and of course buick is still in the innovation game - just got this gem <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> 2012 Buick Regal Turbo Gets Industry-First Turbo Direct-Injected Engine with Flex-Fuel Capability The turbocharged Ecotec 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine that powers the Regal will help GM reach its goal of offering more than 50 percent of its production in flex-fuel models by the end of 2012.
Let's not forget the Buick Bug of 1909. Many records set with this car. Still runs today!!!! I seen it run down the drag strip in Ohio at the 100th. anniversary in '03. How did the Century in '37 get it's name. Was the 1st. production car to be able to maintain 100MPH!!!! 1940. the 1st. production car to offer multiple carburation, the compound 4bbl. By, I believe '33, the more modern 320 replaced the 344 & had a production run in Buick's till '52. The 320's were used in the Blue Bird school buses until 1960. 1952 was the 1st. production car to use a single 4bbl. carb. in the 320 in RoadMasters. I believe 1939 was the 1st. year for signal lights, not 1938. I could be wrong on this. Buick was in development of an auto trans. starting in the very late 30's, then had to stop for WW11. 1955 the Century was the fastest production car 0-60 & 1/4 mile. Was #3 in sales ahead of, I think Plymouth. 1949 was the 1st. hardtop called Riviera. The Special series was started in 1961. That little 215 Aluminum V-8 is still being used today. Imagine having a big $$$$ Range Rover with an engine that was in the Buick design process by Dennis Manner in 1959!!!!! And, speaking of the 215. All the front mounted distributor Buick's are ALL based on this 215. From the 198/V-6 all the way to the mighty 455. Except for the 400-430-455 they ALL used the skirted block like the "Nails" had. As a matter of fact a "Nail" crank WILL go into a 455!!!!! That's all for now. Tom T.
I really hope that's not true. I hated the ecotec when it first replaced the good engine in the j-body. Then they screwed up with the supercharged version by making its powerband about 1,000 rpm above its shift point. They should have just kept the Quad 4
The above certainly is not true. For the Free Spirit car posted above, I think maybe the pace cars were turbos but not the production cars? I am not certain about that, but it's been my impression.
The 76 pace car got the turbo. The turbo wasn't available to the public till 78. It's in one of the posts farther up and in the chart I posted on which year the turbo was available on each car. The free spirit option was seperate from the turbo option. Just like later the grand national option and the turbo option were seperate.
Ummm, yes it is. I even have old Buick ads that say it. The Century wasnt the first car ever to go 100mph, it was the first production car unlike a hand crafted high-end exotic like a Blower-Bently, Duesenburg or Bugatti.
The comment was: How did the Century in '37 get it's name. Was the 1st. production car to be able to maintain 100MPH!!!! And you've confirmed that I'm correct. What was notable for the Century was that it was claimed to be capable of cruising 100 mph, I believe.
Saw this somewhere else and figured I'd post it up here. http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/startercart.php http://books.google.com/books?id=rv...m=5&sqi=2&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false http://www.v8buick.com/archive/index.php/t-30559.html
Okay; - Century was introduced in 1936, and it was billed as the first production car able to top 100 mph. This was achieved by putting in the larger 320 in the smaller Series 40 body. The last design evolution of the straight 8 occured in 1934, with the intro of both the 320 and the 248. In 1936 they redesigned the pistons and made them from aluminum, these new "turbolator" pistons encompassed a new combustion chamber design and boosted the horsepower and reduced the pinging by being made with an inverted dish. Dynaflow was an off-shoot of war production; - Buick designed a transmission for the tanks they were building. Buick was late into this field because its engineering staff felt that an automatic would not work well with the torque tube; - they felt the ride quality would be too jerky. Hydramatic was already building their transmission by then, and it was a different design. The Turbo-hydramatic was a marriage of Buick's torque converter technology and Hydramatic's hydraulics. The best of both ideas rolled into one. Buick was late with a V-8 because they had to design one that would fit their body requirements; - narrow clearance, because the older inlines were of course fairly narrow. So they came up with the Nailhead. It had to produce more horsepower and torque than the engines that preceeded it; and that was no small order. So it took a while to design something that would work with both the dDynaflow and the Torque tube design. As far as the smaller series of engines go, Studaker started the studies back in the late 50s when it was realized that the nailheads were severely limited by head design. That said, the nailhead has one of the most efficient combustion chambers going and is the closest thing that GM ever built to the fabled Chrysler Hemi. The 231 was the 300 design with the front cylinders lobbed off, and never came into its own until the late 70s. Like the aluminum V-8, it was considered too expensive to build, and until they got the firing order figured out they couldn't build satifactory power out of it. Once they changed that, this engine really started to develop. It was tossed into 76 LeSabre after the tooling was recovered from AMC, and with a minor bit of tweaking, kept up admirably with traffic. The large V-8s were of course fantastic, they had all the problems that were associated with the nail fixed, but with the lighter block construction and the new oiling system it had limitations of it's own. I read somewhere that once GM decided to streamline its product line that these were the first engines to go, not because they were inefficient and gas hogs, but because it was cheaper to crank out cheap Chevy V-8s. As for the current series of motors; I'm not sure where they originated, but the architecture looks like more like a Chev design. I asked around and no one could tell me anything except that GM has an engine department independent of all the brands, so anything new is supposedly generic and can't be tied with any particular brand. As far as I'm concerned, this is one of the reasons for GMs demise as of late, they disobeyed one of Sloan's Dictums; Build a car for every taste and market level and keep it unique. He successfully steered GM through the Depression with that philosophy. Best source of Buick history? "The Buick" by Terry Durham (?) (Not sure I got the last name right) This thousand page tome has all the facts and stories you'll need.
