When was Buick founded?
42254#4
The first two Buick automobiles were made in 1899 and 1900 at the "Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company" by chief-engineer Walter Marr, but company owner David Dunbar Buick was reluctant to begin making automobiles, being satisfied with stationary and marine engine production, so Marr left Buick in 1901 to found his own automobile company under his own name. His replacement was Eugene Richard, who applied for a patent in 1902 for Marr's valve-in-head (overhead valve) engine, which patent, number 771,095, was awarded to Richard in the name of Buick in 1904. In 1903, the third Buick automobile was made, this time by Richard, but in 1904 Buick, whose company was now called "Buick Motor Company," moved to Flint, Michigan, and Richard stayed behind. Marr was rehired in Flint as chief engineer, to begin making automobiles in production. That year, 37 Buick automobiles were made, production increasing to 750 in 1905, 1,400 in 1906, 4,641 in 1907, and 8,800 in 1908, taking the number one spot away from close competitors Oldsmobile, Ford, and Maxwell.
David Buick incorporated his company as the Buick Motor Company on May 19, 1903, in Detroit, Michigan. Buick had been financed by friend and fellow automobile enthusiast, Benjamin Briscoe, who sold control of the business to James H. Whiting (1842–1919), in September, 1903. of Flint Wagon Works, in Flint, Michigan. Whiting moved Buick to Flint that summer, to a location across the street from his factory, with the idea of adding Buick's engines to his wagons. David Buick stayed on as a manager, and re-hired Walter Marr as chief engineer. The engine Buick and Marr developed for this automobile was a two-cylinder valve-in-head engine of 159 cubic inches, with each cylinder horizontal and opposed to the other by 180 degrees. Whiting built only a few automobiles in 1904, by bringing Buick engines across the street where his workers shoehorned them into his wagons, before running out of capital, causing him to bring in William C. Durant that year as controlling investor. Durant spent the next four years turning Buick into the biggest-selling automobile brand in the US. Durant was co-owner, also in Flint, with Josiah Dallas Dort, of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, which was the largest carriage-making company in the country and one of the largest in the world. Durant moved most production to the former Durant-Dort Imperial Wheel plant in Jackson, Michigan in 1905. Buick continued car production in Jackson through 1907, when Factory #1 was completed in Flint. The Jackson plant continued production with Buick trucks through 1912. David Buick sold his stock upon departure in 1906, and died in modest circumstances 25 years later. In 1907, Durant agreed to supply motors to R. S. McLaughlin in Canada, an auto maker, and in 1908 he founded General Motors.
Buick
42254#25
In 1984, Buick was the official car of the XXIII Olympiad. A reorganization split manufacturing & engineering from sales and marketing. The first pilot Buick is produced at "Buick City", a state-of-the art assembly center built inside the walls of Buick's home plant at Flint. Buick had its best model year sales to date with 906,626 vehicles sold plus Buick worldwide sales topped one million for the first time. To close out 1984, Lloyd Reuss ended his tenure as general manager of the Buick Motor Division.
Buick
32465050#0
The Buick Club of America (BCA), founded in 1966, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of automobiles built by the Buick Motor Division of General Motors Corporation. The Buick Club promotes activities, resources, and friendships. The Buick Club has 8,000+ worldwide members and 70+ local Chapters in nine regions. These chapters promote local networking among Buick enthusiasts. The Club also has seven divisions based on vehicle types instead on geographic locations. One must be a member of the national organization to be a member of a division or chapter.
Buick Club of America
4690876#2
In 1901, the automobile industry was in its infancy when Briscoe helped finance David Buick's first car. In return for the finance, Briscoe gained a 97% interest in the Buick Motor Company. He sold Buick in 1904 to James H. Whiting (1842–1919), owner of Flint (Michigan) Wagon Works, and used the money to help found the Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company, makers of the Maxwell automobile. This was probably his greatest success in the industry. By 1909 they were the third-biggest American make, with 9,400 sales. The company was backed by J. P. Morgan & Co. and Richard Irvin & Co., but in the panic of 1907, Briscoe had the first of many bad experience with bankers and was forced to do his own financing.
Benjamin Briscoe
1453999#2
The origins of the Limited name date to 1936 when Buick added names to its entire model lineup to celebrate the engineering improvements and design advancements over their 1935 models. It shared its chassis with the top-level Cadillac D body vehicles. Buick had released a new line of cars that were technically superior to their predecessors by offering such features as all-steel passenger compartment tops (GM's Turret Top design), improved front suspension, improved hydraulic safety braking system, alloy engine pistons and an improved engine cooling system.
