Category Archives: Buick

Narval / Le Sabre Genealogy

By Charles Rockett

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

I have long believed that Harley Earl, head of design and later VP at General Motors, keenly followed the work of Joseph Figoni, as indeed I am sure he followed much of the design world’s innovators. In his book From Passion To Perfection, Richard Adatto (SPE Barthelemy, 2003) tells us that General Motors approached Figoni in the post-war years to work for them, (I think we may assume this was on Earl’s command) but that he turned the offer down. Figoni was an Italian car designer (coachbuilder) active in the 1920-50s and well-known for his Art Deco -inspired aerodynamic curves.

I am convinced that in ‘pinching’ the top edges of his Delahaye Narval’s rear fenders, Joseph Figoni was the true originator of the 1950s tailfin! And more; that Harley Earl knew it. Further, I remain convinced that the highly influential Le Sabre, owes its lineage to the same Narval. The car design was named Narval for its prominent front end, like a Narwhal or a Beluga Whale.

Seven Delahaye Narvals were produced between 1946 and 1950 with its pointed nose at its most extreme in the earliest two examples up to 1947 and with the front end flattening-out and becoming graphically ’squared’ with their light configurations by 1948. The central fin on the rear decklid disappeared after the first example, leaving only two prominant tailfins in 1947. These details concern the Narval, two of which are shown below.

For now, I would like to draw attention to the relationship between the Narval and the Buick Le Sabre and from there, two celebrated scions of the Le Sabre, (if indeed they were) Raymond Loewy’s 1950 Studebaker line and Valentin Rostikov’s 1951 Zis 112S. All opinions and /or corrections are welcome from our readers.

Take a look at these five 1:43 handbuilt models and see what you think:

  • Delahaye 135 Narval #3 Rita Hayworth 1947 MA Collection (black)
  • Delahaye 135 Narval #6 1948 Miniatures Du Chateau, Heco Models (red)
  • Buick Le Sabre 1951 Great American Dream Machines (silver)
  • Studebaker Commander 1951 43rd Avenue / Milestone Miniatures (green)
  • Zis 112S 1951 DIP Models (blue)

The Narval style is among my favourite automotive statements – as one writer put it, “for its baroque charms”. And I have spent years tracing its development.


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Egeskov Castle – 1955 Buick Century

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

Today we stop at another American car in the Egeskov Castle collection. In 1954 Buick re-introduced the model name Century to their range. Using the smaller, lighter Buick Special body they combined it with the largest and most powerful engine in their range, a 5.3 litre V8 and a Dynaflow automatic transmission. This gave Buick a performance vehicle which was reflected in the four ventiports on its front wings.

Author’s photographs

Image of period Buick Advert from PInterest

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AutoCult and Avenue 43 – July 2023

By Maz Woolley

AutoCult add steadily to their release schedule and there is also an interesting new model from their Avenue 43 line.

As usual the new AutoCults are and an interesting mix and are sealed resin models made to 1:43 scale in China for Germany. The release are the VW VLK in the ‘Racing Car’ category, the Porsche Tempo Mikafa Sport Camper in the category ‘Camping Vehicles’, and the Buick Goodyear Airwheel Promotional Bus in the ‘Buses’ category.

The Volvo 1800 ESC Viking Coggiola appears as an Avenue 43 model in 1:43 scale sealed resin form made in China for Germany. It is to be available in two different colours: red #60037, and white #60104.

All the photographs have been provided by AutoCult and are of pre-production samples so some minor changes may occur when they are batch produced.


AutoCult

#07028 Volkswagen VLK (#7) (Germany, 1947)

After the Second World War the car racing scene quickly revived. The German racing driver Kurt Kuhnke from Braunschweig dreamed of a racing car of his own.

He partnered the Volkswagen engineer Walter Hampel to create a racing car using the technology of the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer combined with an aerodynamic body. Kuhnke and Hampel presented the idea to Volkswagen design chief Josef Kales in the hope of receiving material and professional help from the plant. Josef Kales liked the project and pledged support. Volkswagen’s support meant that Gustav Vogelsang devoted himself to squeezing more horsepower out of the Volkswagen engine whilst the technical university of Brunswick tested the models of the car in a wind tunnel and the prototype shape had a drag factor of 0.21.

The car was built in three months by coachbuilder Heinrich Schwen & Sohn using a tubular frame with aluminium panels attached over a Volkswagen chassis shortened by 20 centimetres. The car was called VLK which stands for ‘Vollstrom-Leichtbau-Konstruktion’, (Full-Flow Lightweight Construction.

The car’s first race was on August 24, in 1947. It took part in the ‘Braunschweiger Autobahnrennen’ (Highway race of Braunschweig). Driven by Kurt Kuhnke it won the race.

In 1948, Heinrich Nordhoff was put in charge of Volkswagen GmbH. He had no interest in racing cars so the project VLK was scrapped and In August 1948, the car is said to have been sold to Richard Trenkel, a racing driver from Bad Harzburg.


#09019 Porsche Tempo Mikafa Sport Camper (Germany, 1955)

MIKAFA (‘Mindener Karosserie und Fahrzeugbau GmbH) was created in 1949 and specialised in the construction of motorhomes from 1951, after initially producing single-axle caravans. The company became regarded as a first-class manufacturer. Right from the start, the Düsseldorf-based company used the chassis of the Tempo Matador as the basis for its mobile homes. Due to MIKAFA’s own tubular space frames, some of the camper vans were built wider and longer than the factory standard Matadors. From 1955 onwards, two orders were received for Matador motorhomes fitted with a very different engine: the 4-cylinder boxer unit of a Porsche 356.

The Porsche engine was mounted in the front of the Matador Camper between the two front seats driving the front wheels. This engine meant that these Porsche engined Campers were considerably faster than standard Tempo Matadors. The extra performance and high quality fittings came at a cost and the Campers cost up to 40,000 DM making them a luxury item.


#10012 Buick ‘Goodyear Airwheel’ Promotional Bus (USA, 1929)

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company introduced a completely new type of tire in 1929. This operated at lower pressures and was advertised with the slogan ‘Air Wheel’. In press releases it was also listed as the ‘Musselman Type’,. This name was derived from its inventor Alvin J. Musselman. Goodyear had acquired the patent rights from its inventor and hoped for a breakthrough, especially in aircraft and heavy goods vehicle tyre sales. For advertising purposes, the company made a huge tire 3.6 meters high.

To promote sales Goodyear had a special car made by ‘Flxible Co’ a coachbuilder better known in recent years for making transit buses. The car was made on an extended 1929 Buick Chassis. The special structure offered plenty of space for passengers inside, with each row of seats accessed by its own separate doors. However, the minibus was incidental and the main emphasis was the large ‘Air Wheel’, which was literally towed behind as the “fifth wheel” attached by a swinging arm hinged at the rear. This show vehicle drove through 24 states of the USA on a promotional tour over two years and covered 12,000 miles.

This tour was judged a success so Goodyear had as second identical conversion made and both vehicles toured the US promoting Goodyear Tyres.


Avenue 43

This car was first shown to the public at the 1971 Paris Auto Show. It was an exercise designed to explore how to accommodate the ever increasing demand for safety features in stylish Coupe body. Styled at Coggiola’s company Carrozziere Coggiola which was founded in 1966 when he left Ghia. As well as creating this concept car for Volvo he also did work as varied as converting production Bentley’s into re-styled exclusive coupes and convertibles for wealthy customers and prototypes of the Renault Megane.

The Volvo is said to have styling cues from Italian supercars like the Maserati Merak and Iso Lele. It was never progressed as a production car by Volvo, though some features might have influenced the styling of the Volvo 480ES. Some years later the white show car was painted red after it was sold to a Spanish buyer. Both colours are offered by Avenue 43.


