Buick Limited Touring Sedan, 1939
Buick Limited
Buick Limited•
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Chassis No.: 13434708
Auction: Indy 2019
Auction date: May 19, 2019
Lot No.: T143
$24,200 | Sold
- Exterior: Maroon
- Body: Touring Sedan
- Model 90 8-passenger Touring Sedan
- 1 of 686 produced, less than 0.4% of total Buick production in 1939
- 140-inch wheelbase
- 320 CI Straight Eight engine
- 3-speed manual transmission
- Rear jump seats
- Front and rear bumper guards
- Dual side mount spare tires with covers
- Chrome trim rings and center caps
- Wide whitewall tires
- Zion Maroon paint
- CCCA Full Classic
- BCA Gold in 2000
- AACA Junior in 2000
- CCCA Senior in 2001
- Part of the Del De Young Collection since 1995
A multiple-award winner, this 1939 Buick Series 90 Limited Touring Sedan from the Del De Young Collection represents a milestone in the lineage. A CCCA Full Classic, it won Buick Club of America Gold and AACA Junior Award honors in 2000, as well as a CCCA Senior Award in 2001. GM Styling Section Vice President Harley Earl had spearheaded the evolution of Buick design through the 1930s, transforming its once squarish features into streamlined new contours that suggested speed and grace. In late 1938, Earl began work on the first concept car built by an automotive manufacturer, the radical Buick Y-Job.
Among the Y-Job’s many revolutionary features was its unique front end, which incorporated hidden headlights, a “gun sight” hood ornament and a chromed vertical waterfall grille, the latter adapted almost unchanged to Buick’s 1939 model lineup and eventually a Buick styling trademark. These new Buicks also incorporated the Y-Job’s front sheet metal, its front fenders flowing directly into the hood with the headlight pods now integrated into the front fenders.
The new look, coupled with Buick’s reputation for performance, pointed the way to the next decade of bold Buick styling and engineering; it also proved popular with the car-buying public, helping to lift the division to second place in the GM hierarchy behind Chevrolet. This superb 1939 Model 90 Limited Touring Sedan is one of 686 produced, accounting for less than 0.4 percent of total Buick production in 1939. Its 140-inch wheelbase and powerful Dynaflash 320 CI Straight Eight engine remained unchanged from the previous year, but a column-mounted shifter now controlled its 3-speed manual transmission. Also new were safety-oriented turn signals and refillable shock absorbers.
A CCCA Full Classic, its elegant Zion Maroon paint is complemented with chromed trim rings and center caps over wide whitewall tires, dual side-mount spare tires with covers, and front and rear bumper guards; a pair of rear jump seats signal this regal and rare Buick’s eight-passenger configuration.
https://www.mecum.com/lots/371364/1939-buick-limited-touring-sedan/