Buick's Series 40 was named the Special, the Series 50 became the Super, the Series 60 was named the Century, the Series 80 was named the Roadmaster, and the Series 90 — Buick's largest and most luxurious vehicle — was named the Limited. The engine was a I8
Buick Limited
42254#62
GM Taiwan was founded in August 1989. In the early 1990s, Buick, along with other GM brands, was very popular and frequently seen on Taiwanese streets. Park Avenue, 3rd and 4th generation Regal, and 6th generation Skylark used to be sold in Taiwan. In December 2004, General Motors signed a memorandum of understanding with Yulon, a firm based in Taiwan, for the licensed manufacture of Buick vehicles there. In July 2005, Yulon GM Motor Co. Ltd. (Yulon GM), a joint venture with 51 percent equity stake held by Yulon Motor and 49 percent by GM, was founded.
Buick
42254#64
Buicks were sold in Mexico from 1921 to 1962, when a protectionist policy on behalf of the government restricted the percentage of imported parts that could be used in the manufacture of vehicles and the sale of imported cars. From then onwards, all GM products were sold by Chevrolet dealerships. In 1990, after a heavy modification to the protectionist policy of the sixties, GM started assembling the Buick Century in Mexico, at the plant in Ramos Arizpe, in the state of Coahuila, just south of Texas, and selling it through Mexican Chevrolet dealerships, so it was not uncommon for many people to call it "Chevrolet Century". In 1997, GM stopped production of Buicks in Mexico and the brand was not sold there until 2009.
Buick
1139282#16
There was also a rare “Stage 2” option produced. This was a dealer-installed package (known as a "dealer option"), first offered in 1969. It included a cam, headers, intake manifold, high compression forged pistons, hollow pushrods, and some calibration changes to the ignition and carburetor . In 1970(?) the Stage 2 package was designed for the 455 and included special round exhaust port Stage 2 heads, matching Kustom brand headers, a radical cam, high compression forged pistons, Edelbrock B4B aluminum intake, Holley carburetor #4781 850 cfm, and other equipment for racing. Few Stage 2s even exist and Buick only ever factory assembled 1 Stage 2 test unit, it was a factory GSX clone test mule with 4-speed manual transmission used for speed testing. That GSX test mule was equipped with 4.78 gearing and was driven on the streets and tracks on the West Coast. The Stage 2 package's existence was not made public until 1972 when the Stage 2 parts could be ordered in any combination. There is little documentation about any Stage 2 cars that were sold. Three are known to exist and all three of these cars were built as Stage 1 cars at the factory. One was owned by Kenne-Bell a factory backed Buick high performance specialist based in California . Sponsored by Reynolds Buick .This car was used as a test car in the development of the Stage 2 components in conjunction with Buick engineering . The second Stage 2 was known as the Jones-Benisek car. The Jones/Benisek car is known to have been delivered as a Stage 1 car .The Stage 2 hood and scoop was added later . The Stage 2 iron heads were purchased by the owner at a local Buick Dealer. The car had a very successful drag racing career with many wins and some world records also. The third Stage 2 is known as Wiley Coyote and as the Turner car. It was originally owned by Bob Thetford and campaigned as "Wiley Coyote" in the NHRA. Sponsored by Kenne-Bell and Dunn Buick in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Later it was owned by Jim Turner and was very successful in NMCA winning 5 National Records.
Buick Gran Sport
538868#55
All Electras were powered by Buick's 455 cu. in. (7.5 L) engine between 1971 and 1976. The 1971 model had , but that was reduced to by the 1976 model year; increasingly stringent exhaust emission limits reduced engine output, and an industry-wide 1972 change in rating systems reduced the horsepower numbers produced by any given engine. Even at its weakest state, the Buick-built 455 engine still produced of torque at 2000 rpm. The 455 was the standard engine on the Electra, but there were some built with Buick 350s during the GM strike, when 455 production halted. The 350 engine also came with a price rebate. The 455 engine disappeared after the 1976 model year, in favor of smaller, more efficient engines.
Buick Electra
961424#8
David Dunbar Buick was a Scottish-born immigrant who moved to Detroit with his parents at the age of two in 1856–57. He quit school to supplement the family's income after his father's 1860 death. In the 1880s, he was a plumbing supplier in the Detroit area, inventing a process that created a cheaper white bathtub. Buick produced a method for permanently coating cast iron with vitreous enamel which allowed the production of "white" baths at lower cost. He later sold his plumbing business and the patents to American Standard. Using the profits from this sale, Buick started working on gasoline engines, and later automobiles. He eventually moved his operations from Detroit to the Flint Wagon Works. William Durant managed the fledgling Buick Manufacturing Company, making it the number one car-building company in the country by 1908. Durant later built on the foundation of Buick's company to create General Motors. In honor of Buick's contributions to Flint's manufacturing base, the Flint City Commission proposed naming I-475 after Buick. The freeway passed by the city's Buick plant and many of the employees would use the new freeway on their commutes to work. The Michigan Legislature passed Concurrent Resolution 22 in 1969 to add the name.
Interstate 475 (Michigan)