Buick is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American automobile brands and was the company that established General Motors in 1908. Before the establishment of General Motors, GM founder William C. Durant had served as Buick's general manager and major investor. With the demise of Oldsmobile in 2004, Buick became the oldest surviving American carmaker.
The Buick Riviera is a personal luxury car that was marketed by Buick from 1963 to 1999, with the exception of the 1994 model year.
The Buick Electra is a full-size luxury car manufactured and marketed by Buick from 1959 to 1990, over six generations. Introduced as the replacement for the Roadmaster lines, the Electra served as the flagship Buick sedan line through its entire production and was offered as a six-passenger four-door sedan with two-door sedan, two-door convertible, and five-door station wagon variants.
The Pontiac Catalina is a full-size, junior series automobile produced by Pontiac from 1950 to 1981. Initially, the name was a trim line on hardtop body styles, first appearing in the 1950 Chieftain Eight and DeLuxe Eight lines. In 1959, it became a separate model as the "entry-level" full-size Pontiac.
The Pontiac Bonneville is an automobile built by Pontiac from 1957 until 2005. Bonnevilles were full-sized, with the exception of a brief period of mid-size between 1982 and 1986. The brand was introduced as a limited production performance convertible during the 1957 model year. The Bonneville, and its platform partner, the Grand Ville, are some of the largest Pontiacs ever built; in station wagon body styles they reached just over 230 inches (5.8 m) long, and at 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) and more were also some of the heaviest cars produced at the time.
The Buick Special was an automobile produced by Buick. It was usually Buick's lowest-priced model, starting out as a full-size car in 1936 and returning in 1961 as a mid-size. The Special was built for several decades and was offered as a coupe, sedan and later as a station wagon. When GM modernized their entry level products in the 1960s, the Special introduced the modern Buick V6 that became a core engine for GM for several decades and lived on in upgraded form until 2006.
The Pontiac Tempest is an automobile that was produced by Pontiac from 1960 to 1970, and again from 1987 to 1991.
The Oldsmobile Starfire is an automobile nameplate used by Oldsmobile, produced in three non-contiguous generations beginning in 1954. The Starfire nameplate made its debut as a convertible concept car in 1953 followed with the 1954–1956 Ninety-Eight series convertibles that shared a "halo status" with the Buick Skylark and Cadillac Eldorado. For 1957 only, all Ninety-Eight series models were named "98 Starfire".
The Buick Centurion is a full-size car built from the 1971 through 1973 model years. Replacing the Wildcat as the sporty iteration of Buick's three full-size car lines, it was positioned between the LeSabre and Electra in the lineup. The Centurion name was inspired by a Buick concept car, the name coming from that of an officer in the Roman Army. The car's emblem was not the traditional Buick tri-shield, but a side profile of a centurion.
The Buick V8 is a family of V8 engines produced by the Buick division of General Motors between 1953 and 1981. The first version replaced the Buick straight-eight. Displacements vary from 215 cu in (3.5 L) to 455 cu in (7.5 L) for its last big block in 1976. All are naturally aspirated OHV pushrod engines, except for an optional turbocharged version of the short-lived 215 used in the 1962-63 Oldsmobile Jetfire.
The Buick LeSabre is a full-size car made by the division Buick of General Motors from 1959 until 2005. Prior to 1959, this position had been retained by the full-size Buick Special model (1936–58). The "LeSabre", which is French for "the sabre", was Buick's mid-level full-size sedan above the Special but below the Electra during the 1960s then remained in its market position when the Electra was replaced with the Park Avenue. The LeSabre was available as a 2-door convertible, sedan or hardtop, a 4-door sedan or hardtop and station wagon throughout its production.
The General Motors Motorama was an auto show staged by GM from 1949 to 1961. These automobile extravaganzas were designed to whet public appetite and boost automobile sales with displays of fancy concept cars and other special or halo models. Motorama grew out of Alfred P. Sloan's yearly industrial luncheons at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, beginning in 1931. They were almost invariably held in conjunction with the New York Auto Show, that for many years was held traditionally in the first week of January.
The Buick Invicta is a full-size automobile produced by Buick from 1959 to 1963. The Invicta was a continuation of the mid-range Buick Century that mated the standard size Buick LeSabre body with Buick's larger 401 cubic inch Fireball V8 engine. The Invicta continued to be the intermediate hardtop coupe, hardtop sedan, convertible and station wagon, labeled as the Buick Invicta Estate until it was replaced by the Buick Wildcat as a coupe or sedan, while the station wagon was replaced by the Buick Sport Wagon in 1965.
The Cadillac Le Mans was a concept car designed by Harley Earl and developed by Cadillac. It was named for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France, in which Cadillac competed in 1950. Displayed at the 1953 General Motors Motorama in New York City, the design was a low-profile, two-seat, fiberglass-bodied roadster. This concept showcased Cadillac's first wrap-around windshield. It was powered by a 250 hp (186 kW) version of Cadillac's 331 cu in (5,420 cc) V8 engine, a power output not realized in production Cadillacs until 1955. The overall length of the Le Mans was 196 in (4,978 mm). Though four prototypes were built, the model never went into production.
Chevrolet Nomad is a nameplate used by Chevrolet in North America from the 1950s to the 1970s, applied largely to station wagons. Three different Nomads were produced as a distinct model line, with Chevrolet subsequently using the name as a trim package.
The General Motors Firebird comprises a quartet of prototype cars that General Motors (GM) engineered for the 1953, 1956, and 1959 Motorama auto shows. The cars' designers, headed by Harley Earl, took Earl's inspiration from the innovations in fighter aircraft design at the time. General Motors never intended the cars for production, but rather to showcase the extremes in technology and design that the company was able to achieve.
The ChevroletCorvair Monza GT (XP-777) was a mid-engined experimental prototype automobile built in 1962 and based on the early model Chevrolet Corvair series. As it was essentially a concept car, the Monza GT did not enter production.
The General Motors Le Sabre is a 1951 concept car. Possibly the most important show car of the 1950s, it introduced aircraft-inspired design elements such as the wrap-around windshield and tail fins, which became common on automotive designs during the second half of the decade.
The Oldsmobile Golden Rocket was a two-seater show car built by Oldsmobile for the 1956 General Motors Motorama. The radically styled fiberglass concept, designed to resemble a rocket on wheels, was revised several times and displayed at various other auto shows, most notably at the 1957 Paris Motor Show where it generated much fanfare, 18 months after it was first revealed. The car was featured in the promotional short film Design for Dreaming along with the rest of the 1956 General Motors lineup.
