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My Search for a 1941 Buick Century For about two years now, I've been looking for the right antique project car to restore to original condition. My father drove a 1941 Buick Super coupe, model 56-S, to work every day when I was a kid in the early 80s. I have many fond memories of his '41, and of all the antique cars we owned, this was the only one that seemed to be completely reliable, comfortable and truly modern in its execution. My father had nothing but praise for the car he owned (except for its clutch--a problem I hope was limited to his particular car), and encouraged me in my search for a similar vehicle--something I thought he'd never do. So I started thinking about what I really wanted.
After looking through my reference books and talking to Doug Seybold, a local Buick expert, I decided I wanted a 1941 Buick Century 66-S coupe, which features the wonderful sedanette or "torpedo" styling shown below. Basically, the roof forms a graceful curve all the way back to the rear bumper, giving it an aerodynamic and very Art-Deco appearance. It was truly a product of the '40s. I also liked the Century because it blended the styling I loved with the most powerful engine available in America at the time: Buick's famed Fireball straight-eight.
I quickly learned, however, that 2-door '41 Centurys are extremely hard to find, with only 5521 built in 1941. Doug Seybold, who seems to have a knack for finding clean, restorable, rare Buicks, even speculated that I'd be better off with a Special sedanette. The Specials enjoyed a production run of 106,463 in 1941, nearly 20 times as many as the Century. He hadn't seen a Century in years that was in restorable condition. I was really disappointed, and decided that perhaps a Special would make me happy after all.
Searching Hemmings, Ebay and every other antique car Internet site I could find only confirmed what Doug had said. There were quite a few Specials in all conditions, but the only Centurys I could find were a pair of perfectly restored cars that were out of my price range, and a really ragged car in Iowa. I was initially very excited about this Iowa car, but when I told the owner I was coming out to see it, he hastily told me that they were cutting it up to make a hot-rod. However, more than eight months later, it is still advertised (at less than half the price I was offered!), and my BS-detector tells me that this car is so rough that the owner was certain I would pass on it if I saw it up close. What he probably wanted was a "sight-unseen" sale over the phone. Forget about it. Then I found a Century coupe in California. The guy who owned it had started a restoration, but gave up for some reason. It was clean and driveable, not requiring a full restoration, but was a "work in progress." A very nice car, and the price was right. But when I contacted the owner by E-mail, all I got was a two-word response: "It's sold."
So I came close a few times. I found a pair of really nice, clean, straight Special sedanettes, one of them a relatively rare SSE model, but held off for some reason. Money was a little tight, we were in the middle of a major remodel of our house, and I wasn't fully prepared to start the restoration as my shop was in total disarray from a recent move. The owner of one of the Specials even called me back a few weeks after I passed on his car to offer it to me at a greatly reduced price, and threw in a parts car for free. I was really torn, but my wife, Julia, told me to hang in there. There were other cars, and we would be able to find one when we were better able to afford it. It broke my heart to hear it, but she was right, and I knew it. She's smart that way.
Then I started thinking that maybe I could buy a Century 4-door sedan (which was much more common) and a Special 2-door sedanette, and put the sedanette body on the Century chassis--they were the same, after all. But again, I thought that would defeat the purpose of a restoration--it wouldn't be an original car any more, would it? And it would undoubtedly be more expensive to do it that way, with the final product being worth less than an original. I also expanded my search to include 1941 Cadillacs, which used the same wheelbase and sedanette body, and were high-end, comfortable, reliable cars like the Buick. They were also more common, with Cadillac having built 11,812 Model 61 fastback coupes in 1941. But they were also somewhat hard to find, every bit as expensive, and many had the first-year Hydramatic automatic transmission, something I definitely did not want for reliability reasons. So I struck out there, as well.
I was stuck and decided to wait until next year to really start my search. That would give our bank account time to recover, and perhaps other cars would arrive on the market. I was disappointed, but since I had other projects, I knew I could stay busy and keep Buicks out of my mind. I knew Julia was sick of hearing about Buicks (and Cadillacs) every day. I told her I would cool it, but if the right car presented itself, I wanted to be able to move quickly. She agreed that if the right car at the right price in the right condition showed up, she would have no problem with me buying it. Clever girl: she knew how hard it would be to find a clean, unrestored, functional '41 Buick Century coupe at an affordable price. She felt confident that I'd be docile for another year or so. But on May 28, 2002, I found the right car at the right price in the right condition. It was listed on the same site with one of the Specials I nearly bought earlier. I called the owner immediately and expressed an interest. The only problem? The car was in Colorado and I live in Cleveland. I certainly wasn't going to fly to Colorado to check out a "maybe." My heart had been broken too many times before to make any kind of financial investment in a "maybe" car.So I went to one of the Internet message boards for antique cars that I frequented looking for leads, and asked if anyone lived near Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and if they could take a look at the car for me. A gentleman named Jim Fisher responded that he'd be happy to have a look, since he only lived about 12 miles away. I gave him the owner's name, and he went out that afternoon. By the end of the day, I had a glowing report on the car from Jim, who said that it ran perfectly, the body was straight and rust-free, and that if it were his car, he'd throw a coat of paint on it and enjoy it. He checked everything, and I mean everything, and I felt confident in his appraisal and purchased the car sight-unseen. Thanks, Jim!
Here's my car: It's a 1941 Buick Century 2-door 6-passenger coupe, model number 66-S, exactly what I wanted. It isn't much to look at in this photo, but I promise there will be more pictures as the project progresses. This is a very BIG car: nearly 18 feet long, weighing 4157 pounds and riding on a 126-inch wheelbase--about the size of a full-sized Ford F150 pickup truck. This car has the optional factory-installed dual carbs, clock and AM/shortwave radio, and is in excellent mechanical condition. The car has lived its entire life in Colorado, and the body is straight and rust-free. The seller reports that it probably needs the carburetors rebuilt, but that it runs just fine as-is and doesn't smoke. He'd started collecting parts for a restoration 20 years ago, but he just never got around to it, as his interest is in Ford Retractables. He was an extremely nice man who was very straight with me on the phone, and has worked with me to make the transition as smooth as possible. I'm really glad I didn't "settle" for something I didn't really want. If I had one of those Specials or a Cadillac in my garage, would I have been able to enjoy it after missing the opportunity to own this Century? Would my impatience have ruined the entire experience for me? I guess that's an important lesson--patience pays off. This will be my motto for the entire project. I confirmed shipping information today (6-6-02), and I'll have more photos as the project progresses. Stay tuned... E-mail me at toolman8@sbcglobal.net This page accessed Thanks, Fidget! |
