photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Ken Leonard | all galleries >> Galleries >> A Century of Buick > 1954 Buick Roadmaster convertable - Click on photo to see much more info
previous | next

1954 Buick Roadmaster convertable - Click on photo to see much more info

Artists rendition of 1954 Buick roadmaster
http://www.ephemeranow.com/cars/cars117.htm


other sizes: small medium large original auto
share
Al Sonsino 03-Sep-2011 13:42
Just Beautiful.......Al, Dallas, Tx.
Guest 07-Jun-2010 23:54
Can't argue with all the comments. I'm restoring a 54 Roadmaster 4dr post. People think 4 dr's don't have any value. Let me tell you, the figure of this car is unique, can't wait to finish it and take for a ride! I can imagine how many bussiness people, executives or regular the family man drove these type of vehicle.
berthomier michel 26-Feb-2010 11:06
very nice car.is this one paint in dante red?i am renewing a 1950 roadmaster station wagon woody and iwould like to paint it in dante red(original was marroon).i saw a comment from rick johnson.is it my friend ricky( mx rider)who i meet in tahiti in 1976-77?THANK YOU VERY MUCH for help. MIMI111
Guest 12-Dec-2008 08:36
This was quality GM steel.. Perfect ta knock them frickin Georgia Guidestones over with... ;) Hotcha....
jc 27-Apr-2008 04:15
can you e-mail more photos to jcnunez4@gmail.com my dad is 84 year old and loves this type of car
T 31-May-2007 18:26
I graduated from highschool in 1955. I fell in love with the 54 models and oggled them every time I saw one on the road or parked. I never did own one as they were far out of my price range. Seeing a website like this brings back all those wonderful memories. I have always thought the 54 could not be beaten for styling although the 55 was handsome too. With all the wonderful inovations in autos since, none can stand up in styling to those wonderful cars of the 50's, and of course the Buick. A wonderful website, thanks a million.
Guest 02-Jan-2007 01:18
I owned a 1954 Buick Century Convertable in 1959 (2nd owner) and of course I didn't know what I had, it had a Fireball V8, just the 2nd year that Buick had a V8), It was Navy blue with Navy blue interior and leather seats. It was loaded for that day, and a great car. I was young (22) at the time and thought this was just to expensive to keep up. I lived in Alamagordo at the time, and I traded my Buick for a 1956 VW with a "rag top". Cheaper to run, but what a mistake. I have never see a 54 Century Convertable since, and of course now I wish I could have kept it. Life goes on.
Guest 14-Nov-2006 23:20
my family had a chartreuse and dark green 1954 special. it used to gather a crowd wherever we went
Rick Johnson 29-Mar-2005 23:58
1954 Buick Roadmaster Convertible. Ken, another outstanding angular photograph, highlighting the new headlight treatment, beautiful verticle bar grille, the "Dagmar" bumper guards, and the wrap around windshield. The wrap around windshield had first appeared on GM limited production specialty cars in 1953: the Buick Skylark, the Oldsmobile Fiesta, and the Cadillac Eldorado. In 1954 all production Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, and Buicks had these windshields, and by 1955 most production automobiles had this feature. The headlight treatment was first seen on an early fifties Buick showcar. Showcars of the nineteen fifties are known as the "Concept Cars" of today.

The 1954 Buick was the last year for the verticle bar "toothy" grille that had been a Buick trademark since 1942. In my opinion, they saved the best for last, as I believe this was the best rendition of the verticle bar grille. The 1954 Buick is a gorgeous car. It's advertising was....."Buick, the Beautiful Buy". The public certainly thought so, moving Buick to third in sales for the model year, outsold only by Chevrolet and Ford of the "low-price three".

This was also the last year Buick would designate four portholes or ventiports exclusively on the top of the line Roadmaster series. The Super, Century, and Special series would have only three. From 1955 through the 1957 model year, all series except Special would have four. In 1958, the ventiports that had appeared on Buick automobiles since 1949, were gone.

1954 saw a couple of firsts for Buick. For the first time in its history,as previously stated,Buick finished third in sales for the model year behind Chevrolet and Ford, replacing Plymouth, the other member of the so-called "low-price three". This was mainly due to the popularity of the Special series, Buick dependability, and the outstanding styling of the day. Buick would repeat its third place in sales in model year 1955 and almost double its production levels from the previous model year with production exceeding 700,000 units for the model year.

The other first was that the Century series was added to the model lineup for the first time in the post war period, i.e., after World War II. The Century series was based on the smaller wheelbase Special series, but had the big Roadmaster V-8 engine under the hood. This made for a really fast Buick and their first high horsepower "Muscle Car". Sort of the Buick Gran Sport or Buick Grand National of its day. The idea wasn't new. Oldsmobile had done it in 1949 when they placed an overhead valve V-8 in the smaller lighter 88" series Oldsmobile, who shared GM bodies with Chevrolet and Pontiac, while the luxury 98 series was based on the same platform as Buick and Cadillac.

The red convertible shown in Ken's photograph was the most expensive Buick except for the Buick Skylark, which came back one more year for an encore performance, this time based on the Century-Special chassis. The more famous 1953 Buick Skylark had been based on the Buick Roadmaster.

The 1954 Buick........the Beautiful Buy........as beautifully and professionally photographed by Ken. It was, and is, my favorite Buick of all time.
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment