1940 Buick 40 Series Special

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Some friends of mine have a '40 Buick I'd 'bout kill to have. They picked it up in the '70s for around $1500 and drove it home from Nebraska. Only had around 55,000 miles. It had been sitting out awhile and the paint was very chalky but the interior was like new. When they got it home the original blue lacquer finish buffed out really nice and it turned out to be a really sweet car.



It's not very often you come across a car of this vintage in this nice of shape. It's not perfect by any means and after 65 years a car is going to show some age, but it's a strong #2. Anyone have an idea what an original unrestored '40 Buick with 79,400 miles would be worth?



I had two opportunities to drive this car and it was an experience like no other. Love the old car gear whine in first gear. The big banjo steering wheel. All the controls, gauges, etc. work and work darn good! The 3-speed column shift blows all known column shifters away. . . snicks through the gears as though it were built by Mercedes or BMW. The 248 straight 8 is mega smooth & quite torquey, no throttle needed when letting out the clutch and a real joy accelerating through the gears.



It's amazing some of the qualities this entry level car from Buick has. Even with 65 years of age many things function with a quality many new cars lack today.



I haven't ridden in it for awhile but got to see it this week and watch it go driving off into the sunset. It gets driven fairly often, about 5000 miles in the last 15 years just running around locally.



Well sorry for rambling, guess I'm kinda in love with a car I have little chance of owning someday



Vaughn

 

[DavidGardner]

:{



Vaugn I know what you are talking about. Coolest car ever built. When I was in the Airforce at Myrtle Beach S. C. A friend of mine found a 1940 Buick 40 series coupe. I had about 40 thousand miles on it and was in pristine condition. He was from Texas and was getting discharged in about 15 days and was going to drive it back home to Texas. Did I mention he only paid about 300 dollars for the car and it ran and drove perfect with the straight 8 engine. Well her bought a wrecked 54 cad with a v8 eng. and auto. Since I had done an engine swap while in high school I voulentierd to do a swap. Took one weekend and it was running. He wouldnt even let me adjust the shift points on the transmission as he wanted to head home. Ran great but when you put it in drive it shifted 1-2-3 bam bam bam and then lugged of in high gear. He wrote me a letter from his home in Texas and said he made it all the way. The only problem is the muffler fell of as he crossed the Texas border but was never stopped the rest of the way. This all happened in 1963 and to this day I still regret not leaving the car completly stock. It ran and drove perfect! What a waist. Forgive me Lord.



Dave Gardner :{

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Those are the ones hard to read about! Anyone can make a street rod out of about anything, but it's impossible to turn a street rod back into an original unrestored car.



I remember in the late '80s I subscribed to Hot Rod magazine. The last issue I got featured a '55 Chevy Nomad that was perfect and only 30,000 miles which he bought and immediately chopped, tubbed, gutted and basically turned into a street/strip car. The article gloated about desicrating a perfect virgin car. Cancelled my sub that day and have hardly touched Hot Rod since.



Well David at least if you had to do it over again you'll do the right thing next time

If I ever come across a nice '40 I'm all over it. Don't care for the '39s with the funny grille and the running boards are gone in '41. Although the twin carb setup would be nice.

I did see a very tastefully done '40 Special mild custom once. New paint and interior and wheels, but still had the straight 8. Had a single 3" exhaust, deathly quiet, but had a real nice purr when he gave it the gas and drove off.





Vaughn

 

[MN Cummins Lvr]

Vaughn,



Sounds like a sweet old car! Try not to let this old girl get away... she sounds too nice! :-laf Maybe try Old Cars Price Guide to get an idea of what it's worth! Good luck!





http://www.collect.com/interest/periodical.asp?Pub=PG&cookie_test=1





Paul

 

[FloridaEd]

C'mon. Give us a picture to drool over!



My uncle Charlie had a 1930-something Buick Striaght-8 with suicide rear doors and the big bulgy fenders up front. He let me drive it once, and it was the smoothest running engine I've ever known... . followed closely by the Ford 240 C. I. I-6 and the Dodge 225 C. I. Slant 6. (IMHO, inline engines have ALWAYS been, mechanincally speaking, superior to V-type engines. )



You need to know a machine/metal working shop guy really well to own one of these... . a lot of stuff will have to be made if it breaks. But there's always EBay for parts.



Now, to your question.



Not sure what this would be worth, but EBay is the place to find out. Personally, if I ran into something like this with a price tag of $10,000, the grandkids would have to take out some student loans because the "Bank of Grandad" would shut down... .



And $10,000 would just be the beginning.....



Good luck... sounds like you've stumbled on a Geezer's dream.



Florida ED

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Well Ed I took a video of it driving off, I might try and capture some stills from it if I can figure out how to do it. I like the suicide doors on the car, makes it nice getting in the back seat and seems like a more natural door arrangement from that standpoint.



The only thing I could imagine would be smoother is a V12 or V16 Cadillac. I saw a guy who has two in his garage. Man the V16 is a gorgeous piece.



Vaughn

 

[RonaldLarson]

Yeah, Vaughn!

Boy do I agree with you on destroying perfectly good cars with history and nostalgia in their blood. Guys who think a cutting torch and saw are restoration tools are sick!

I just picked up a sweet 1971 Demon slant six to restore. This is one nice car, and as I remove trim and interior parts to prep for paint, I am amazed at how well built these cars are. Lots of parts available, the slant six is bullet proof and buildable to factory two barrel, cam and headers fun. No reason to do more, and I'll have a piece of car history just like they made it 34 years ago.

"Don't crush 'em, restore 'em".

Ron

 

[tpuig]

To get an idea of value, try a couple things...



1) It'll run about $200-300 for a professional appraisal. Great for insurance and later if you go to sell the car. Find out the options, how many made, special history of the car, etc. Offer to split the appraisal with the current owner if you're not sure about buying it. This way you both have a fair value to base a deal on. It typically takes a full day to have an appraisal done, and you get a nice folder/binder with the info.

2) Check Hemmings for comparable cars for sale. Back issues included for the last year or so. There are a number of classic cars publications that could be helpful as well.

3) Previous auction sales. This is probably the best real world indication of the street value. Sentiment plays a lot into old car sales. Don't bother with Barrett Jackson, but there are dozens of big auction houses that list their results. Don't forget to check eBay as well.

4) Check with Buick clubs. They usually have pretty knowledgable folks and sometimes want ads in the club newsletters.

5) Call your insurance company, or a classic car insurance company like Haggerty, J. C. Taylor, etc. They can give you an idea of the rates and how they determine the value. KBB and NADA probably won't have very accurate info for cars that old.



Hope this helps. That sounds like a great car.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Woohoohoo! I just won me a '40 Buick Special on eBay. . . yeah baby!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...bay.com:80/?from=R40&satitle=4600195779&fvi=1



Yeah it needs work but it looks like a solid car for $2000. Now I gotta figure out how to get it home. . . looks like I'll be making a road trip to Indiana

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Well I made the trip to Indiana and brought the '40 Buick home to Washington



I have been working on it here and there, and tonight I went on my first drive! I went 12 miles and the car ran very well. Man I'm stoked Oo.



From everything that I can tell this is the first time it's been driven any distance in 20 years. It was last driven regularly 40 years ago



Here is a pic I took when I got home almost 3 weeks ago



The tires were installed in 1966, a year before I was born

 

[Diesel Dan]

Looks great Vaughn,



Are you going to drop a B4T in that bad boy???



I'll have to drop by and take a look at it when i am i the neighborhood.



DD

 

[DavidGardner]

Wow Vaughn that looks great and in very resatorable condition. Keep us posted on your progress. Looking forward to seeing more pics and info on the that beauty.



Dave Gardner

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Looks great Vaughn,



Are you going to drop a B4T in that bad boy???



DD

No way

Straight 8 is going to stay



Come on by anytime Dan



Keep an eye on this thread for updates Dave.

 

[wcaldwell]

Vaughn,



That '40 Buick looks really nice. As cherry as it is, try to keep it that way. I have a '36 Hudson Terraplane that would make a large dent in a millionaire's wallet just to restore back to original condition - this one will become an uncut resto-rod. The body will be as close to original condition as I can make it, with all new running gear and interior. Maybe we'll meet at a car show some day. I'll keep an eye out for you and your Buick.



Wayne

 

[DKayser]

To each his own.

I chose not to restore my 52 Studebaker Champion. The car drove ok, everything worked, but it was not a car you could run 55 in for more than a couple miles. 4. 56 gears and a 170 cubic inch low rpm engine do not cut it. We put a Nova front clip in and are now installing a small block Mopar with lock up 904. Plain vanilla and all the Studie trim will stay. The only interior change will be the tilt/telescope column. Original seats, radio, etc are staying put. Not cutting the dash, or otherwise hacking up the car. Don.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I'm not sure how and when I'll restore my '40, but if I don't do it totally stock/original it will be very close. I don't plan to restore it for awhile, what I'll do is get it shaped up mechanically and fix the items needing it the most, then just drive it around the way it is. Might do this for a few years, a Sunday Drive car. At this point I'm not in a hurry to restore and show it, just want to cruise in it. If I do restore it I'm not into super original, a few modern items in the appropriate place are fine. I may put in dual carbs, bigger cam, and electronic ignition, but the drivetrain will remain pretty stock. Same for the body and interior.



The '40 Buick will run down the road pretty well at 65, my friends' '40 doesn't feel too strained at 70 (not nearly as much as my '50 Chevy with the stovebolt 6!). I think there are higher ratio gears I can put in the '40, the I-8 is more torquey than the Chevy 216.



Vaughn

 

[RonaldLarson]

My turn here, finally

This post has no ending! Well, I got the bug bad, and that is good.

I found a 1971 Demon which I am restoring now. It had a slant six and 904 transmission. The car is in very good condition with two small rust spots, all good glass and trim, no interior. The more I work on it, the more I want to do, so it is naked now. The car was very well designed in the critical areas, and this is a good thing. I'm putting in a 360/390 HP crate, built 727 and an 8 3/4 rear. I'll add frame connectors, and a disc conversion is on the way, with all poly graphite bushings. It's going to be painted in Plum Crazy with all 340 badging. I've added a rear spoiler from First Place Auto, and hood scoops are also going on.

Hope to have it done by this time next year. Best hobby there is in my book.



Ron

 

[KBennett]

Vaughan, that is way cool! A friend of mine in Illinois had a Packard with a flathead straight 8. I think it was bigger than the Cummins in our trucks and had the sweetest exhaust note.



His dad had a 40's Packard convertible but lost it and an Indian in a fire in 1980. :{

 

[DKayser]

Please......

His dad had a 40's Packard convertible but lost it and an Indian in a fire in 1980. :{

Offer him my condolences I would sell my boss`s internal organs for an Indian. The real Indian, that is. Preferably a Chief. DK.

 

[rrausch]

Vaughn, that is a great car. I remember that auction, It is good to know you were the lucky winner!



I am restoring a '53 Chevy convertible. The P. O. had lowered the front and rear springs with a torch! At some point he parked it under trees for about 20 years. When I bought it in 1990 it had no floors, no trunk floor, the doors were shot, hood was junk... oh and it had also been rear-ended.



He had also carved 6 notches into the steering wheel, and his name "Bill" into the horn button. But I wonder what those 6 notches were for?



Anyway now the bodywork is all done--with good solid doors, hood and trunk lid. I've rebuilt a Chevy 261 (anybody here know what a 261 is?), rebuilt the 3-speed trans, installed a 3. 54 Powerglide rear-end and good springs, and rebuilt the front susp. I also got a ton of stuff off of ebay. Now I am ready to put everything back in and get 'er running. Should be fun! This is going to be a fun car!