A to ci dopiero surprise! Gift świąteczny, present gwiazdkowy. Original or restored? Jest, oto on: American Buick na polskiej szosie! I to jaki! Żaden tam z lat 50-tych czy 60-tych tylko 1928 rok produkcji. I jeździ o własnych siłach! Jaki silnik, ile biegów, ile KM? Ile mph? Jaka wartość w Euro, dolarach, złotówkach? Niewiele chyba podobnych egzemplarzy znaleźć można w Polsce, w Europie, na świecie, w galaktyce nawet!
Dziwadło z nieba spadło, przyturlało się lub przytoczyło o własnych mechanicznych siłach. Szczęściarz nim podróżujący wcale nie zmierza ku torowi wyścigów na ¼ mili. Współczesny posiadacz tego cacuszka startować w WRC też nie zamierza ale kocha je niestandardową miłością world championów dwóch już wieków. Hołubi, pieści, głaszcze, muska, wielbi. Jakimi pieszczotami i słowami obdarowuje właściciel swe pieścidełko, świecidełko, kochadełko, aby żyło i jeździło – to tajemnica tylko im dwojgu znana.


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1928 Buick: Will now go 60 mph
By VERN PARKER
CTW Features
Shortly after World War II, Jacob Blaufarb bought some acreage in the Poconos near Bushkill, Pa. With the land came a 1928 Buick, which the owner had purchased new.
Until his death in 1972, Blaufarb's place was a favorite summer vacation site for his six grandchildren. One of those six, Dave Blaufarb, can still recall piling into the old Buick with his siblings and cousins for a ride down to the nearby Delaware River for summertime fun.
Early on, his overriding interest in the Buick became apparent to the entire family. That's why nobody was surprised in 1967 when his grandfather gave him the car. Young Blaufarb was 16 at the time.
The odometer had not yet reached the 60,000-mile mark. Even so, the then-39-year-old six-cylinder engine wouldn't run. "I hadn't a clue what I was doing," Blaufarb admits as he threw himself at the task of taking the car apart. "My skill level was pretty rudimentary."
After a year or two, he delivered the 207-cubic-inch block to a machine shop, along with boxes of parts that had been inside the engine. The machine shop ground the valves, shaped up the engine and got it running.
With the Buick running, Blaufarb's father insisted that he replace the plate-glass windshield with safety glass and overhaul the mechanical brakes.
"My dad bought four new tires," Blaufarb says. "He was into safety stuff." Blaufarb went off to college, after which life got in the way. In the summer of 1977 he rented a trailer and hauled his Buick to a West Virginia farm his father owned.
His grandfather had long ago discarded the entire top, so Blaufarb had new oak bows fabricated, along with the chrome-plated top irons.
By 1979, the engine, with the help of a rebuilt Marvel updraft carburetor, was once more smoothly producing 63 horsepower. The Buick was then reduced to a pile of parts preparatory to restoration. Soon the rolling chassis looked like new with the engine and transmission in place. In the autumn of 1991, the Buick was hauled to a body shop for last-minute work on the scarred fenders and painting.
The body color is Talena brown and the fenders are black. The five-line pinstripe starts with a stripe of gold and a stripe of vermillion on either side, concluding with stripes of trailgreen on the outer edges.
The 12-spoke wooden wheels are made of second-growth hickory, Blaufarb reports. Eight pieces of walnut make up the rim of the steering wheel. The four spokes of the wheel, he says, are aluminum. Around the horn button at the hub of the wheel are three levers, the bottom one controlling the lights, the left lever the spark advance and the right one the hand throttle.
On the dashboard are the wiper control, choke and carburetor heat control. In the center is the speedometer calibrated to 80 mph. "It will go 60," Blaufarb affirms. The single-action hydraulic Lovejoy shock absorbers help make the ride pleasant.
Of the 235,008 Buicks built in 1928, only 3,134 were the standard Model 25 Sport Touring car. Each car had a base price of $1,225.
"The top went on last," Blaufarb says, "in 2000." If Blaufarb's Buick were equipped with optional bumpers it would be a bit more than 14 feet long. As it is, the length is slightly less than 14 feet. Regardless, the entire rig rides on a 115-inch wheelbase with a 9.25-inch ground clearance.
"He was a Buick guy," Blaufarb says of his grandfather. Thinking back to those long ago summers in Pennsylvania, he says, "When we open the garage door I can still see light reflect off the flat glass and smell the gasoline and leather."
For your car to become the subject of the Classic Classics column, send a photo (frontal 3/4 view) plus brief details and phone number to: Vern Parker, 2221 Abbotsford Drive, Vienna, VA 22181. Only photos of good quality will be considered.
February 14, 2006 10:58 AM