Buick Limited

The Limited was Buick's flagship limousine between 1936 and 1942 and, during model year 1958 during GM's Fiftieth Anniversary, the halo car for Buick. After the vehicle was retired in 1959, Buick has intermittently used the "Limited" name for several decades to denote those models which featured a high level of trim and standard options in its various model ranges. Vehicles given the Limited nameplate were in direct competition with Cadillac senior sedans for clientele who wanted a GM luxury sedan but regarded Cadillac as "ostentatious" or "flamboyant" as Buick had over time earned a reputation of low-key conservative appearance while focusing on durability and reliability. The Limited nameplate returned in the mid-1960s denoting the top trim package on Buick vehicles for several decades thereafter.

Buick Series 90 (1931-1935)

Buick's top platform was introduced as the Series 90 as a competitor to the Packard Standard Eight introduced earlier. It had an Buick Straight-8 engine OHV engine, developing 104 bhp of power at 2,800 rpm. Due to its size, it was the top model of the Buick range, using the GM " C-body" platform shared with the Cadillac Series 355. Closed car interiors came with mohair velvet interiors with retractable silk roller shades for rear side windows and the back window, and wool carpeting throughout. Roadsters, Phaetons and convertibles came standard with leather interior. Retail prices for the 7-passenger Limousine were US$2,035 ($ in dollars ). The Series 90 offered the same refinement and attention to detail, along with an eight-cylinder engine that Cadillac clients were paying a premium price for, while the Cadillac had an advanced for the time V8 while the Buick had a straight eight. Coachwork for Buick was exclusively supplied by Fisher Body while arrangements could be made for the Buick chassis to be specially modified at a range of coachbuilders available. Buick was also a contender against the Packard Eight in that both brands exclusively used straight eights of comparable displacement, while the Packard charged extra for the appearance and refinement that was manufactured on site at the Packard Factory but only offered an antiquated flathead engine.

The next year the size grew and a new high performance engine was introduced developing 113 hp. In 1933, the aesthetics of all Buicks were updated with a new, corporate "streamlined" appearance shared with all GM cars for that year due to GM's Art and Color Studio headed by Harley Earl. In 1934, however, the running board was shortened and the engine output increased again, reaching 116 hp. In 1935 the appearance was updated, while the mechanics remained unchanged, and Buick manufactured 43,321. In 1936 the model changed its name to "90 Limited".

File:1931 Buick 96C convertible (34645408442).jpg, 1931 Buick Series 90 convertible
File:1932 Buick 91 (9030435337).jpg, 1932 Buick Series 90

Buick Limited (1936-1942)

The origins of the Limited name date to 1936 when Buick added names to its entire model lineup to celebrate the engineering improvements and design advancements over their 1935 models. It shared its chassis with the top-level Cadillac Series 70 vehicles. Buick had released a new line of cars that were technically superior to their predecessors by offering such features as all-steel passenger compartment tops (GM's Turret Top design), improved front suspension, improved hydraulic safety braking system, alloy engine pistons and an improved engine cooling system.

In 1938, the wheelbase was stretched 2 inches from 138 to , and the Limited, along with Roadmaster, lost its wooden structural members for steel, making them the last Buick passenger cars to rely upon wood components.

In 1939, Buick products underwent a substantial redesign; however, the Limited's "limited" production merited it to continue using its 1938 body. The 1939 Limited offered a sectioned rear compartment separating the driver from the rear passengers, and a glass partition could be raised to provide privacy. AM radios were first offered as an option.

Behind the scenes, Cadillac executives lobbied to get the Limited out of production because it infringed on their market. While it was priced in the lower end of its Fleetwood series price point, the Limited was listed at US$2,453 ($ in dollars ) almost equaled Cadillac's factory built Imperial Touring Limousine, which cost almost four times as much as the Buick, in its appointments. Buick executives asserted that Limited production averaged only 1,561 vehicles per year for model years 1938 through 1940, an insignificant amount compared to Cadillac's production of its senior cars.

For 1940 Buick renamed some of its Series designations and gave names instead. Buick's Series 40 was named the Special, the Series 50 became the Super, the Series 60 was named the Century, the Series 70 was named the Roadmaster, and the Limited was given both the Series 80 and Series 90, with the Series 90 given to a limousine with a wheelbase and 8-passenger capacity. The engine was a Buick Straight-8 engine, improving to by 1939.

Limiteds were the most expensive Buicks in production, riding on the company's longest wheelbase of , and the best appointed cars that Buick built. All Limiteds were built at the Buick factory in Flint, Michigan, while all Cadillacs were built in Detroit at the Clark Street Facility while coachwork was provided by Fisher Body.