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Egeskov Castle – 1931 Buick Ambulance

By Eugen Pedersen

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

In 1931 Buick produced a range of chassis lengths fitted with three straight eight engines the smallest a 220 ci unit then a 272ci unit and finally a 344ci unit for the top of the line models. These had an auto ignition advance unit which was an early use of such units.

The Ambulance in the museum would have been supplied as one of the longer chassis sizes to a coachbuilder to provide the Ambulance bodywork and internal fittings.



1931 Brochure cover image from Buick Heritage Alliance

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Readers’s Letter – Corgi Model Club Buick Cel

Editors Note: Apologies to Peter I had overlooked posting this letter till now. I hope that you liked the MGB and the models which have followed it.


Dear Editor,

Thank you for the continued updates of the Corgi Model Club issues. The new MGB GT looks great and as it wasn’t a model I bought as a youngster, I’m looking forward receiving the re-issue in due course

I  like to include a copy of the paint Cel with the pictures I take of each model but, so far, I have not seen a Cel of the Buick Riviera. I did email the Corgi Model Club recently but all they emailed was another picture of the Buick. If you receive a copy of the Buick Cel it would be great if you can share it with your readers please.

Kind regards,

Peter Ager
By Email

Editor’s Note: I think that the Cels are a nice addition to your model documentation and they give us an insight into the design work completed for these replicas. When I wrote Update 22 for this series Suzy at the Corgi Model Club had not sent me the Cel but when I got in touch after receiving your letter she was happy to oblige. So here is the Cel missing from the article below. I too am looking forward to getting the MGB GT which looks a very faithful reproduction of the original which was a classic Corgi Toy.



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Some US Prototype 1:64 Models

By Maz Woolley

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

This article looks at a few models released over the last year of US built cars, and a trailer, made to 1:64 scale. Two are from Greenlight which is based in Indianapolis in the US and the other is a Mini GT produced by True Scale MIniatures of Hong Kong. All models were actually made in China.

Greenlight 1949 Buick Roadmaster

Greenlight are a mainstream US industrial firm selling models in multiple scales and in large quantities. They are upmarket from standard Hot Wheels and Matchbox models and generally close to the advertised 1:64 scale. Here we see two versions of their Buick Roadmaster casting. The first is made in their Hitch and Tow series and pulls an Airstream Bambi marked 1961, the year the caravan was launched, on its base. Car and caravan are in matching custom paint finish. The lower part of the car is diecast and the roof, windshield and glazing are all plastic allowing for flush windows and neatly printed window surrounds. The second 1949 Buick is a convertible using the same lower diecast section and finished as the car which appeared in the film Rain Man and it is in Greenlight’s Hollywood series. The 1949 Buick was the first significant update of the Roadmaster after the Second World War and it was the fifth generation of the car.

In both cases there are no opening parts but a considerable amount of printed detail like Buick vent ports on the front wing and badging on front, side and rear, as well as the classic Buick Sweepspear‘ side mouldings and front and rear lights. Under the cars there is a cast in chassis detail as well as engine, transmission and other underside detail. Inside the car there is a good representation of a steering wheel for the scale, as well as a dashboard with moulded in details and door cards with raised details and nicely moulded seats. It is fitted with a sturdy metal tow bar which is not too distracting.

The Trailer/Caravan has appeared before in the Hitch and Tow series in its classic polished finish. Here it is in a two tone finish to match the tow car and it has many details printed on. The Caravan windows are solid dark plastic inserts and the trailer/caravan has no opening door or fitted interior.


1949 Buick Roadmaster. From Internet photographs it looks like it is modelled as as the rare Riviera Coupe version of this car.

