1958 Buick Series 60 Century

Within the General Motors Division hierarchy, Buick traditionally occupied the enviable position of prestigious, well-equipped, mid-to-upper-level cars. The Century served as Buick's performance car since its introduced in 1937. After a hiatus beginning in 1942, the Buick Century returned in 1954 using the lighter and smaller Buick Special body and chassis with the larger and more powerful Buick engines - the 322 cubic-inch V8 paired with a Dyanflow automatic transmission. Record calendar-year production and strong model-year production drove Buick to third place in the American sales rankings for 1954, comfortably positioned behind high-volume Chevrolet and Ford, with the newly released Century line-up contributing to this remarkable success.

Buick and Oldsmobile jointly built the first pillarless four-door hardtop in 1955, an engineering milestone that created a styling sensation.

The Buick Wagon
The first year for the Buick Wagon was in 1940, although specialty builders had constructed bodies to special order on Buick chassis prior to that time. Many manufacturers regulated the wagons to its lower-priced series, and Ford considered them commercial vehicles until 1939. Buick, however, made them upmarket models, adding them to its Super Series in 1940, moving down a notch in 1941 and 1942 to the 40-B line, the more upscale of two Special models. After World War II, the Buick Special model was offered solely as sedans. The Wagon relocated to the Super line and was joined by the longer-wheelbase Roadmaster stablemate for 1947, with the bodies built by the Ionia Manufacturing Company in Michigan. The last truck Buick 'woodie' wagon was built in 1953, as the market followed Plymouth's 1949 'all steel' Suburban.

Buick went 'all steel' in 1954 with two four-door Estate Wagons, one in the Special series and the other in the re-established Century line. These continued into 1955 and 1956. For 1957, Buick's wagon included the four-door Estate Wagon in the Special series and the Riviera hardtop Estate Wagon. The Century model offered a hardtop wagon known as the Caballero, invoking a Spanish idiom. With 10,186 examples built, the Caballero was more popular than either of the Special wagons.

The 1958 Buick Century
The 1958 Buick Century was the final year of the 'second generation' of styling first introduced in 1954. It continued to rest on the 122-inch wheelbase chassis of the Special, and wore its sheet metal but with the Century name in block letters on the deck lid and Century script within the rear fender flashes. Power was sourced from a 364 cubic-inch, overhead valve V8 engine with a cast iron block, a 10.0:1 compression, a four-barrel carburetor, five main bearings, hydraulic valve lifters, and delivered 300 horsepower at 4,600 RPM. The transmission was the twin turbine 'Variable Pitch' Dynaflow automatic with torque tube drive. This was the last year for the full-size Century and was the largest version built with its length measuring 211.8 inches.

Standard Equipment
The Buick Century came standard with full-wheel covers, foam rubber cushions, carpeting, a padded dash, dual horns, and an electric clock. The convertibles added two-way seat controls and electric windows. All body styles except the Estate Wagon received nylon interiors; the wagons were upholstered in Cordaveen.

Body Styles, Pricing, and Production
The station wagon was the most expensive body style within the 1958 Buick Century line with a base price for $3,830, followed by the convertible coupe at $3,680. At the other end of this spectrum was the sedan priced at $3,320, approximately $600 higher than the Special sedan. The two-door hardtop was priced at $3,440 and the four-door hardtop at $3,370.

The most popular body style was the four-door hardtop with 15,171 examples built, followed by 8,110 of the two-door hardtop. A total of 7,421 examples were the sedan, 2,588 were convertibles, and 4,456 were estate wagons.

The 1958 Buick Models
The 'entry-level' Buick was the Special priced from $2,700 to $3,265 with body styles that included a sedan, convertible, two- and four-door hardtops, a convertible coupe, and station wagons. It had a 122-inch wheelbase, and its 364 cubic-inch V8 engine had a lower compression ratio than the Century with 250 horsepower.

The Super Series 50 was now offered at a two-door hardtop priced at $3,645 and a four-door hardtop at $3,790. It had a 127.5-inch wheelbase which it shared with the Roadmaster Series 75 and the range-topping Limited 700 Series. The Super and Roadmaster had an overall length of 219.1 inches while the Limited was 227.1 inches long. The engine was the same as the one powering the Century. The Roadmaster two-door hardtop was priced at $4,550, the four-door hardtop at $4,670, and the convertible coupe at $4,680. The Limited was priced in the low $5,000 range for its two- and four-door hardtop, and convertible with total production being exclusive, with 7,436 combined units built. A total of 14,054 examples were Roadmasters, 42,388 were Supers, and 139,213 were Specials.

by Daniel Vaughan | May 2023