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By 1930 Buick fell to sixth place due to the depression and the new Pontiac/Oakland team. Strangely enough, they were from another stall of the mightly GM stables. On the positive side, there were such new Buick innovations as bullet-shaped headlamps, smoother hood, radiator and cowl contours, three-bar bumpers and the famed "H" shift pattern auto parts. On roadster and touring models the windshield folded flat across the cowl.
As of 1930 Buick had turned out a vast majority of improvements and new innovations to the automobile industry, many of which are advantageous to the modern street rodder. Due to frame width, rack and pinion steering pirated from a small import or domestic economy car should fit well. The long frame, making for lengthy bodies, especially on the tourings, should allow for ample firewall setback without sacrificing precious legroom. The lenghty rear leaf springs make for lots of space by the rear portion of the frame rails. Space for an extra big fuel tank or a scratchbuilt tendem rear end, allowing for an interesting truck with Buick sheetmetal and ornamentation. As things went, dozens of fine coach builders extended Buick frames and bodies for their own unique delivery/panel trucks, really long limos and taxis and bubbletop hearses. Such coach builders were located throughout the world and the practice lasted through the teens up into the '60's. For the novice or economy minded rodder something in the straight six cylinder range of the durable little Chevy 230 incher should fit an early model Buick engine compartment made to order. Then, of course, there's Buick's ornamentation: the side-mounts, dual or single, the windwings on the open cars, the distinctive Buick grillework, the sharp wire wheels, all of which make an outstanding appearance. It was during the '30's and '40's when GM relied heavily of the same basic body lines, letting ornamentation denote the different models. Buick by far was the car sprouting the sharpest ornamentation of all the GM vehicles.
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