1910 Buick Model 10

The early reputation of the Buick Motor Company was founded by its creation of the 'valve-in-head' engine design. The company was founded by David Dunbar Buick in 1903 who was joined by the engineering brainchild of Walter L. Marr. In 1904, the first Buick known as the Model B began production in Flint, Michigan at a re-purposed factory that had once housed the Flint Wagon Works. The well-built vehicles attracted the attention of William C. 'Billy' Durant, who would soon become the founder of General Motors, acquired the Buick Motor Company. In 1907, the construction of Buick's #1 Plant was completed in Flint, and over the next four years, Durant turned Buick into the most successful automobile brand in the U.S.

The Buick Model was introduced in 1908 and originally had a price of $850 and body styles included a four- or three-seat roadster. Marketed as the 'Gentleman's Light Four-Cylinder,' it became the company's best-selling model and was the chief competitor to the Ford Model T, selling 8,000 units in 1909 and almost 11,000 in 1910.

The Buick model lineup for 1910 included the two-cylinder Model F and the four-cylinder Model 7, 10, Models 16 and 17, 19, and 41. The Model 41 was Buick's first venture into the closed car market and carried a price tag far above the other models, at $2,750. The Model 17 and 19 were both five-passenger touring cars with the Model 19 listed at $1,400 and the 17 at $1,750. The Model 19 was new to the Buick lineup and had a 105-inch wheelbase, a Buick green body, and rode on ivory wheels. The Model 17 had a 112.5-inch wheelbase and the Model 16 was slightly smaller at 112-inches. Bodystyles on the Model 16 included a Roadster, Surrey, and Toy Tonneau. The Model 7 was also a new model and used a 122-inch wheelbase to carry the seven-passenger touring coachwork. The two-cylinder Model F was offered as a five-passenger tourer priced at $1,000, the same price as the Model 10 runabout.

Buick's two-cylinder engine displaced 159 cubic inches and developed 22 (SAE) horsepower. The engine powering the Model 16, 17, and 41 was a 318 cubic-inch unit with 32.4 (SAE) horsepower. The 336 CID inline-4 in the Model 7 developed 40 (SAE) horsepower, and the 255 unit in the Model 19 offered 28.9 (SAE) horsepower. The 165 cubic-inch inline-4 in the Model 10 had the valve in head design, a cast-iron block, mechanical valve lifters, a Marvel carburetor, and offered 22.5 horsepower. It used a two-speed planetary transmission with a cone clutch and floor and steering column controls. Mechanical brakes on the two rear wheels provided the stopping power. The Model F also used a two-speed planetary transmission, but the Model 7, 16 & 17, and 41 were equipped with three-speed sliding gear transmission.

The Model 10 runabout was priced at $1,000, the tourabout at $1,050, and the Toy Tonneau at $1,150. It was Buick's most popular model with 10,998 examples built in 1910. Production of the Model 16 reached 2,252 units, and approximately 4,000 examples of the Model F were built. Just 85 were Model 7 seven-passenger tourers, and 40 were Model 41 limousines. Around 4,000 were Model 19 tourers and 6,002 were Model 17.

The Buick Model 10 was offered in 'Buick White' and promoted as 'The White Streak' in recognition of the competition successes which it had achieved. Buick advertising called it the car for 'men with real red blood who don't like to eat dust.'

While Ford went on to capture the low-priced market segment, Buick moved upmarket, continuing to build quality automobiles that ranged from performance to luxury. n the Thirties its president, Harlow Curtice, put Buick on track again to the top of the sales charts which it achieved after the war, repeatedly selling more cars than any other Detroit makes except Chevrolet and Ford.

by Daniel Vaughan | May 2021