Buick Toadmaster

[RWebb]

[Steve Carlton]

[ckelly78z]

True meaning of lead sled !...but cloud soft suspension.

[Sooner or later]

[kach22i]

BUICK ROADMASTER - 128px Image #2



1948 Cadillac Custom Club Coupe (Custom)
https://www.mecum.com/lots/CA0818-336407/1948-cadillac-custom-club-coupe/

Starting in this model year, the P-38 fighter-plane-inspired tail fins and body lines that were designed by Franklin Hershey, working with GM stylist Harley Earl, helped establish the postwar legacy of the Cadillac brand.

How the Lockheed P-38 Lightning was the main inspiration for the tail fins of post-WWII Cadiallacs
https://www.reddit.com/r/WWIIplanes/comments/i4ybwb/how_the_lockheed_p38_lightning_was_the_main/

[asphaltgambler]

That was the style at the time - post war. All the manufacturers had similar carryover models with 'sleeker' sheet metal. Until the 1950 Ford came on the scene....

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

Goes to show you that some folks with a bondo spreader should be censored.

[Flat Six]

My introduction to the Roadmaster was as a high school gearhead; I'd read some of P. J. O'Rourke in National Lampoon. When he moved to Car and Driver, one of his first pieces was "Sgt. Dynaflow's Last Patrol" -- he got talked into (didn't take much arm-twisting, as I remember) driving a Roadmaster across country to LA. Here it is a third of a century later, and I still recall that story. Guess it made an impression.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

That's a '49

[dafischer]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Goes to show you that some folks with a bondo spreader should be censored.

I'd be surprised if there's much bondo on there at all, it's most likely all lead.

[GG Allin]

A kid I grew up with bought a 57 Roadmaster Convertible at an auction for $700 when he was 14 (around 1984). He accumulated parts for it over the years and finally finished it when he was in his 30's. Turned out to be a hell of a nice car.

[fred cook]

One of the cars I learned to drive on was my grandfather's 1941 Buick Roadmaster 4 door sedan. It had a big, torquey straight 8 engine with the factory 2 carb setup. Perfect for the novice driver since there was enough torque to just let the clutch out and then put your foot on the gas pedal to drive away! There was a huge amount of room in the back seat area. Sitting on the back seat, your knees were about 3 feet from the back of the front seats!

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by dafischer

I'd be surprised if there's much bondo on there at all, it's most likely all lead.

That's n old fashioned and out of date assumption. FOA, today's customizers can accurately form most new panels to fit very well w/o any need for excessive fillers. 2ndOA, plastic filler has been shown time after time to be superior to metal fillers.

However, my point went over your head as I was not even thinking of the construction aspect of that thing — Just how much poor taste one can get out of a can.

[john walker's workshop]

I sold my 48 super convertible when I closed the shop. Only would go about 60 mph and the fan noise was intense. Still have a nice 49 cad fastback like the above pic.

[GH85Carrera]

I was watching one of the British car shows and I forgot which of the many guys it was, but they were talking of how in the early 1950s Brittan was still devastated from the war, and all the cars were tiny and inexpensive as possible. He came with his dad to America for some business and sight seeing. He said he was completely astonished at the size of American cars. He said if someone would have told him about them he would never believe it.

The people that picked them up at the Airport had a new Cadillac Coupe de Ville and he figured they had to be royalty as he had no concept of American politics. He said just riding around he though America was the richest place ever. He did not see one small car at all.

[sammyg2]

With Buick enjoying a surprising renaissance in the American market, it's a good time to take a look at the brand's most iconic design cue. Officially called "ventiports," but better known as portholes, Buick uses them to signify the number of cylinders under the given model's hood. The Lucerne Super has four ventiports on top of each front quarter-panel to signify its V-8 engine, while the V-6 LaCrosse, Enclave, and Lucerne have three on each side. Four-cylinder models Regal and base LaCrosse have two on each side.

So how do you explain the three- and four-porthole models from 1949 to 1958, when all Buicks had either inline-eight or V-8 engines? Here's how:

1948: Claiming fighter-plane inspiration, Buick designer Ned Nickles cuts holes in the sides of his personal 1948 Roadmaster convertible and installs amber lights attached to the distributor. The lights flash on and off to suggest an unusually powerful engine with exhaust flames. GM executive vice president Harlow Curtice orders ventiports (sans lights) on 1949 Buicks just seven months before production.

1949 model year: Four ventiports identify the Roadmaster with its 320-cubic-inch inline-eight. Three ventiports mean it's the Super with a 263-cube I-8. Production of the Special model doesn't revive until summer 1949. It has the same wheelbase as the Super, a shorter body, a 248 I-8, and three ventiports.

1953 model year: Four ventiports for the Roadmaster with its 188-horse, 322-cubic-inch V-8. Three on the 170-horse (Dynaflow), 322 V-8 Super and on the I-8-holdover Special. The Skylark has no ventiports, 1953 or '54.

1954 model year:
Four on the roadmaster with its 200-horse 320 V-8. Three on Super, which now shares the Roadmaster's body, but with a 188-horse (Dynaflow) 320. Three, also, on the new B-body Century with the Roadmaster's 200-horsepower engine (the "banker's hot rod") and three for the 264-cubic-inch V-8 Special.

1955-'57: Four ventiports, Roadmaster, Super, and Century, which all get 236-horse 320- cubic-inch V-8s. Three on the Special, with its 264-cube V-8.

1958-'59: Buick scrubs ventiports

1960: Ventiports return, with four on the Electra 225 and Electra, three on the Invicta and LeSabre. Until the modern era, the ventiports would come and go, tied into model hierarchy rather than engine size or power.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/buick-ventriports-the-early-years/#:~:text=Officially%20called%20%22ventiports%2C%22 %20but%20better%20known%20as%20portholes%2C,has%20 four%20ventiports%20on%20top%20of%20each%20