Heavy Metal. Butler, PA
1958 Buick Special Convertible.
For 1957 Buick succeeded in keeping their image prestige in the mind of buyers, despite the Special low-priced line starting at only $2,596, a mere $358 more than a Chevrolet Bel Air. For the money, the Buick was a lot more than 15% “more car” than the Chevy or similar Ford. Looks sell, though, and the ’57 Ford was all-new and looked it. The Buick was all-new but looked like a 1956 that had been improved, and that’s exactly what it was.
The 1958 Buick had been planned as much as three years ahead, and rarely did GM’s head design teams headed up by Harley Earl miss the bullseye, but they did in ’58. The new Buick was massive looking, and massive in dimensions. It was vastly improved even over the ‘57’s, with the Special having a new optional Triple-Turbine automatic (or regular Twin-Turbine, which was the prior Dynaflow re-named) attached to the same 364 V-8 of 250 hp. The cars weighed about an extra 100 pounds this year.
Heavy Metal. Butler, PA
1958 Buick Special Convertible.
For 1957 Buick succeeded in keeping their image prestige in the mind of buyers, despite the Special low-priced line starting at only $2,596, a mere $358 more than a Chevrolet Bel Air. For the money, the Buick was a lot more than 15% “more car” than the Chevy or similar Ford. Looks sell, though, and the ’57 Ford was all-new and looked it. The Buick was all-new but looked like a 1956 that had been improved, and that’s exactly what it was.
The 1958 Buick had been planned as much as three years ahead, and rarely did GM’s head design teams headed up by Harley Earl miss the bullseye, but they did in ’58. The new Buick was massive looking, and massive in dimensions. It was vastly improved even over the ‘57’s, with the Special having a new optional Triple-Turbine automatic (or regular Twin-Turbine, which was the prior Dynaflow re-named) attached to the same 364 V-8 of 250 hp. The cars weighed about an extra 100 pounds this year.