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Little is known of the history of this car before 1991. The car appeared at the “Oldtimer Festival” motorshow in Antwerp, Belgium that year. It attracted the attention of Alfred H. Heineken, grandson of the founder of the famous Heineken brewery, who purchased it for his collection. The Roadmaster Convertible was already restored, painted Sequoia Cream (paint code 14), a change from the original color, Sherwood Green (paint code 5). The upholstery was still the original from when the car left the factory in 1947, green leather and beige whipcord.
Following the death of Heineken in 2002, his automobile collection was put up for auction by Christie’s. The Buick Roadmaster was bought by the NB Center and upon its arrival in Rome, it was determined it was starting to show some signs of aging since the last restoration. A light repaint, keeping the Sequoia Cream color, and some mechanical refreshment brought this car back to its former glory. -
Company
General Motors
Make
Buick
Model
Roadmaster, 76C
Body Style
Convertible, 2-door, 6-pass.
Body Manufacture
Fisher Body
Model year
1947
Wheelbase
129 inches
Length
217 inches
Engine
inline-8, OHV, 320.2 cid
Horsepower
144 @ 3600 rpm
Transmission
3-speed manual on the column
Original Base Price
$2,651
Brand Production
277,134 model year
This Car Production
11,947 (127 export) -
Virtually unchanged from the 1946 cars, the 1947 Buicks enjoyed even stronger sales. The public was so car starved by the war that people were putting their names on waiting lists to buy cars and gratefully accepting the cars that came available. The immediate post-war Buicks were based nearly entirely on the 1942 cars. The design was tweaked for 1946 with a fresh front end and the addition of the “flow-through” styling. Flow-through styling was indeed a clear hint of styling changes to come in the all new post-war cars in 1949. The front fenders appeared to stretch in one flowing line from the front of the cars to the rear fenders.
Buick sales climbed in 1947 sufficient for the brand to reclaim fourth place in the industry displacing Dodge. Most notably, Buick led the industry in the sales of convertibles. Buick turned out 37,743 convertibles of all series. This was 22.9% of all convertibles produced for the model year.
Mechanically, the 1947 Buicks were unchanged from 1946. The engine remained the well proven “Fireball Dynaflash” inline-eight with overhead valves. The list of available options grew allowing buyers to further personalize their cars.