Buick

Buick is a brand of automobile built in the United States, Canada, and China by General Motors Corporation. Buicks are sold in North America, China, the CIS countries, and the Middle East. The name is pronounced "BYOO-ick" (IPA 'bjuIk).

Distinguishing features

Buick's emblem consists of three shields, each bisected diagonally to the right by a straight line, the shields arranged touching each other in a left-diagonal pattern, inside a circle. If represented in color, the leftmost shield is red, the middle white, and the rightmost blue, although white is sometimes represented by light gray. This design was adopted in 1959 and represents the three models that comprised the lineup that year—LeSabre, Invicta, and Electra. The shields are adopted from the shield of the Buick family crest, which in modified form had been used on Buicks since the 30s. A version of the traditional crest appeared on Electras through the 70s.

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A traditional Buick styling cue dating to 1949 is a series of three or four portholes or vents on the front fender behind the front wheels. The source of this design feature was a custom car (one not made by Buick), which in addition had a flashing light within each hole, each synchronized with a specific spark plug - a feature not used by Buick. These were originally called Ventiports (later just portholes), and have appeared sporadically on several models since, as nonfunctional ornamentation. Lower cost models were equipped with three portholes, while higher cost models came with four; when the number of portholes was standardized across the entire model line, buyers of the higher cost models complained bitterly that they felt shortchanged. The number of holes did not refer to the number of cylinders in the engine. As of 2003 they have been re-introduced on the Buick Park Avenue. The Park Avenue is gone, but Buick salvaged the portholes as they appear on their new Lucerne, which is coming soon.

Related Topics:
1949 - Custom car - 2003 - Buick Park Avenue - Lucerne

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Another styling cue during the 1940s - 1970s was the "sweep-side", a curved line running the length of the car. In the earlier cars, this was a chrome-plated rub strip which, after it passed the front wheel, gently curved down nearly to the rocker panel just before the rear wheel, and then curved around the rear wheel in a quarter of a circle to go straight back to the tail-light. During the 1950s, the form of the Buick tail-lights were a tier of small circular bullet-shaped ones. The one styling cue from the 1940s which has most often reappeared is for the grille to be a horizontal oval with many thin vertical chromed ribs bulging forward.

Related Topics:
1940s - 1970s

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The Buick V8 engine, nicknamed the "nailhead", became popular with hot-rodders in the 1950s and 1960s, because the vertical attachment of the valve covers, in contrast to the angled attachment of other V-8 engines, enabled the engine to fit into smaller spaces while maintaining easy access for maintenance.

Related Topics:
Buick V8 engine - Hot-rod - 1950s - 1960s - Valve cover

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