My 1957 Buick Estate Wagon Model 49 Special!

[toesuf94]

Well, here she is at her first show. Far from done, only a front seat for an interior, which was installed last Friday morning. We bought the car in March and have been working on it since it arrived here in April. New floor pans, spare tire well and a revamp of the fuel system as well as a complete gutting of the interior. We drove her the furthest ever this weekend at the Goodguys show in Des Moines. She shared the grounds with a stunning '53 Skylark, an Auburn, just about every 32 and 40 Ford in Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri...and a whole bunch of other nice cars. The other project car that ended up parked just ahead of us late in the day was a relatively rough but all there 1957 Bonneville Fuel Injected Convertible!!! The FI system was being rebuilt, so it only had a tri-power set-up installed. All the badges were there though!

Edited July 10, 2007 by toesuf94

[Oracle of Delphi]

Well, here she is at her first show. Far from done, only a front seat for an interior, which was installed last Friday morning. We bought the car in March and have been working on it since it arrived here in April. New floor pans, spare tire well and a revamp of the fuel system as well as a complete gutting of the interior. We drove her the furthest ever this weekend at the Goodguys show in Des Moines. She shared the grounds with a stunning '53 Skylark, an Auburn, just about every 32 and 40 Ford in Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri...and a whole bunch of other nice cars. The other project car that ended up parked just ahead of us late in the day was a relatively rough but all there 1957 Bonneville Fuel Injected Convertible!!! The FI system was being rebuilt, so it only had a tri-power set-up installed. All the badges were there though!

Sweet, it reminds me of Good-N-Plenty candy, it must be the pink and white colors.

Edited July 10, 2007 by Pontiac Custom-S

[ocnblu]

Mr. toes, that is an awesome wagon! More pics soon, if you can.

[toesuf94]

I will get some other shots uploaded when they are deemed worthy. She is a long way from where I want her! :AH-HA_wink:

[CARBIZ]

Absolutely gorgeous! I have real respect for any older wagons because of the abuse they received when they were new. We had a '66 Pontiac wagon when I was a kid and I remember one camping trip with 5 of us and two weeks worth of crap on the way to the campground - the back bumper was nearly dragging the ground. That heap got a ton of abuse from our family.

So it is especially amazing to see these old survivors today!

[toesuf94]

We had the ONLY Buick wagon on the grounds. There were a ton of 58 Chevy's, 57 Ford Ranch Wagons, 55-57 Nomads and Safari's. The only other '57 wagon 4-door, other than a Chevrolet, was an Olds, which was really, really cool.

I know about the abuse - mine was a painter's work car for a while in a former time. Years of paint spills have been removed so far. I have loved wagons since my parents 71 Electra Estate Wagon with the steel floor and clamshell rear...used to have drag races in the back area with my brother and some hot wheels...we would put them on the floor hinge for the third seat and wait for the torque of the 455 to launch them to the tailgate. Winner hit first. Many many a mile was spent in the tailgunner's seat waving at people and getting truckers to honk.

[CARBIZ]

I'd love to buy a late '60s Chrysler T&C wagon because it would have all the toys I have become addicted to, be fast as hell, be (somewhat) fun to drive but have the flat load floor that I need for my dog, camping, etc. Trouble is, most wagons are gone, gone, gone - even the luxury ones. They got no respect, not even when new.

Pretty much everyone in our family had a wagon at some point in the '60s and '70s. (My stepfather drove us to Vancouver in the Spring of '67 in a '59 Ford wagon!). I've looked up sales charts for the '60s and GM and Ford sold MILLIONS of them, but where are they today? Seriously, a lot more Pontiac and Chevy wagons were sold in a single year than Cadillac ever dreamed of putting over the curb, yet eBay and other places are chock full of pristine Caddies for sale, but almost NO wagons.

Kudos to you in keeping a part of history going!

[Camino LS6]

Very cool!

I have always loved wagons - hence my current project.

Wagons Ho!

[toesuf94]

I'd love to buy a late '60s Chrysler T&C wagon because it would have all the toys I have become addicted to, be fast as hell, be (somewhat) fun to drive but have the flat load floor that I need for my dog, camping, etc. Trouble is, most wagons are gone, gone, gone - even the luxury ones. They got no respect, not even when new.

