1942 Buick Special Series 40B Estate Wagon

Hollywood film director Norman McLeod's wife was asked by Buick company president Harlow Curtice why she did not have a Buick in her garage. Her response was that Buick did not have a station wagon. The first Buick estate wagon subsequently appeared soon thereafter, in mid-1940, and quickly sold out.

Two years later, in 1942, Buick introduced new styling changes throughout its range which were inspired by Harley Earl's 1938 Buick Y-Job concept car.

The Series 40B was available in several bodystyles with the estate wagon being the rarest variant, with just 327 examples built before General Motors' facilities were abruptly converted to wartime production in February 1942.

The Series 40B was powered by a Fireball DynaFlash straight-eight engine offering 115 horsepower, which was transmitted to the rear axle via a three-speed manual gearbox. The wood-paneled body was produced for Buick by Hercules of Evansville, Indiana, and, for the 1942 model year, featured fenders that extended deep into the front doors.

It is believed that approximately half of the wagons were acquired by the government and used for the war effort.

This particular example is believed to have been one of the wagons used by the U.S. government. It is believed that it was assigned to a General Arnold Milhop as a staff car, and was returned to the US after the war for use as the general's personal car for a number of years. It passed through a series of subsequent owners before coming into the care of Myron Golden of Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1994.

Mr. Golden treated the car to a no-expense-spared restoration in 1996. It was finished in seafoam green with a dark green leather interior. The work was completed in 2001 and earned a number of concours awards, including First Junior (2001), Senior (2002), and Preservation Awards at AACA shows.

Currently, only three 1942 Buick Estate Wagons are known to have survived.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2017