Larry Dunham And your right, if you want know about early Buick history ''The Buick'' is about the best place to look.
tom I haven't forgotten the bug ( notice picture earlier post) just wasn't in there on the first draft same for Indy pace cars, will incorporate the other stuff you brought up also
Seem's to be difference of opinion on the Century named for 100 mph, I don't have a clue if it so or urban legend, have heard it before never read anything official on it. - GM ads would be the prove of the claim. Could you send me and/or post the ads, I'll include them in the final draft. robs71redriv@yahoo.com
Ads would prove nothing. Especially in that era. I know a guy who's a Buick expert, although he's busy working on a project. I'll see what I can get out of him in regards to the Century's history.
Regarding 1936 Buick Century from; Seventy Years of Buick 1936 Chapter page 159 copyright 1973 George H. Dammann
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <woNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> An update of what I have so far - anybody have anything to add correct or just discuss. Buick innovations and highlights Buick is currently the oldest American still-active automotive make, and among the oldest automobile brands in the world. It originated as the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company in 1899, The Buick, first automobile manufactured by the General Motors Corporation,. was built by David Dunbar Buick. Over 17,000,000 cars bearing his name and crest have rolled off production lines, yet he was involved in making only 120 of them. Buick, a plumber and machinist by trade, Some of his earliest inventions included a lawn sprinkler and the process for enameling cast iron baths. In the late 1890s he had begun tinkering with motors for boats and tractors, but he quickly redirected his focus toward designing a powerful engine for the American automobile industry. Walter Marr and his wife were photographed in what is believed to be the first Buick. The original print was found in Walter Marr's personal papers, written on the back of the picture was "1st Buick" and "1898". 1899, Buick sold the plumbing business to organized Buick Auto-Vim and Power Co., for production of gas & gasoline engines and automobiles. By 1901 Buick, Walter L. Marr and Eugene C. Richard had developed a motor that they called the “L-head engine.” Shaped somewhat like a “V,” this asymmetrical engine places all of the intake and exhaust valves in the extended half of the cylinder block, or the long part of the “L,” while all of the spark plugs are placed in the shortened half. In 1902 Buick began building an entire car that featured another new motor design, the “valve-in-head” engine. This symmetrical design places the intake and exhaust valves directly above the cylinders, rather than to one side as in the L-head configuration, and mounts them entirely within the cylinder head, the result being a more powerful and efficient operation. The valve-in-head engine, later referred to as Overhead Value (OHV) engine, produces more horsepower per cubic inch of displacement than other engine designs. Decades later, all engines would adopt the OHV configurations. By 1903 Buick successfully road tested his first car, and the following year he built an improved version, the Model B, which featured a two-cylinder, valve-in-head engine. Between 1904 and 1908, the Model B’s annual sales rose from 37 to more than 8,800, more than the total number of Fords and Cadillacs combined. 1904, July 27<sup>th</sup> Dr. Herbert Hills of Flint, Michigan, purchased the first Buick to be sold. The sale came only weeks after the first Buick made its initial test run. During that test, the Buick averaged 30mph on a trip around Flint, going so fast at one point that the driver “couldn’t see the village six-mile-an-hour sign.” Sixteen Buicks were sold in the next few months. 1905 Billy Durant goes to the New York Auto Show and takes orders for 1,000 Buicks before the company had built 40. 1906 Buick introduces a storage battery as standard equipment. 1906 Buick builds its first production four-cylinder car, the Model D 1907 Buick began building light commercial vehicles, using passenger car chassis. That would be called and SUV/crossover vehicle today. 1907 The first ton chassis for commercial use was the Model 2, powered by the "valve-in-head" design (Chevrolet Model T light truck came out in 1918) 1908 in conjunction with Buick, what was to GM Canada started with the McLaughlin-Buick’s. 1908 McLaughlin-Buick. sports the convertible soft top September 16, 1908, GM came into being in Flint Michigan. It was originally a holding company for Buick which was under the control of William C. Durant, but it acquired Oldsmobile later that year. 1908 The official Buick Racing Team was set up with such star drivers as Bob Burman and the Chevrolet brothers.. The next year a Buick advertisement stated, 'During the season of 1909, Buick cars won 166 firsts - 90 per cent of the events entered. America's most important events won by Buicks'. The Buick Bug of 1909. Still runs today!! 