Pretty much everyone in our family had a wagon at some point in the '60s and '70s. (My stepfather drove us to Vancouver in the Spring of '67 in a '59 Ford wagon!). I've looked up sales charts for the '60s and GM and Ford sold MILLIONS of them, but where are they today? Seriously, a lot more Pontiac and Chevy wagons were sold in a single year than Cadillac ever dreamed of putting over the curb, yet eBay and other places are chock full of pristine Caddies for sale, but almost NO wagons.

Kudos to you in keeping a part of history going!

Here ya go! White with the shipping crate still on it!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chrysler-To...1QQcmdZViewItem

This would be a great car to put a 6 pack on and scare some Mustangs with..

[GMTruckGuy74]

Cool '57 Buick toesuf94! You just got to love the color combo, it's pure 1950s Americana. One of my favorite cars is the '57 Olds Fiesta (Olds version of your car), and the Buick isn't too far behind. I'd love one of these wagons myself. I drooled over an episode of "My Classic Car", as both the '57 Buick and the '57 Olds were a major feature. Good luck with the car and post more pictures as you go along (we all want to see its progress).

[balthazar]

B-57 looks great so far, looks DONE in fact, from here!

I remember lifting the corner of a tarp in a junkyard and seeing a BLACK '57 Bonne, rough but complete and still wearing it's emblems. Biker dude behind the counter interrupted my question with 'Don't even ask about it', and it promptly disappeared. That was a good 10 years ago and it has not surfaced yet. Supposedly there were only 2 or 3 factory-black '57 Bonnes.

I've looked up sales charts for the '60s and GM and Ford sold MILLIONS of them, but where are they today? Seriously, a lot more Pontiac and Chevy wagons were sold in a single year than Cadillac ever dreamed of putting over the curb, yet eBay and other places are chock full of pristine Caddies for sale, but almost NO wagons.

Not sure if you were being literal, but such was NOT the case in the U.S. : 1965 Pontiac, grand total: 802,000 units, 60,383 wagons, 1971: 586,xxx units, 39,xxx wagons. Chevy, 1965: 243,500 wagons. Cadillac has sold in the neighborhood of 375,000 in one model year (late '70s).

[knightfan26917]

SWEET Buick .

Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker

WRMNshowcase.lego.HO.model.MCs.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"I wanna drive" ... Trace Adkins ... '(Her Favorite Color Is) Chrome'

[Flybrian]

Beautiful wagon! Only one thing would improve it and that would be being a Caballero.

I've seen those sell for $50,000+. Let's see a Sequoia garner that much in fifty years. Who says wagons are worthless?

[GMTruckGuy74]

Not trying to steal your thunder away, but for reference here's the Olds Fiesta (1957):

[CARBIZ]

B-57 looks great so far, looks DONE in fact, from here!

I remember lifting the corner of a tarp in a junkyard and seeing a BLACK '57 Bonne, rough but complete and still wearing it's emblems. Biker dude behind the counter interrupted my question with 'Don't even ask about it', and it promptly disappeared. That was a good 10 years ago and it has not surfaced yet. Supposedly there were only 2 or 3 factory-black '57 Bonnes.

Not sure if you were being literal, but such was NOT the case in the U.S. : 1965 Pontiac, grand total: 802,000 units, 60,383 wagons, 1971: 586,xxx units, 39,xxx wagons. Chevy, 1965: 243,500 wagons. Cadillac has sold in the neighborhood of 375,000 in one model year (late '70s).

Sorry, not at home to check my references, but from memory, Pontiac and Chevrolet were selling like 3-400k wagons a year (Chevrolet in those days had a wagon in every line practically); whereas, Cadillac traditionally sold about a quarter million units a year through the '60s.

Today, very few nice wagons exist (especially up here where lack of car washes or waxing really took their toll), but I still see the odd '60s Caddy drive by.

[Sixty8panther]

Damnit, Fly beat me to the punch.

But seriously it doesn't mater that it has posts, that

is one cool wagon, pink and all. I love '50s cars.

Too bad you're so far away, we can;t park side by

side with our two '50 Buicks.

[Flybrian]

Today, very few nice wagons exist (especially up here where lack of car washes or waxing really took their toll), but I still see the odd '60s Caddy drive by.

Well, a wagon is a wagon regardless of how we feel and most people simply didn't care so much about them, unless they were expensive, hence the stark number of well-preserved Caballeros, etc. Also, most wagons looked like this...

And I probably wouldn't care about my wagon if it was as snoring as that is.

