiet, discreet dominance of the luxury class peaked in the hullabaloo that was the 1955 selling season. Only name recognition kept the Roadmaster from being renamed Road King. The Roadmaster’s image of power-by-the-pound domination of the roadway helped spur sales of the more cavalier Century and the sprightly Special–so much, in fact, that Buick’s 1954 sales volume surpassed Plymouth’s. Roadmasters cultivated a wafting-land-yacht aura long before either Cadillac or Oldsmobile (which still strived for a pretense of athleticism), offering seamless, slushy Dynaflow shifting and the comparatively curious Nailhead V8 in the horsepower race.īut the big deal about the Roadmaster is the subtle yet powerful significance it brought to the entire Buick line. In a number of ways it provided a completely different experience than its C-Body siblings. The Roadmaster became Buick’s reliable, go-to, “Speak softly and carry a big stick” alternative to a Cadillac. And surely as America loves things big, it was a big hit: Just over 16,000 were sold, even in the midst of the depression. It was, however, significantly less costly than a comparable LaSalle or Cadillac. The thrilling straight-eight delivered 120 hp–comparable with Cadillac–and had heft and length to spare. From the start, it was a big, bodacious, brawny bargain. Twenty years before our subject car was built, the Buick Roadmaster made its debut, augmenting the Series 80 designation that had identified earlier Buick models. It’s appropriate that we met again in a grocery store parking lot, but before I go further, here’s a little backstory on why a Roadmaster is a big deal in the first place. It might surprise you that this big, black, buxom beauty and I go a long way back in fact, you might say it’s an old family friend. ( first posted ) Some cars never let you escape the gravitational pull they have on your life.