1941 Buick Century Touring Sedan - Model 61 🇺🇸

This car has the distinction of being one of the cars with the longest period of ownership by the collection. First purchased by Mr. Bulgari in 1974, when it was an all original car with just 15,000 miles, the car was used sparingly but  enough to add another 9,000 miles by 2002. By that time, the cosmetics were getting a little worn out and the car received a cosmetic makeover by Precision Motor Cars in Allentown, PA. The original gray upholstery was left untouched while the exterior was repainted in its original Permanent red. 

Company
General Motors

Make
Buick

Model
Century, 61

Body Style
Touring Sedan ,  4 - door,  6-pass.

Body Manufacture
Fisher Body

Model year
1941

Wheelbase
126 inches

Length
213.5  inches

Engine
inline-eight, OHV, 320.2 cid

Horsepower
165 @ 3800 rpm

Transmission
3-speed manual on the column

Original Base Price
$1,288

Brand Production
377,428 model year

This Car Production
15,027

Since its introduction in 1936, the Century was Buick’s performance leader. By combining a smaller body with the largest displacement engine, the Century was so named because of its ability to reach 100 miles-per-hour.

New for 1941, the Century got the all new compound carburetion and increased horsepower of the Roadmaster. This made the Century one of, if not  the most powerful American car you could buy with the best power-to-weight ratio.

The performance aside, the refreshed styling was a big evolutionary move from 1940, giving the cars a very modern look and appeal. The new one piece hood with ingenious latch and hinge mechanism allowed the hood to be opened from either side of the car. The wider grille with even wider set headlights now fully set in the fenders made the car look wide and low. Running boards were finally a thing of the past allowing the new longer fenders to accentuate the profile of the cars. Taillights were better integrated into the fenders and now incorporated self-canceling turn signals.

Buyers loved the Century Sedan. Of the 26 models that Buick offered in 1941 the Century Sedan was the fifth best selling car at 15,027 units.  In fact, Buick sedans and the all new Sedanette were the hands down sales leaders. The Special sedan was the best selling car with 91,138 units while the Special Sedanette was the second best seller with 87,687 units. In third place was the Super sedan with 57,367 units and that was followed by the Super Sedanette with 19,603 units. Buick’s total model year production  increased by a whopping 94,024 cars from the previous year. The 1941 model year production record would stand as a high-point until the new post-war body styles were introduced in 1949 -1950.