Donor Vehicle

Arrival

Strip & Metal Fab

Mechanical

Body & Paint

Detail & Trim

Finish

Buick’s buyers were quite loyal, and in the ’40s the division would be GM’s number-two seller, after Chevrolet. Throughout the decade, Buick usually ran fourth behind the “Low-Price Three” (Chevy, Ford, Plymouth), building upwards of 300,000 cars a year. GM endured an extended strike after World War II and Flint took awhile to regain momentum, but was back to over 324,000 cars for 1949.

Buicks of the ’40s reflected the division’s period slogan “Valve in Head — Ahead in Value”: big but reasonably priced cars that were a bit ostentatious. For those who felt status was everything, there was always Cadillac.

The early-’40s lineup was one of the widest in Buick history and wouldn’t be matched until the mid ’50s.

The 1941 Special/Super engine gained new-design high-compression pistons for more-efficient combustion that lifted horse­power to 115.  Available for the 40 touring sedan and sedanet was “Compound Carburetion” — two carburetors with a progressive linkage that added 10 bhp. This was standard on other ’41s, resulting in 165 bhp for the 320 engine. Chassis were carry-overs for all but Limited, which used a new X-member design.

Read more about 40’s Buicks at: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/buick2.htm