Buick Limited: the Buick that competed with Cadillac

The Buick Limited was Buick’s flagship line from 1936 to 1942, topped by an extended-wheelbase limousine. Its customers wanted a GM luxury car but considered Cadillac ostentatious, and the name was revived for one year in 1958.

Buick Limited at a glance

Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Limited, which also covers the Series 90 of the record titled «Buick 90».

History of the Buick Limited

The story begins with the Series 90 of 1931, Buick’s top platform. It used the GM C-body shared with the Cadillac Series 355 and a 344.8-cubic-inch overhead-valve straight-eight of 104 bhp. Closed cars came with mohair velvet interiors, retractable silk shades and wool carpeting, while roadsters, phaetons and convertibles had leather. The seven-passenger limousine cost US$2,035. The line sold 43,321 cars over five years, and in 1936 it became the 90 Limited.

For 1936 Buick gave names to its whole range to mark the improvements over the 1935 cars: all-steel Turret Top bodies, better front suspension, hydraulic brakes, alloy pistons and improved cooling. The Limited shared its chassis with the top Cadillac Series 70. For 1938 the wheelbase grew from 138 to 140 inches, and the Limited and Roadmaster lost their wooden structural members for steel — the last Buick passenger cars to use wood.

The 1939 Limited kept its 1938 body because production was so small, and it gained a sectioned rear compartment with a glass partition that could be raised for privacy. AM radios were offered for the first time.

Behind the scenes Cadillac lobbied to have the Limited dropped, because it took buyers from their market. At US$2,453 the Buick was priced at the bottom of Cadillac’s Fleetwood range but was almost as well appointed as Cadillac’s Imperial Touring Limousine, which cost nearly four times as much. Buick replied that Limited production averaged only 1,561 cars a year between 1938 and 1940.

For 1940 Buick renamed its series once more: the Series 40 became the Special, 50 the Super, 60 the Century, 70 the Roadmaster, and the Limited took both the Series 80 and Series 90 names, the latter a 140-inch eight-passenger limousine. All Limiteds were built at Flint, Michigan, on the longest wheelbase in the range. Production stopped when the United States entered the war, the last Buick being built on 2 February 1942, and the extended-wheelbase models were not revived.

For 1958, GM’s fiftieth anniversary, the Limited returned for a single model year as a halo car on the C platform. It was actually more restrained than the junior Buicks: instead of a chromed side panel it had a body-colour insert with fifteen slanted hash marks, and a wraparound tail lamp lens broken by four chrome bands. Since the 1960s, «Limited» has been used intermittently as Buick’s top trim designation.

Design and features

• Cadillac alternative: nearly Cadillac appointments at a fraction of the price.
• Limousine body: the extended-wheelbase flagship of the range.
• Privacy partition: a glass screen separated driver and passengers in 1939.
• Last wooden Buick: the 1938 cars were the final ones with structural wood.

Buick Limited versions

• Series 90 (1931–1935): the model that became the Limited.
• Limited (1936–1942): touring sedans and limousines.
• 1958 Limited: the one-year halo car.
• Later trim badge: «Limited» used as a top trim level from the 1960s.

The Limited shared its era with the Roadmaster and the Century, and its name survived as the top trim of the LeSabre. More Buicks are in the Buick collection.

Sources

• Buick Limited, English Wikipedia: Series 90, 1936-42 cars, Cadillac rivalry, 1958 model