History of Buick

Oct 17, 2013 Bilal Amjad Buick 0

Buick is the oldest American car brand in the country and is still going strong. David C. Buick started his namesake company in 1899 and sold it to James Whiting four years later. There had only been prototypes built until then but Whiting, with William C. Durant, (soon to be of Chevy and General Motors fame), as general manager, seriously revamped the company and started making money and a name for themselves.

Buick, in the early 1900s, became the most popular and largest selling cars on the continent and soon became part of the burgeoning holding company known as General Motors that Durant had started. The Buick was positioned in pretty much the same way as it is in today’s marketplace. The target was above that of Ford and Chevrolet, yet not as high as Cadillac. This was a good market for the Buick, (as it is today), and the Buick buyer still gets the high quality he or she can afford and the prestige of the oldest American manufacturer’s name.

In the 1930s many innovations began with Buick. Turn signals were a first as well as the first synchromesh transmission, which made shifting smoother and faster. Also in the 1930s, the royal Family of Great Britain preferred Buicks for their travels and tours.

During World War Two Buick produced the Hellcat M18 tank. This tank not only looked cool, but it was the fastest armored vehicle produced for the war effort, reaching a top speed of 60 mph. This kind of speed was unheard of at the time for any armored vehicle, let alone a tank on the battlefield. The Hellcat’s armor was a bit less than conventional tanks in order to increase its speed. This combination worked wonders in Europe where the German tanks could travel only 20 mph. Although the Hellcats certainly had to be careful about direct enemy hits, they could out distance and out maneuver any tank within seconds of the first sighting. This gave the Hellcats an amazing advantage over any other vehicle in the war. These great tanks cost just under $60 thousand each to build and around 2,500 of them were manufactured.

After the war Buick continued to build terrific cars that fit perfectly into the American dream. In 2010 Buick was one of the fastest growing auto brands and saw a surge in its popularity with younger generations. The Buick logos and trademarks are the three shields crest, which came from David D. Buick’s family coat of arms and the three or four “VentiPorts on either side of the front fenders. (Source: Williamson BUICK-Cadillac)