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[column grid=”2″ span=”1″] The 1929 Buick styling closely copied Packard’s radiator style – Packard exercising noblesse oblige did not take legal steps but did cleverly plagiarize the famous Buick Slogan in a few ads in 1929, “When prettier cars are built, Packard will build them.” The following year, Buick redesigned the front end.
For 1932, the design had changed little with the success of the 1920s. The 90 series was Buick’s luxury car. The depression slowed sales so Harlow H. Curtis was brought on board to increase sales. Curtis did so by introducing the lower priced Series 40.
Owned by General Motors, Buick is one of this country’s oldest brands with a rich tradition of innovation that dates back to the turn of the century. Aimed at traditional American luxury-car buyers, Buick cars tend to place a priority on a plush ride rather than sporty performance.
The company was founded in 1903 by David Dunbar Buick, a Scottish industrialist. He built his first car in 1904; called the Model B, it had a two-cylinder engine with an advanced-for-its-time overhead-valve cylinder head design. In 1907, Buick unveiled its first four-cylinder production car, dubbed the Model D. The following year, the Flint, Michigan-based Buick Motor Company was bought by William C. Durant as part of a new company called General Motors. By 1914, all Buick cars were built with six-cylinder engines and purchased primarily by upper-class professionals, thus earning the nickname “doctor’s cars.”
The manufacturer proved itself a trailblazer in the early 1920s when it introduced four-wheel brakes. This technology had been seen before on custom-built cars, but Buick was the first to figure out how to successfully apply it to mass-produced vehicles. Eight-cylinder Buick cars emerged in the 1930s and became immensely popular; these advanced engines received steady improvements for several years. The ’30s also saw Buick’s introduction of the industry’s first rear turn signal to use a flasher.
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