1909 London, assembly of Bedford-Buicks was under way 1910, the year following Mr. Buick’s removal from Flint, he took charge of the affairs of the Buick Oil Company, of which he is President. The company has been one of the successful operating companies in the California fields, and had one well, known as Buick No. 1, which produced 900,000 barrels of oil in ten months of operation. Another well, Buick No. 3, came in as a gusher and produced 550,000 barrels in a period of four months. This was one of the most sensational gushers in the history of California oil, being ranked second in size of flow. 1911 GM became the first car company listed on the stock exchange. 1911, Buick introduced its first closed-body car 1912 GM's Bill Kettering introduces the electric self-starter 1914 The first coast-to-coast crossing of South America by automobile was accomplished by a Buick. 1915 the new head of Buick, Walter P. Chrysler. 1917 the Model 16AA ambulance was based on the Buick D-4 and E-4 In 1918, the Ontario-based McLaughlin Motor Car Company, manufacturer of the McLaughlin-Buick car, was acquired, and renamed General Motors Canada, Ltd., though R. S. "Colonel Sam" McLaughlin was retained as its first president. Chevrolet (started in Canada in 1915) was tied in with McLauglin when it became part of GM. 1920s, Buick was becoming the car of choice for kings, sultans and political leaders and winning competitions from South America to Australia to the Soviet Union. 1920 Buick gained fame for setting a record of 103 mph at Muroc Lake. 1920 Walter P. Chrysler left Buick 1923 Adventurer Lowell Thomas used a Buick in the first motor expedition into Afghanistan in 1923. 1923. British royalty favored Buicks - they could claim they were buying "Empire" cars as Buicks were built in Canada. 1923 Buick debuts four-wheel brakes on 1924 Models 1923 The one-millionth Buick was built , the first year in which production also exceeded 200,000 cars. From 1919 to 1926, Buick's sales were the highest in the auto industry. 1925, Buick and GM Export sent a Buick around the world passing the vehicle from one sales/service operation to another to demonstrate the worldwide reach of GM's operations. 1925 Flxible chose a Buick chassis for its motorbuses, of which 31 were built that year. Between 1925 and 1928 Flxible built a few buses on Cadillac, Reo and Studebaker chassis, but most were built on Buick chassis. 1925 Flxible began building ambulances and funeral cars. Buick's longest chassis in 1925 was 128 inches, so the first professional car and bus chassis were stretched by forty inches. Buick's engines used in professional cars was the 255 cid six-cylinder that produced 70 bhp. 1925 Buick abandoned hand operated windshield wipers introducing vacuum operated wipers. 1925 Buick adopted balloon tires. 1926 The combination starter/generator was superseded by separate units which were more efficient and reliable. 1926 Harley Earl was hired as a consultant to the Fisher Cadillac Division 1927 The first In-House design department “The Art and Colour Section" created and led by Harley Earl 1928 an experimental van was built by Buick, which was used by the Flxible Company as a long-distance bus. 1929 the Opel company was acquired by General Motors. 1929 Buick introduces a smaller 6-cylinder sedan which is named the Marquette. It is discontinued by 1931. 1930 Buick increased the size of their six-cylinder engine to 331 cid and 99 bhp 1931 A new straight eight engine, the 344cid produced 104 bhp. It featured an oil temperature regulator that either cooled or heated the engine oil depending on conditions. 1931 The Shafer Buick 8 qualified for the Indy 500 at 105 mph. 1933 was also the year Buick adopted hydraulic brakes as standard equipment. 1936 Dual-brake system introduced 1936 The Buick Roadmaster designed by Harley Earl is introduced it became a milestone in styling, 1937 The division adopted the Tri shield on its radiator grilles, The Buick trishield is rooted in the ancestral coat of arms of the automaker’s founder, David Dunbar Buick. That crest was a red shield with a checkered silver and azure diagonal line from the upper left to lower right, a stag above and a punctured cross below 1937 Cowl mounted wipers were introduced. 1936/7 the 1st. production car to be able to maintain 100MPH, Century in '37 lives up to it's name. In the relitively light Century, this ………………. ///// engine could hold the car at a steady 100 MPH, a feat that few cars of this price class could equal. 