Production of the Limited, and all Buick continued until the eve of World War II when the last Buick was built February 2, 1942. Following World War II, Buick dropped its extended wheelbase models, and cancelled the Series 90 Limited nameplate. The name Limited was truly appropriate to the cars themselves which were limited to touring sedans and limousines; its sales too were the smallest of Buick's entire model range:

File:1936 Buick Limited Series 90.jpg, 1936 Buick Limited Series 90
File:1937 Buick. Limited series - 90. (3593514158).jpg, 1937 Buick Limited Series 90
File:1938 Buick 8-90 Limited 01.jpg, 1938 Buick Limited Series 90
File:1940 Buick Limited Convertible Sedan (14364246085).jpg, 1940 Buick Limited Convertible Sedan

1958 Limited

The Buick Limited series was revived in 1958 as the ultimate Buick for the model year, using the GM C platform. In a model year where General Motors's answer to Chrysler's "Forward Look" was to update its 1957 Buicks and Oldsmobiles by slathering them in excessive amounts of chrome, the 1958 Buicks received the ultimate treatment. The 1958 models shared a common appearance on the top models for each brand; Cadillac Eldorado Seville, Buick Limited Riviera, Oldsmobile 98, Pontiac Bonneville Catalina, and the Chevrolet Bel-Air Impala

Each Buick Special, Century, Super and Roadmaster received a ''Fashion-Aire Dynastar'' grille, cast of 160 chrome squares, each, according to Buick PR pieces, "shaped in a design to maximize the amount of reflective light". Buick also added quad headlights and three emblems bearing a stylized "V", one a medallion on the hood and the other two as gun-sight fender-toppers. The Buick " Sweepspear" side trim, a styling hallmark since 1949, was joined by broad chrome panels attached to the rear quarter panels. Tail lights were housed in massive chrome housings; each trunk lid received a chrome grip in the center. Wheelbase was and long.

In comparison to the junior models in the Buick lineup, the Limited was slightly more restrained. Each Limited traded its chromed side panel trim for a body color-keyed insert decorated with fifteen slanted hash marks (three groups of five). The Limited also received its own rear tail treatment that traded the heavy chrome tail light housings for a wraparound tail light lens broken up by four chrome bands. Rear bumper "Dagmars" housed "Dual Jet" back-up lights. Power brakes were standard.

Available only as a 4-door hardtop, 2-door hardtop coupe or convertible, the Limited rode Buick's wheelbase, with its body stretched , just shy of nineteen feet in length. Inside, buyers were treated to high quality fabrics in sedans and coupes, full leather in convertibles.

Buick sold only 7,438 Limiteds, due in part to their price. The Limited's four-door hardtop sedan started at a base price of $5,112, ($ in dollars ) which was $221 ($ in dollars ) higher than Cadillac's extended deck Series 62 four-door hardtop sedan at $4,891 ($ in dollars ) of which Cadillac sold 13,335 units.

For the 1959 model year, Buick renamed its entire lineup, with the Super becoming the Invicta, the Roadmaster becoming the Electra 225 and the Limited being discontinued due to lack of sales success.

File:Buick Convertible 1958 3.jpg, 1958 Buick Limited Riviera convertible
File:Buick Riviera Limited Coupe (Cruisin' At The Boardwalk '10).jpg, 1958 Buick Limited Riviera coupe
File:1958 Buick Limited.jpg, 1958 Buick Limited Riviera sedan rear

Limited trim package

The Limited name was used again in 1967 as a trim option on the Electra 225 Custom model and other models.
Between 1971-1979, Buick added the "Limited" name to its top trim Electra 225, which was previously known as the Electra 225 Custom. The cars were not badged as Electra 225s, but instead wore "Limited" scripts. However, these cars were Electra 225s, and in a break from tradition, the "Limited" trim level could be optioned with either the Park Avenue or Park Avenue DeLuxe options package, each even more well-equipped than the Limited model alone.

Buick continued to use the designation of "Limited" through 2005 on its various models to typically denote the highest trim level in a model range.

File:Buick Electra 225, 1965 (41616043425).jpg, 1965 Buick Electra 225 Limited
File:1973 Buick Electra 225 Limited (29069885071).jpg, 1973 Buick Electra 225 Limited
File:Buick Electra Limited 1975.jpg, 1975 Buick Electra 225 Limited
File:1979 Buick Electra Limited Landau Coupe, front left (Hershey 2019).jpg, 1979 Buick Electra Limited Landau Coupe
File:Buick Century Limited -- 03-24-2011 1.jpg, 1985 Buick Century Limited
File:Buick Skylark Limited (10022672263).jpg, 1985 Buick Skylark Limited
File:'86-'87 Buick Somerset Limited.jpg, 1986 Buick Somerset Limited
File:1987 Buick Regal Limited (1).jpg, 1987 Buick Regal Limited
File:1991 Buick Regal Limited Coupe (29497345741).jpg, 1991 Buick Regal Limited
File:Buick LeSabre Limited (6292736020).jpg, 1992 Buick LeSabre Limited
File:Buick Roadmaster Limited Estate Wagon 1996 (11499033763).jpg, 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate Limited
File:1997 Buick Skylark Limited (29781481810).jpg, 1997 Buick Skylark Limited
File:1998 Buick LeSabre Limited, Emerald Green, front right.jpg, 1998 Buick LeSabre Limited
File:1999 Buick Century Limited, Front Left, 05-16-2020.jpg, 1999 Buick Century Limited

References

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External links

King of the Road

{{Buick postwar timeline

Limited
Cars introduced in 1936
Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States