1961 Airstream Bambi Trailer (Caravan) with lots of detailed printing to give custom details

The 1949 Buick Convertible as used in the Film Rain Man

Mini GT Lincoln Capri

MIni GT is a premium range made to a higher standard than Greenlight’s models and priced accordingly. They are again diecast and unlike Greenlights which are for 3+ years this is a collectors model for 14+. This model from Mini GT is a curiosity. As far as I can see it is the only 1950s model in their range, and no others have been announced to join it yet. Perhaps it is a test to see whether the US market will buy classic cars made to Mini GTs standard and price point.

The 1952 Lincoln Capri was the first generation of this car. It competed with the Cadillac Series 62, Chrysler New Yorker, and Packard Patrician. The model is of the 1954 version of this car which was powered by LIncoln’s new V8 and the car was priced competitively and sold in considerable numbers for a luxury, and expensive, product. The Capri was one of the first cars to offer an automated headlight dimmer.

The Mini GT model is made to their usual high standard with flush glazing even though the entire body is diecast. The window surrounds are printed to a very high standard as are the side body mouldings. We get a separate inserted emblem on the bonnet over a neatly printed badge. Front lights are separate inserts and the rear lights are red and orange over painted in silver on the separate rear bumper and light assembly. The front grille is beautifully moulded and painted with black infill. The wheels and tyres are excellent too with the central emblem in red printed on the silver hubcaps. The tyres are a nice scale width and have good white printed sidewalls. There is even a tiny mirror inserted on the Driver’s door.

Inside the model is difficult to see but is clearly in a single black shade wit very basic door cards and a dash with a bit of moulded detail but little else and the steering wheel which looks fairly basic.

1954 Lincoln Capri from Mini GT

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It caught the Editor’s Eye

By Maz Woolley

This article looks at a few models which have either shipped or are about to ship across several ranges which look interesting.

OttOmobile

OttOmobile sell sell sealed 1:18 scale resin models made in China for France. They cover a wide range of cars over several eras. Here they have produced the first large scale model that I am aware of of the Volkswagen SP2 which was developed in Brazil in the 1970s as they had no sports coupe in their range and imported ones were very expensive due to tax regulations designed to protect local car production.

Volkswagen of Brazil created ‘Project X‘ to provide a model that was not already in Volkswagen’s range. The SP2 name adopted is for Sao Paulo where the cars were made. The SP2 was the most powerful version using a rear mounted, 1.7 litre four cylinder flat air cooled engine which produced 65hp, whilst the SP1 made do with the standard Variant 1600cc engine. Sadly as the car was based on the underpinnings of the Variant the car’s performance was not up to it’s looks and Brazilian’s seemed to prefer sporty versions of standard cars or the Brazilian made Puma whose Italianate GRP body was much lighter, sportier and more beautiful. Only just over 10,000 SP cars were produced with 5% going for export.

The OttO model has been produced in blue with the side stripes, a colour combination seen in photographs of surviving cars on the Internet. It is an attractive colourway for an interesting model which Volkswagen collectors will no doubt find tempting.


Goldvarg Collectibles

Sergio Goldvarg has let us know that shipments of several previously announced models will be arriving in the US in March. The photographs shown below are of pre-production pant samples and there may be some minor differences to shipped models where small details need to be improved.

GC-061 A 1968 Buick Electra Verdoro Green

GC-061 B 1968 Buick Electra Autumn Bronze

The 1968 Buick Electra was a full size car powered by a 7 litre or larger V8 engine. Bill Mitchell is credited with the design and it shows the restrained lines introduced on the Riviera in 1963 further developed with the ‘coke bottle’ shaped rear flanks and the neatly shaped front end.

Here the Goldvarg is nicely finished in period colours with the padded vinyl roof particularly well replicated. The wheels also look to be very nice reproductions of the style fitted in 1968.


GC-PAA-004 1948 Crosley Pan American Airlines Aircraft Technician Unit

GC-063 A 1949 Crosley Blue

GC-063 B 1949 Crosley Jonquil Yellow.

