1969 Buick Wildcat Custom Convertible

Buick is among the oldest automobile brands in the world and currently the oldest American still-active automotive make. It originated as the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company in 1899, an independent internal combustion engine and motor-car manufacturer, and was later incorporated as the Buick Motor Company on May 19th of 1903 by Scottish-born David Dunbar Buick in Detroit, Michigan. Later in the year, the struggling company was taken over by James H. Whiting who moved it to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and brought in William C. Durant in 1904 to manage his new acquisition.

Durant had many important business qualities including being a natural promoter. Buick soon became the largest car maker in America. Using the profits from Buick, Durant began to acquire other manufactures and soon created General Motors. Buick continued to ben an internal part of General Motors through the ensuing decades. It has been an international favorite since the twenties and remains so in modern times.

In the Fifties, Buick began making higher performance cars with V-8 engines. Eventually this evolved into the GS series. The Wildcat evolved from the 1962 Buick Invicta. It became its own series in 1962.

A total of 2,374 Buick Wildcat Custom Convertibles were produced in 1969.

Priced new at $3,950, the car came from the factory equipped with a 430 cubic-inch V8 with the all new accu-drive suspension and variable rate power steering. The car was purchased in 1985 from the original owner in Columbus, Ohio. It was completely restored by noted Buick expert Bill Schoening in 2002.

By Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2011