1954 Buick Landau Concept

In 1954, the Buick Landau show car was built on a Roadmaster chassis and was reminiscent of the classic landaus from the 1930s. The chauffeur's compartment was in blue leather and sealed off by a divisional electric window. The rear compartment had beige leather with mutton carpeting. Note the leather straps on the padded trunk and the landau top, which were hydraulically operated. The spare tire could be found in a compartment that was behind the swing-down rear bumper.

This was certainly a unique showpiece, and different from the Roadmaster's line of body styles that included a two-door hardtop, sedan, and convertible coupe.

Within the 1954 Buick lineup was the Special, Century, and Skylark rested on a 122-inch wheelbase, while the Super and the Roadmaster had a 127-inch wheelbase platform. The Buick engines included the 264 cubic-inch overhead-valve V8 rated at 143 horsepower (slightly higher when equipped with the automatic). The Century was powered by a 322 CID V8 with 7.2:1 compression and 195 horsepower. The Super was equipped with a lower compression version of the Century's engine, offering 177 horsepower. The Roadmaster and Skylark had the same engine as the Century but with 8.0:1 compression and 200 horsepower.

The engine powering the Landau Show Car was a 322 CID 'Fireball' V8 with 188 horsepower and backed by a Dynaflow automatic transmission. Its suspension was comprised of an independent front setup with coil springs, and a live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs. Four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes provided the stopping power.

The Buick Landau was part of the 1954 General Motors Motorama and first appeared in the Miami Motorama Show, not having been completed in time for the show at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City earlier that year. Additional shows included the Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago Motorama shows of 1954. After its show car duties concluded, like many one-off designs, this car was scheduled for scrapping. It was saved by Harlow Curtis, then-President of General Motors, who enlisted its services as a shuttle for VIPs around New York City. It later returned to Flint, Michigan with another date with the scrapper. Again it was saved, this time by a Buick executive who purchased it from G.M.

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2008