LROM- NJ chapter of the Buick Club of America car show

So is a bit of a stretch, but Tom thought it would be better than nothing. I went to the BCA's NJ chapter spring show held in town here at Straub Buick. The event usually has 125 to 150 cars, but thanks to the lousy weather, we got a scant 25 or so. Figures the first year I get to go to this, is the first year the weather all but ruins it, but that's life. Anyway, in spite of the weather I had a really good time. It was nice to meet some local car guys. The show was open to all makes and models, and as it happened, I think we had more Pontiacs than Buicks! I had planned on taking my LeSabre, but the lack of an intact rear window means that car only goes out top-down, and with no threat of rain. I got both ready just in case, but it was drizzling when I was ready to leave, so I took the Grand Safari instead.


Here it is. A whopping mile from my house. There were tons of those goofy looking new Buick Encores laying around.









So I guess I'd better start with the longroofs, huh? Well, there was mine of course, and then there was this slick '55 Chevy. That was it for the longroofs.




Check out this chevy-logo embossed tip!



Next, I'm going with this no-roof; a '75 LeSabre Custom convertible, because I am after all, biased to '75 LeSabres. This LeSabre was owned by the dealership owner's brother. The car was ordered new from this dealer toward the very end of the '75 run. It's almost fully loaded, the only option it lacks seems to be the power seat (which my LeS has, go figure).














Next up we've got this banana colored 1965 Riviera.





Then, we've got a '73 Riviera; the last of the boat-tail generation Riv.




Note that the interior, vinyl roof, and pinstripe are all color-matched!



And while we're still on Rivieras, here's the last one: A 1967 model.






Now, how about this 1940 Buick Century? Not the usual 1990's A-body or W-body grannymobile I usually think of when I think Buick Century!




And this 1953 Buick was quite a beauty indeed.










Inside the showroom, there was this early 1960's Buick Special. This car was sold new at this same dealership, then bought back at some time later, and kept in the showroom.



And no car show would be complete without a Grand National! This one, however, deviates from the ubiquitous black.



So… I’ve saved the best Buick for last:
Check out this 1915 Buick 2-seater. It’s a model C-24. This was by far the coolest thing ever. Neat story with it too. The car was purchased by the owner’s Grandfather in July 1941 from a scrapyard. It was purchased for $10 and some crap of equal weight. Some deal, eh?
I’ll start off with a video I took of it starting, driving around, and a close up of the engine idling and the very primate oil pressure indicator (I don’t think you could really call it a gauge).



















No more Buicks, but there's more... coming up right after this...

I'll start this next spot off the only Oldsmobile
This immaculate 1975 Cutlass Salon was purchased brand new by it's owner. At the time he was actually working at an Olds dealer right across the highway from this dealer, which is now a Nissan dealership. He said he never intended to keep it for 41 years, but him and his wife just really loved the car, so it stuck around. It was well optioned out too, even had the floor shifter.



SO NOW..... on to the Pontiacs. OK, I think there were more Buicks than Pontiacs, but they came in 2nd by just a few.

First, I'll start with this 1970 GTO. It isn't offically a car show until a GTO shows up you know.
I liked the color of this one.



Then, we go back a few years to this '62 Catalina. I also really liked this car. But I suppose that's because it's a B-body, hmmm?






And right next to that, was this tricked out 1959 Pontiac Bonneville






It's a shame they only used this front end design for one year, it sure was beautiful.


Look at the lines of this car!



Now we go back to my apparent favorite time period: The Malaise Era...
Here's a sweet 1973 Grandville convertible. I was fortunate enough to park next to this with my heap.





Look at that interior! So posh!


I will now get back to the Chevys. And what better to start with, than the ICE CREAM TRUCK!
A 1954 Chevy chassis-cab truck with an ice cream body. (I guess that's what you'd call it?)



Look, even the kid and man were dressed up like 1950's ice cream vendors!


And then there was this '72 Chevelle SS. Pretty sweet car...

I thought the under-hood pin stripe treatment was pretty neat. He had an old-time pin striper do it for him, and told him to just do whatever he felt looked right. It sure came out nice.




And this El Camino sure was wearing one huge bow-tie!


And lastly, this sweet Corvette Stingray. I forget weather it was a '68 or '69.


Dig those redlines!


So that's it for the GM stuff. Coming up next... all the rest!

And now... the rest.
I'll start with my favorite of "the rest" this Nash Metropolitan. You all probably know the Met is a small car, but my goodness, wait until you see one in person, it's absolutely TINY!




LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THE TAILPIPE! My riding mower has a bigger exhaust pipe!


And then there was this Land Rover


Check out this external battery connection. Pretty cool. And hey, I could use a fender mounted shovel on my wagon!

I got a laugh out of this. Eddie Haskell, what a jerk. Always acting nice in front of The Beaver's parents!

In keeping with the utility theme, here's a pair of Jeeps. One old, and the other... even older!


And here's a sharp looking Mercury. I'll bet the owner wears a leather jacket.


Another car show staple, a first-gen Mustang



And here is another more modern 'Stang. This one was a 2007 Rausch something or other.


And look at all those trophies...

You've heard the old saying "at a rainy day car show, everyone wins"?

Well...