The Crosley came to market after the Second World War and provided a lightweight body on chassis powered by a small engine of under 1000cc. Initially popular at a time when demand for cars greatly exceeded the ability of the factories to produce new cars sales waned until the range was abandoned in 1952. The greater availability of second hand cars at that point and the fact that petrol was cheap in the USA meant that people preferred a full sized car and there were few financial penalties for choosing one.

The PAN AM Crosley utility vehicle was probably well suited to driving technicians round airfields carrying small parts and service items to planes and it is an interesting, and now very nostalgic, livery.


GC-66 A 1959 Ford Fairlane 2 Door Indian Turquoise

GC-66 B 1959 Ford Fairlane 2 Door Inca Gold

The 1959 car was the final evolution of the second generation Ford Fairlane that was introduced for the 1957 model year. The Fairlane was introduced as an upmarket version of the full size Ford cars as can be seen by the two tome paintwork and chrome detailing replicated by Goldvarg. Engines ranged from the ‘mileage maker’ in line six to ‘thunderbird’ or ‘interceptor’ V8 units all of over 5.0 litres and most were fitted with a three speed automatic gearbox. Whilst Ford’s styling for the 1959 model year was conservative compared to the wings and chrome mouldings that GM and Chrysler were using they sold well.

The Goldvarg models look to be very well painted and detailed .


Maxichamps

Maxichamps is a branding used by Minichamps for a cheaper range of 1:43 scale models based on their now obsolete castings and which retail for a lower price than their premium 1:43 products.

We have only recently featured the new Solido 1:43 scale CX models here. Maxichamps have now also launch some CX models too. They model a less sporty version of the car than the GTI modelled by Solido. Obsolete Minichamps releases of this model in similar colours were of the Prestige version though that is not stated this time.

Citroën CX 1982 – Metallic Brown

Citroën CX 1982 – Metallic Silver

The CX was launched in 1974 and by 1982 many of the initial teething problems had been overcome. It was a large and very comfortable family saloon car and despite the sloping back was not produced with a hatchback. Over a million CX cars and estates were produced over its lifespan.


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Corgi Model Club Corgi Toys #245 Buick Riviera Replica

By Maz Woolley

Text and photographs copyright of the Author(s) unless otherwise stated.

The Buick Riviera was launched in 1963 for the 1964 model year and gave GM a personal luxury car to compete with Ford’s Thunderbird. The car’s shape appeared in early 1963 as a concept car, the Buick Silver Arrow, but by the time it entered production it revived the Riviera name which had been used for some Buick’s in the past. The clean styling of this car was reflected by many other brands in the mid-1960s a compete contrast to the fins and chrome styling that the 1960s started with.

The replica of Corgi Toys #245

Scanned image of an original 1965 catalogue page showing the model in gold.

Corgi Toys #245 was launched in June 1964. It was available in gold, pale blue and metallic blue. Its main selling feature was the trans-o-lite lights where the lights front and rear were on the end of plastic rods which captured light elsewhere as shown in the leaflet included in the model below.

It was also fitted with a tow hook and it could tow a boat sold separately as Corgi Toys #104. Combined together they could also be bought in a gift set. The catalogue entry for the Gift Set is shown below.

Edited excerpt from a scanned 1965 Catalogue page

During the production run the wheels used varied. The nice spoke wheels were sometimes replaced by the ‘turbine style’ wheels, and some were apparently even fitted with plain spun hubs.

The Model Club’s replica, which as I write is arriving with collectors who subscribed early or who have ‘caught up’, is in metallic blue with nice spoked wheels. Included in the box is a small leaflet showing how to operate the trans-o-lite lights front and rear. This illustration was extracted from the larger leaflet included with the original model which also included Corgi Club Membership details for the club operated by Corgi Toys in the 1960s.