P.S. Yes, I know its a Nova, but it looks junky, even new. Besides, wagons aren't real wagons unless they're fullsize, V8-powered, and have stupid cool features like this...

...clamshells FTW!

[toesuf94]

Oh, no thunder stollen...I LOVE the Old's Fiesta Wagons...even rarer than the Buick! I wish mine were a Caballero, but being a "Special with a B-pillar" makes mine even rarer. There is one in Chicago for sale, done...less options than mine and non-matching numbers and the guy is asking $47,000!!!

I will keep her going for posterity...and will update the photos as the restoration goes on.

[CARBIZ]

........and we all know how well that short-lived technology stood up to the elements outside California and Florida!

[toesuf94]

We had a Buick with the clam shell that never ever failed on us in the 7 years we had it. On the flip side of that, we had many a wagon with the two-way tailgates that wore the hinges or had the latches pop off when slammed. Granted, we were in California when we had the Clamshell - I loved that car. I think it may be the first car I fell in love with. Yellow with tan interior and a painted roof insert that was silver...

[ClassyEldo]

We had a Buick with the clam shell that never ever failed on us in the 7 years we had it. On the flip side of that, we had many a wagon with the two-way tailgates that wore the hinges or had the latches pop off when slammed. Granted, we were in California when we had the Clamshell - I loved that car. I think it may be the first car I fell in love with. Yellow with tan interior and a painted roof insert that was silver...

Your '57 Buick Wagon is a gorgeous car to restore! Good luck with it--and those '57 hardtop wagons from GM also look great!

Growing up, one of my family's cars was a 1971 Buick Estate Wagon with the clam shell tailgate--and it was "Silver Fern" with Dark Green Vinyl Roof and Dark Green Vinyl Interior, and Woodgrain Side Applique, and the great Buick Chrome Rally Wheels. It was "loaded," including the optional cornering lamps, and it always performed very well. The tailgate was quite reliable, and remote controlled from the dashboard, for the 63,000 miles we had the car, getting rid of it in 1975. Really a well-engineered and useful feature.

[toesuf94]

Your '57 Buick Wagon is a gorgeous car to restore! Good luck with it--and those '57 hardtop wagons from GM also look great!

Growing up, one of my family's cars was a 1971 Buick Estate Wagon with the clam shell tailgate--and it was "Silver Fern" with Dark Green Vinyl Roof and Dark Green Vinyl Interior, and Woodgrain Side Applique, and the great Buick Chrome Rally Wheels. It was "loaded," including the optional cornering lamps, and it always performed very well. The tailgate was quite reliable, and remote controlled from the dashboard, for the 63,000 miles we had the car, getting rid of it in 1975. Really a well-engineered and useful feature.

Do you have any shots of that '71? I think ours was a 71 or 72. Would love to see the old girl!

[Camino LS6]

I've been tempted to buy one of those big wagons more than once - largely because of the clamshell.

But, I like wagons generally (Novas included).

[ClassyEldo]

Do you have any shots of that '71? I think ours was a 71 or 72. Would love to see the old girl!

The only picture that comes to mind, and I would have to dig it up, is where the Silver Fern station wagon is in the "background" (across the street) as I was posing with my grandmother following my First Communion, outside of the Church. There may also be one or two candid shots of one of my parents standing near the clamshell, with either both the tailgate and window opened, or just the window opened, as they are unloading the car at the New Jersey shore. Even if I were to take the time to sort through old photos, I am not capable of converting them to a format for posting, so that is not very likely. Sorry.

I am certain ours was a 1971, and the car was "ordered" by my Mother, and she waited several weeks to receive one of the first 1971's in our area. After she got it, the Sales Manager at the Buick dealership then ordered an almost identical car, but with a slightly more silver color that was available that year.

[balthazar]

Didn't the '71 wagons likewise get the Flo-Thru ventilation louvers on the tailgate, like the coupes/sedans? That should jog your memory about it being a '71 or not.

Friend of mine had a '76 Estate Wagon into the late '80s at least and the clamshell still worked fine. Pretty positive it was the downsizig of '77 that killed the feature.

[Camino LS6]

Didn't the '71 wagons likewise get the Flo-Thru ventilation louvers on the tailgate, like the coupes/sedans? That should jog your memory about it being a '71 or not.

Friend of mine had a '76 Estate Wagon into the late '80s at least and the clamshell still worked fine. Pretty positive it was the downsizig of '77 that killed the feature.