1938 Buick Series 80 Roadmaster Sport Phaeton

The 4-door convertible Phaeton traded its built-in trunk look for a fastback appearance, and a new fastback sedan was added to the line with 466 being sold. The Roadmaster's price was increased, but not as swiftly as the previous year, going to $1,645 for the sedan. Although Buick's overall market share increased in an off-year, Roadmaster sales plummeted to 5,568, falling from 7.3 percent to 3.3 percent of Buick's total output. Styling for 1939 featured a new two-piece 'waterfall' grille with thin vertical bars. The hood was more narrow, as well as the front door pillars and the hubcaps were larger. The window area increased substantially with the rear window changing to a one-piece design. On the interior, all major gauges were moved to the front driver and the gear shift was moved to a column mount. The 4-door Phaeton could now be ordered with a built-in trunk appearance or as a fastback, but only three of the latter were actually sold. Although prices were reduced, (the price of the sedan fell to $1,545) sales only rose to $6,097, with a Roadmaster's share of Buick's total sales falling to 2.9 percent.