The only difference I can spot between the original and the replica is that the new model seems to have smaller spun over section on its base rivets which is of no concern to me!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The next model expected in the series is a replica of Corgi Toys #327 MGB GT. We look forward to being sent pre-release photographs for that model at the beginning of March. I am sure that the MGB GT replica will prove to be very popular with subscribers and with collectors buying it directly from the Corgi Model Club website once it is available (https://corgimodelclub.com/).


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Corgi Model Club Update 22

By Maz Woolley

The next model in the Corgi Model Club series of replicas is Corgi Toys #245 Buick Riviera. This dates back to 1964 and originally came in gold, metallic blue and pale blue. It also appeared in Gift Set #13 towing a boat and trailer which could also be bought as a separate item as #104. The Corgi Model Club has decided to replicate the metallic blue model, a colour that suits the car well.

The Model Club has replicated the car down to its ‘Trans-o-Lite‘ front and rear lights.

The Buick Riviera was a personal luxury car introduced by Buick in 1963. Its styling was penned by Bill MItchell and introduced restrained coke bottle styling to the GM range which was to spread widely amongst US cars across all manufacturers.

Pre-production models have been used to create the photographs below and they show that the model looks to be a very faithful replica of the original.

Again the box is replicated well with the changes needed to mark Chinese production added unobtrusively. Included is a replica of the leaflet showing how the lights operate which was included with the original model.

Early subscribers and those who have ‘caught up’ can look forward to this model shipping later in February. Non-subscribers can also order a model direct from the Corgi Model Club website which currently fulfils orders from UK and US via the website. For collectors in Europe Budig in Berlin sell the models in their shop and online and the Model Club are exploring partnerships with further European dealers.


Goldvarg New York Police Cars (Updated)

By Maz Woolley

The Goldvarg Collection has established itself as one of the main sources of quality resin models of US cars since its re-establishment in the US with sealed models made in resin in China to 1:43 scale. Unusually for a smaller specialist producer his range is fully licenced by car manufacturers and also by livery owners. It is gradually re-establishing its release programme after it was affected by the impact of Covid and Sergio Goldvarg having to focus on family matters for a while.

New York Police Cars form a sub-range within the main programme. There are currently seven models planned with many having been publicised for some time now. Two already released and the remaining five are either ‘coming soon’ or ‘in development’. In all cases photographs of released models or colour samples can be seen on the Goldvarg website.

NYPD is a very popular livery for collectors of American Police Cars partly because of the frequency that they have been seen on TV, the wide range of vehicles used in a big City, and the distinctive liveries. Sergio Goldvarg has worked with the Police Department and their collection of historic cars to create the models. NYPD have always run a range of vehicles to meet the wide ranging responsibilities of the department and this is reflected in the Goldvarg Collection which includes a utility vehicle as well as various types of patrol Cars. NYPD has had several different vehicle suppliers, and changing liveries over the years and these are reflected on the Goldvarg models.

Whilst most of the Goldvarg NYPD cars are authentic GC-NYPD-005 1974 Buick Century New York Police Department is said not to be. Yes it was widely seen on television in NYPD colours, especially on Kojak and other TV series in the late 1970s, but was apparently not used by NYPD itself.

GC-NYPD-001 1970 Ford Galaxie New York Police Department – SOLD OUT

GC-NYPD-002 1953 Ford Courier New York “Emergency Service Division” – LIMITED STOCK

GC-NYPD-003 1958 Ford Custom 300 New York Police Car – IN DEVELOPMENT

GC-NYPD-004 1977 Pontiac Le Mans New York Police Car – COMING SOON

GC-NYPD-005 1974 Buick Century New York Police Department – WITH STOCKISTS

GC-006 1976 PONTIAC CATALINA New York Police Department – COMING SOON

GC-NYPD-007 1959 Ford New York Police Department Tactical Patrol Force Car – IN DEVELOPMENT

Collectors of US Police Cars will need to keep an eye on Goldvarg releases this year as I believe that at some point we may well see quite a few of the expected models shipping in a short period now Chinese output seems to be gradually recovering.


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