1939 Buick Century 4-Door Sedan - Model 61 🇺🇸

For today’s collectors, Graham-Paige is a cult name in the American automobile world, particularly because it lasted only from 1928 to 1948.

In 1933 the Graham models were divided into 6 Series, of which 3 were 6 cylinders and 3 eight cylinders. As well as the largest Series called Model 57A and 57A Custom, with a 123 inch wheelbase, there was the Series 64 with a 119 inch wheelbase. Our car is part of the Model 64 lineup, a 4-door Sedan body style with an eight cylinder inline engine, costing 895 dollars in 1933.

This Graham Blue Streak joined the Nicola Bulgari Collection in 2010 after being purchased from the Mike Gardner collection. It was in need of restoration work, which began in July 2010 and continued for two years, ending in October 2012. It entailed meticulous work on the entire vehicle which was carried out by Precision Motor Car of Allentown, PA.

This Graham is much admired today because it only resembles itself. Thanks to its strong personality - and its often emulated styling – it pays tribute to the glorious independent brands which disappeared before the Second World War.

Company
Graham-Paige Motors Co.

Wheelbase
119in

Interior trim
Beige cloth

Brakes
front and rear drums

Make
Graham

Length
192in

Engine
inline 8 - 245.4cid

Tires
6.00x17

Model
Blue Streak - Model 64

Width
78.5in

Carburetor
1 carb. 2-barrel Detroit Lubricator

Original Price
$895

Body style
4-door Sedan

Weight
3695lbs

Horsepower
95hp @ 3400rpm

Model year
1933

Exterior paint
Golden Tan

Transmission
3-speed manual

The Graham brothers, Joseph, Robert and Ray were originally bottle makers in Indiana and Oklahoma. In 1916, they began to build truck bodies and sets of components to convert cars into light trucks, which eventually led to building complete trucks in 1919. In 1920, Frederick J. Haynes had taken over as President of the Dodge Brothers Corporation in Detroit when both of the Dodge brothers died that same year. Haynes contacted the Graham brothers regarding his intention of adding trucks as an independent product to the existing passenger cars. The trucks would have Dodge engines and transmissions and be sold solely through Dodge dealers. This agreement proved to be so successful that by 1926, the Graham brothers had factories in Detroit, Stockton, California and Toronto, Canada turning out 37,000 trucks annually. In 1926, the brothers sold out to Dodge and formed Graham Brothers Corporation in New York to deal with other interests. Shortly after, they bought the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Co. in Dearborn, Michigan and re-named it Graham-Paige Motors Corporation. The existing Paige-Detroit cars were continued until the new Graham-Paige range was announced very early in 1928. All of them challenged existing cars built by other manufacturers and in 1928 they sold 73,195 cars, a record number for a new make in its first production year, only to beat that number in 1929, their best year, with total sales of nearly 80,000 cars.

Several more plants, including one in Berlin, were opened to cope with the demand. But after 1929, the Depression that hit America made no exceptions and Graham-Paige sales started to drop. From 1931 on they called their cars Grahams - although the company was still known as Graham-Paige - and offered their cheapest car to date. Ironically, it was called the Prosperity Six.

The sleek 'Blue Streak' models styled by Amos Northrup - a stylist from Murray, one of the biggest body suppliers in America - were introduced in 1932, the worst year of the Depression, and just under 13,000 cars were sold. It was a clever design that had the rear axle slotted through the chassis, making the car very low.
One of the most brilliant flashes of light to come out of the Depression-era American auto scene was the 1932-1935 Graham "Blue Streak" Eight, a car of such trend-setting appearance that it served as a blueprint for the future, sending rival automakers into overdrive, scrambling to catch up.

For the first-series 1933 line, which debuted in June 1932, the Model 57 was continued essentially unchanged (although no longer called the Blue Streak), as was the leftover conventional Six. Sales improved enough in 1933 to show a small profit, despite the fact that the car wasn't really altered. But although the cars were widely admired, it wasn't long before sales began to dip. A supercharger was fitted to the Custom Eight in 1934 and the line was re-worked for 1935. The styling was unattractive, but sales again improved.