Me and my wagon took 2nd place in the "Best Unrestored" category. Unrestored... you can say that again!

I hope you all enjoyed my coverage of this practically rained out event as much as I enjoyed being able to share this with you all. It was a fun way to spend an otherwise lousy day, and I look forward to going again next year (hold the rain, please!).

-Lynol

Lynol, first of all, thank you very much for putting this together on real short notice. That looked like a great car show, lot of nice stuff there. Other than that big Pontiac wagon, it would be awful tuff to choose a favorite.

thanks again!

Tom

Some good lookin' cars there!  I may be a little biased, but I think you should've gotten 1st place in the "best unrestored" category.

Drooling on my keyboard. Great pics! Glad some folks weathered the storm!

Thanks for posting! Oh and I remember that dealership. Looked at a NEW '89 Buick Estate Wagon there with my Dad when out '86 started burning oil. Ha!

-Mike

Looked like a lot of fun. Way to represent!

I love your cars Lynol. Disco Lives at your house! Too cool!

OH and meant to tell you, there is a new movie coming out called The Nice Guys that is supposed to be in the 70's. Saw a preview and there was your Buick ragtop. Movie looks funny. Check it out!

-Mike

81X11 wrote:

I love your cars Lynol.   Disco Lives at your house!  Too cool!  

OH and meant to tell you, there is a new movie coming out called The Nice Guys that is supposed to be in the 70's.   Saw a preview and there was your Buick ragtop.   Movie looks funny.  Check it out!

-Mike

Lol, it's funny that you say that; on a recent yarding excursion to northern Massachusetts, I picked up a Delco AM-FM/8-track/CB stereo for the Pontiac. I have a small collection of 8-tracks I'll now be able to listen to in the car!

Lynol wrote:

81X11 wrote:

I love your cars Lynol.   Disco Lives at your house!  Too cool!  

OH and meant to tell you, there is a new movie coming out called The Nice Guys that is supposed to be in the 70's.   Saw a preview and there was your Buick ragtop.   Movie looks funny.  Check it out!

-Mike

Lol, it's funny that you say that; on a recent yarding excursion to northern Massachusetts, I picked up a Delco AM-FM/8-track/CB stereo for the Pontiac. I have a small collection of 8-tracks I'll now be able to listen to in the car!

PERFECT!

Congrats on the win!!! Love the pics....question: Was the plaque on the 75 LeSabre (no top) factory? I've never seen that before...

That continental kit on the Pontiac...I can't imagine backing that sucker up at night.

brokecello wrote:

Congrats on the win!!!  Love the pics....question:  Was the plaque on the 75 LeSabre (no top) factory?  I've never seen that before...

That continental kit on the Pontiac...I can't imagine backing that sucker up at night.  

I do not believe that dash plaque was factory, but it may have been something the dealer put on the last of these convertibles that they ordered. The owner of the car (who I remind you is dealership family) remembers the last of the few convertibles they ordered at the dealership (4 or 5) and this was one of them. Keep in mind that car companies were planning on discontinuing convertibles of all kinds permanently to comply with upcoming rollover regulations that were not yet fully known at the time, so the final years of drop tops were seen as collectible cars.

Lynol wrote:

I picked up a Delco AM-FM/8-track/CB stereo for the Pontiac. I have a small collection of 8-tracks I'll now be able to listen to in the car!

You need to get the antenna that goes with the cb,. it has an extra coil mid way up,.
it's cool the way the cb will mute the radio/tape when its receiving a broadcast,.depends on where you have the squelch set at,.

You'll need to keep a book of matches close by for the 8 track,.

when i was selling cars way back when,. i had an 81 triple burgundy fleetwood brougham , with a 5,7 diesel in it,.
it also had the am/fm cassette cb, i kept it for a daily driver for nearly a year,..
I sold it to a man in regina saskatchewan,.

phantom 309 wrote:

Lynol wrote:

I picked up a Delco AM-FM/8-track/CB stereo for the Pontiac. I have a small collection of 8-tracks I'll now be able to listen to in the car!

You need to get the antenna that goes with the cb,. it has an extra coil mid way up,.
it's cool the way the cb will mute the radio/tape when its receiving a broadcast,.depends on where you have the squelch set at,.

You'll need to keep a book of matches close by for the 8 track,.    

when i was selling cars way back when,. i had an 81 triple burgundy fleetwood brougham , with a 5,7 diesel in it,.
it also had the am/fm cassette cb, i kept it for a daily driver for nearly a year,..
I sold it to a man in regina saskatchewan,.

Shoot, I didn't know about the antenna. Thought I was real keen making sure I pulled all the modules and boxes and adapters and wires that went with it, but did not think about the antenna after seeing that it had a standard connection. Oh, I also got an AM-FM/CB/cassette one out of an '84 Caddy down in Georgia. That one is even cooler, as it has the CB display and ch. selector knob (or was it the squelch?) right on the microphone.

Ha ha, that matchbook thing is an old trick, I remember. I'll bet some of the people are reading that and wondering WTF we're talking about with that.

Lynol wrote:

Ha ha, that matchbook thing is an old trick, I remember. I'll bet some of the people are reading that and wondering WTF we're talking about with that.

???

CB has been fun, I've only been into it for a few weeks but I already have 4 radios and 3 antennas.