Hi, I'm looking at 50s Buicks right now (particularly 53-56s), and just curious what the order and general jist of the differences are in the trim levels. I assume just by current prices that the Skylark is the top end, but what about Specials, Rivieras, Centurys, Supers, etc.? I'm interested in 2 doors only, if that makes any difference on model designation. I tried a search but didn't find anything. Thanks for your time!
B Body's are Special and Century, C Body's are Super and Roadmaster. Skylark's are special builds off of the Roadmaster C Body convertible, only available for two years. Special's always had the most plan interior and least trim and smallest engine, Century's had the larger engine of the C-bodies and more deluxe trim but still the smaller B-Body. Super's were lesser equipped Roadmasters, but had the larger C-Body and larger engine. Riviera was a styling term for a pillar less hardtop body, i.e.: one without a post between the front and rear seats. Only later (1963) was a Riviera a specific model.
Thanks Brad, exactly what I was after. I'm going to look at a car described as a 56 Riviera this weekend with the original 322, but the fella is older and doesn't know how to e-mail or text picture messages, so just getting an idea of what I'm looking at. I love all the 53-56s, so it doesn't matter much, honestly. So a Riviera could be on a B or C platform, but was a hardtop, correct? Was there any interior trim upgrades to a Riviera?
The term Riviera in the 50's was just Buick's way of naming their hardtop's. Not really any trim upgrades per-se, but obviously the trim was for a hardtop and not a sedan version of the model in question. A 2 door "Riviera" could be any model, from Special to Roadmaster (Skylark's were all convertibles except 1 experimental). I believe in 1956 the 322 was used in everything from Century's up to the Roadmaster's. The Special's still had the 264 cid that year. Also, only Special's had 3 Ventiport's whereas all other models had 4 Ventiports on each front fender. This was for 1956 as that is what you are going to look at. Other years were different.
Just as an FYI, Olds called their hardtops "Holiday" which signified a pillerless hardtop body with either 2 or 4 doors.
The fella figured out how to send me a pic. Looks like 3 Ventiports to me, although it is grainy, so must be a Special Riviera. Do you know if the 322 was available in the Special as an option? (I read where you said they came with the 264). The guy says it has the original 322, but he doesn't seem to be super knowledgeable about the car, other than to say it runs and drives like new, has the original interior in great shape, and the paint is 5 years old. I think I can pick it up for around 10k, not that I have that sitting around, but when a good deal comes up on something I've wanted for a while, I'll try to figure something out......
Nice looking car! Yep, a 3 holer, so for sure a Special. I was wrong on the 322...it was the base engine in the 56 Special. My bad. That picture brought back memories for me...my mom had a 56 Super 2dr hardtop in that exact same color combination, Carlsbad black over Dover white over Carlsbad black. I called it an Oreo cookie!
black and white looks great on the 50's cars. $10k sounds like a good deal if the car is as described.
Thanks guys. He sent me a few more pics, the interior looks great and is silver/gray vinyl and cloth. He says it's yellow, so I'm thinking its that real pale factory yellow color. I'd lower it and put some 3 or 4 bar hubcaps on it and that'd be it. I need another car like I need another hole in the head, so I'm almost afraid to go look at it.
322 was '54 and '55 only. '56 all had 322s, but the Special had a 2 bbl version, and if it was standard shift, lower compression. Put the thin Century-Super-Roadmaster headgaskets in and bolt on the 4 bbl manifold and the engine would be the same as the senior series. If the Special was an automatic, only the manifold and carb were necessary. The '56 Buicks with Dual exhausts also had some really nice exhaust manifolds that were really cast-iron headers. Put on a set of '55 Roadmaster spiunner wheel covers and you are good to go. James Miller likes the rims to be painted red. I do too.