1938 GM Design Department builds the first concept car the Buick Y-job. Designed in 1938 by the famous General Motors designer Harley Earl, the Buick Y-Job is considered by most to be the first concept car. The car had power-operated hidden headlamps, "gunsight" hood ornament, wraparound bumpers, flush door handles, and prefigured styling cues used by Buick until the 1950s. 1938 A Buick was the first production car to be fitted with an electrical turn indicator.. 1938 Buick Roadmaster was the Indianapolis 500 Pace Car. 1940 Buick Fire ball 320 straight-eights, now produced 141 bhp. 1940. the 1st. production car to offer multiple carburation, the compound 4bbl. 1940s through the 1970’s the "sweepspear", a curved line running the length of the car. In the earlier cars, this was a chrome-plated or stainless steel rub strip which, after it passed the front wheel, gently curved down nearly to the rocker panel just before the rear wheel, and then curved around the rear wheel in a quarter of a circle to go straight back to the tail-light. During the two-tone color craze of the 1950s, the sweepspear separated two different color areas. After that, the curved line was usually indicated either by a vinyl rub strip or simply a character line molded into the sheetmetal as hinted in the 2008 Invicta concept car and 2010 LaCrosse/Allure production car. 1941 introduced the two-way hood, which could be opened from either side or removed completely. The design was clever if at least one side remained latched. Buick built aircraft engines and Hellcat gun-carriers during World War 2,. During the war its engineers worked with torque converter transmissions By 1948, The first to use the converter was Buick. In 1948 Buick offered the Dynaflow fully automatic transmission as a $244 option on the Roadmaster. Within three years, 85 percent of Buicks had the Dynaflow. The Dynaflow was the model for present-day automatic transmissions. 1949 Buick introduces the “Hardtop Convertible” Pillar less roof – to be known as the Riviera . 1949 Stylist Harley Earl designs "tailfins" for Cadillac, a distinctive feature of American cars in the 1950's 1949 Venti-ports a series of three or four portholes or vents on the front fender behind the front wheels. The source for this traditional Buick styling cue was Buick stylist Ned Nickles, who in 1948 built a custom car which in addition to the ports had a flashing light within each hole each synchronized with a specific spark plug simulating the flames from the exhaust stack of a fighter airplane 1951 Buick's LeSabre and XP-300, two custom-built super-streamlined concept cars, are introduced to test GM's new advances in styling and mechanical features. 1952, Buick introduced the first American four-barrel carburetor,in the 320 in RoadMasters. Invented by one of its own engineers, Adolph Braun. 1954 All Buicks came with V8 engines 1955 The Century was the fastest production car 0-60 & 1/4 mile. Was #3 in sales 1955 The Buick line was well received in a boom year; 781,296 were built in 1955 - Not all those 1955 models were very well made, and in the last half of the decade of the 1950s Buicks lost their reputation for high quality and long life. 1959 Buick Electra 225 was the Indianapolis 500 Pace car. 1961 The Special was revived in the form of a compact car of quality, powered by an aluminium 3.5-litre V8 that has since become world-famous. Revised by Buick's Joseph Turlay from a GM Engineering Staff design, the little V8 powered Mickey Thompson's 1962 Indianapolis entry, won races in Bruce McLaren's first sports cars, formed the basis of the engine with which Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme won Grand Prix Championships in 1966 and 1967, and it became one of the better engines in the British Leyland range of cars. That little 215 Aluminum V-8 is still being used today. Imagine having a big $$$$ Range Rover with an engine that was in the Buick design process by Dennis Manner in 1959! 1961 The first V6 engine goes into production, the sleekly styled "Special," introduced in 1962, was named Motor Trend Magazine's "Car of the Year" 1963 Buick introduces the prestige, E-body Riviera. 1963 Buick Motor Division took over the GM Hydromatic division. Their first project was to be the Turbo Hydromatic 400 three-speed transmission. It came out in the upper series Buicks in 1964. They also developed the Turbo Hyrdomatic 300 two speed for the lower series. Engines were developing more horsepower and the days of the fluid drive Dynaflow were gone. 1964 ’65 and ’66 models had a switch pitch torque converter and an anti creep feature. 1966 GM introduces the industry's first energy absorbing steering column. 