Wednesday, December 17, 2014

1929 Buick Funeral Coach.

I was doing my other passion, which is World War II research, when I spotted this old Buick funeral coach. It was being used to carry the body of Hans William Lansdorff who was the captain of the "pocket" battleship Graf Spee, in the opening months of the war. Even the British sailors paid their respects at that time, since this was at the very beginning of the war and the intense hatred towards Germans had not yet happened. Hitler would make that happen in a very short time. Since I have always studied World War II history, I find it very interesting that Lansdorff's sailing orders proceeded the, so called, Polish incursion by 10 days. It's as though Hitler could see into the future and knew the Pole's were going to invade Germany before it actually happened.  


Notice the original 1929 bumper changed sometime after 1939. These are some of the German sailors that Lansdorff saved from certain death at the beginning of World War II.




The stylized cross has been cut down from the original 1929 cross (shown below).
Compare the height of the original cross with the current one shown above. Also of note is the open drivers compartment, in 1939, and the now covered one.
This enclosed drivers compartment was not part of the original design (shown above) from 1939.


The original bumpers are gone now. I could not identify the replacements. 



The rear fender looks to be from a 1935 Chevrolet Master Deluxe. The original 29 Buick fender is visible during the Lansdorff  funeral procession.


There were many different companies doing conversions back in 1929, so I do not know which did this particular example. I'm thinking all the conversions like this one, (link here for unique coaches) from Uruguay, may have actually been converted in Montevideo.
This shows that the steel wheels used were actually an option that year.


This would be my best guess for the main chassis used in the Lansdorff  funeral coach.
Video link; Lansdorff funeralWiki link.  Life Magazine. Life Magazine

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Buick Trucks

December 1908.
This is from the George Dammann book: "Seventy Years Of Buick. I have yet to find a photo of one on the assembly line. The last light delivery vehicle was produced in 1918. Many other varied size trucks were built at Buick and have been well documented elsewhere on line and in books.  Buick truck & commercial vehicles.

The first appearance of a factory built Buick truck.
June 1909. Click article for the rest of the story.     1910.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         September 1910.    
                                                                                                                                                                               


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             June 1912. Click on photo for information.      
I took this photo at the Buick Gallery in Flint, Michigan in 2008. Link for this truck.   More information.
The San Francisco call November 27, 1911.
                                                                                                           December 1912.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            January 1913.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  January 1916.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         1917.  Looks similar to the truck shown below at the Buick plant.
                         
This view is facing north across Hamilton Avenue in Flint, Michigan. This truck is being loaded from the north dock of factory #04 (old W.F. Stewart body plant). The building seen across Hamilton is The original Weston Mott axle plant which would be Buick #31 by this time.
                                                                                                                                                                                March 1918.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1918.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
This is 1928 over at Flint's Kearsley park. The structure  in the background is still standing as of today. This would be facing north-west with the Buick factory located in the distance. I drank many beers here.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Links: AACA truck thread.  Restored 1908.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Buick Paint 1920.

  click on pages for originals and reading enlargement.

Links: Buick Factory #01. Factory #07 Seat Stuffing Assembly factory #06 W.F. Stewart Inside + Postcard

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               



Applying the varnish on a model T using the flow method.  Original link for this photo.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Buick Security.


 These Buick officers were always the good guys. I dealt with them on a daily basis when I was a clerk for shipping and receiving. When Buick outsourced their duties to the Pinkerton Agency, after the creation of Buick City, "The good old days at the Buick" were truly gone forever.
 That is factory #31 axle plant in the background which was originally the old engine plant #11 until 1953 & 1954 when the new engine plant #36 was opened for business. This is facing directly north on Division Street just north of Leith Street. This was found on my friend Gordon Young's site at the following link: 

Flint Photos: Buick Plant Security in the Fifties

 This building housed Main medical, Works engineering, Master mechanic, Security, Metallurgy, Factory Safety store and Personnel and employment.
This is building #85 where I hired in on October 9, 1972.   During World War II.  Other Links: 

Buick Personnel Factory #11 Demolished. Leith Street Revisited.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Building Data 1947.

Courtesy of Leroy Cole and Kevin Kirbitz.






Notice that the Grand Blanc plant is mis-spelled Grand Bland.