1967 would be the last year for the THM 300 to be replaced by the THM 350 again designed by Buick. Both the THM 400 and 350 would be the most common transmissions used in GM cars and trucks for years to come. 1967 GM introduces front seat shoulder belts on 1967 models. (Rear seat shoulder belts are available as a dealer installed option.) 1971 the Rivera was the first GM car to use the integrated voltage regulator. Internal inside the alternator was this little circuit board taking the place of the box mounted on the firewall. It was later used on all GM cars and trucks. 1971 Experimental airbags tested in Riviera, 1971, GM pioneered the use of engines that could run on low-lead or unleaded gasoline. 1972 A new combined lap and shoulder belt system with both a light and a buzzer to remind the front occupants that they should "buckle-up" becomes standard on all GM cars. 1974 the high-energy ignition system known as HEI was an option on both the 455 and 350 engines. It became standard on all 1975 and later GM cars and trucks. 1973 GM tested airbags on the 1973 model Chevrolet automobile that were only sold for government use. The 1973, Oldsmobile Toronado was the first car with a passenger air bag intended for sale to the public. General Motors later offered an option to the general public of driver side airbags in full-sized Buick's in 1974. 1975 Buick Century was the Indianapolis 500 Pace car it had a 7.5 litre (455cid) V-8 and 1976 The first turbo 3.8 Century Coupe was the Indianapolis 500 Pace car. 1977 In response to the fuel crisis, Buick downsizes it full-size and luxury vehicles. 1977 brought rear disc brakes to the Rivera. This was a Delco Moraine system with a single piston. The disc system was also the parking brake. 1978. The Regal and LeSabre came available with a turbo charged 231 v6 in 1978. Century and Riviera followed in 1979 with the first FWD Riviera, S Type being named MT car of the year. 1978 Skyhawk late production had what was called at the time a C-4 system. An on board computer controlled the fuel mixture and ignition timing. 1979 C-4 system option on V-6 Regal 1980 1978 a turbocharger was available on the V-6 Regal. It increased horsepower from 105 to 165. 1979 the Riviera went to front wheel drive. This wasn’t a first because it was basically a copy of the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado. This was not a transverse engine. The engine was like a rear wheel drive car with a transmission that made a U turn to a front differential. 1979 Introduction of the newly designed front-wheel-drive compact car, the Buick Skylark. 1980 C-4 system and option on all GM cars. In 1981 it was standard equipment on all GM cars and renamed the CCC system. CCC stands for Computer Controlled Combustion. 1981, a Regal with a V-6 engine was the Indianapolis 500 Pace car. 1983 Buick Riviera was the Indianapolis 500 Pace car. 1984 The Buick Grand National was first introduced, to honor the Nascar series. Most of the 215 GN's were equipped with the NA 4.1 motor, while less than 50 actually got both the GN package and the turbo 3.8 option. 1983 The $200 million project "Buick City" is announced to consolidate assembly operations in Flint with Fisher Body Division’s metal fabricating and body assembly facilities. 1986 Bujick goes star wars -Riviera got A 9 inch CRT on the dash made by Zenith. it controlled the heater-A/C, radio and information display. 1987 was the last year of production for the G-body based GN and it had a great sendoff with the GNX becoming and instant legend, Here was Buick with a V6 that embarrassed Corvette with its speed. 1999 General Motors' new joint venture assembly plant in Shanghai, China, begins production of Buick Regals for the Chinese market. 1999 Riviera production ended with a the Silver Arrow special edition. 2012 Buick Regal Turbo Gets Industry-First Turbo Direct-Injected Engine with Flex-Fuel Capability [FONT="] The turbocharged Ecotec 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine that powers the Regal will help GM reach its goal of offering more than 50 percent of its production in flex-fuel models by the end of 2012[/FONT]
Found this statement on the web anybody got info/dates - I have the 76 Century Pace a first Turbo Buick right now - what where they thinking not putting it into production. during the early '60's when Ford had a 406/427, Chevrolet had its 409, Pontiac had its 421, and Chrysler had the 413 wedge, Buick experimented with a 401/425 Turbocharged V engine that was designed to be used in the G.M. B Wildcat. The car never saw production because it was too powerful! It turned out that this engine produced over 800ft. lbs. of torque!
The TH400 offered in Full Size Buick's & Cadillac's for 1964 WERE NOT SWITCH-PITCH. The switch-pitch seen it's last year of production in '67. The 320" straight eight in '52 with a 4bbl. Carb. was rated at 150HP. Otherwise GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!
