Australian BUICKS Pre War - Buick Car Club of Australia Inc. (Qld.)

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Australian
Pre War
F E B R U A R Y
2 0 1 6
BUICKS
The E-Magazine
BUICK CAR CLUB OF
AUSTRALIA
PRE WAR DIVISION
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Editor’s Comment
How time flies, it’s hard to
believe that a year has passed
since my last editor’s report.
I’ve got plenty to say but I
should start by confirming
that I am not going to show
the 28 the exit door as it is
progressing well. It should be
home soon and we can get
into the upholstery and starting up the engine. Very exciting and I can’t wait to get on
the road!
“Our biggest ever
Issue”
We have devoted considerable magazine space to a remarkable find car this edition
of Australian Pre War
BUICKS.
John and I are often reminded
that there are no shed finds
to be found anymore and
John always retort that there
is, we just haven’t found them
yet.
To emphasis the truth in this
statement it is hard to go past
the 1928 model 25 that Ross
Summerell pulled out of Grafton in August of 2015.
Readers around that time will
recall that we circulated advice of a 1927 Buick that was
to become available for sale.
One family had owned the
car since new and it was time
to let it go.
As it turned out this 1927 car
was actually a 1928 car, and
Ross was the luckiest, or
quickest, to get to the prize.
We visited Ross soon after
he acquired the Buick and
Ross has been good enough
to put together a great story
to go with the car and with
some research has made a
very interesting read for us,
for this I thank Ross.
For those who may not
know, Ross has recently been
in hospital however he is well
on the road to recovery now.
We wish Ross all the best and
hopefully he will be on the
road in the 28 shortly.
Ross, who also has an immaculate 47 sedan, also recently
advised that he is friends with
Joe Mantegna who you may
know as Agent David Rossi in
the TV series Criminal Minds.
As it turns out, Joe has an
identical 47 sedan to Ross
and we are advised that in an
upcoming episode of Criminal
Minds Joe will be seen driving
the Buick. Keep an eye out
for that!
Finally, our good friend John
Lee wrote in to advise that
the car in the Mingoola Polling Booth photo included in
the January issue is a 1924 or
1925 McLaughlin Master
Buick Special. John noted the
arched kick plates, the oval
side rear glasses, the elaborate hood bows, hood style
and rear window – all diagnostic features of the
McLaughlin Sixes. Many
thanks John and another example of the amount of
knowledge that resides in our
reader base.
1928 Roadster Special Auction
This edition we look at a
remarkable barn-find 1928
Buick that came out of Grafton.
In 2013 another remarkable
Buick, a1928 Roadster came
up for auction in the USA.
Fetching only $5,700 this car
appears a bargain, at least
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from where I am sitting.
Please have a look at this
YouTube clip of the auction
and make up your own mind.
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=-RBaDobQXdw
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Bellingen Past
good order and condition”.
Amongst those units was a Buick
Standard Six Tourer, clearly not
our feature car which was not
sold out of the original owner’s
family until 2015!
The second item of interest was a
photograph of Dr George
Hewitt’s 1940 Buick, a period
photo that was published locally in
2011.
It would appear that Buicks and
Bellingen are no strangers to each
other.
If you have access to period prewar Buick photographs we would
certainly enjoy sharing them with
the readership. Send a scan along
to us at
laurenejohn@bigpond.com
With Bellingen in the magazine
this month it seemed appropriate
to see what else was happening in
the area in times past.
The local newspaper was the Don
Dorrigo and Guy Fawkes Advocate which had an operational
span from 1910 through to 1954.
Interestingly for us it also included, on Friday the 15th February
1935, an advertisement for the
very garage that sold our feature
1928-25 Buick Tourer back in
1928.
The ad for Raymond’s Broadway
Garage featured a “number of reconditioned units, now offered in
“The ad for
Raymond’s
Broadway
Garage . .””
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120 Series 1928 Sedan
This car was an inspiration
for our own 1928 Buick project.
We first saw this 120 Series
Sedan sitting under a carport
at John McKnight’s before the
turn of the century. It was in
need of a lot of work but
looked to be basically all
there. It was John’s long term
project.
Larger diameter
headlights on all
Masters for 1928
“Bob’s garage
contains plenty of
top end cars.“
Indeed it was John who first
set us onto the Roadster that
we continue to work on to
this day.
Once he had convinced us to
purchase the roadster in pieces we decided to both put
the effort into finishing the
1928s we now both had.
Needless to say John finished
well in advance of us! This car
has been on the road for
some time now and long
enough to have changed
hands once.
The 120 Series Master Sedan
was, as the series number
suggests, built on a 120 inch
wheelbase.
For 1928 the body featured
new wider doors, new exterior door handles and a carpeted rear compartment.
This was Buick second biggest
seller with 34,197 sales,
pipped only by the standard
series equivalent that sold
over 50,000 units.
Priced at $1,495 in Flint, this
3920 pound car was so successful that it gave rise to a
deluxe version which added a
vinyl half roof and hood iron
bows at an added 10pounds
of weight and $80 in price.
This deluxe version sold
16,398 units for the 1928
model year.
The featured car, now owned
by Bob and Marion Denny
from Allora, has lost none of
its sparkle and has received a
couple of mechanical tweaks
to bring it up to a very high
standard of reliability and
performance.
Bob’s garage contains plenty
of top end cars and this 120
Series sedan may well be the
smallest car in the shed! But
don’t be confused, this is a big
car.
More recently Bob confirmed
that it is probably the quickest of the group of cars he
currently has from the prewar era.
This restoration is to a high
standard and the car has collected many awards from the
various shows and events
attended.
Many members may recall it
from the Victorian Buick
Nationals where Bob debut
the car shortly after his purchase.
Time was a bit short on the
day we visited Bob however
we were able to capture
some photos of the car while
it was parked in the shed and
so the imagery is a little off
but I think you will be able to
assess the quality of this car
nonetheless.
This is a very nice car indeed!
Tyre cover
says it all.
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120 Series 1928 Sedan continued . .
“This is a very
nice car
indeed!”
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E. G. Eager and His Garage
E. G. Eager is a well-known
motoring entity in Queensland, having secured the distribution rights for General
Motors well before the Holden was even thought of.
Thanks to the State Library of
Queensland we are able to
show you the Eagers premises in 1937 and the Eagers
workshop building around
1924.
Eagers had a fully developed
workshop and part sales and
distribution building by the
early twenties and had gone
from reasonably humble beginnings in 1913 to the biggest
company in the auto industry
within Queensland.
“selling what
turned out to be
the ideal car for
Australia . .”
Edward Eager arrived in Brisbane in 1911 as the Australian
representative
of the Overland Company. He and his
son Fred established the
company in
1913 selling
what turned
out to be the
ideal car for
Australia –
their words
not mine!
away in 1917 and Fred took
control of the company in
concert with George Green,
later to be knighted for his
philanthropic contributions.
By 1922 they had set up the
first vehicle assembly plant in
Queensland specialising in
Overland and Willys vehicles.
It was 1930 when they acquired the General Motors
franchise and began selling
Buicks amongst other GM
brands.
Today Eagers is the second
largest automotive dealer in
the country with a turnover
exceeding $3 Billion per annum.
Edward would be proud of
what became of his Overland
franchise I am sure.
Edward passed
Buicks line
the street
c1940 and
Eagers new
facade
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Fast Food—Pre War Style
In last month’s edition of Australian Pre War BUICKS we took a
look at Diners in the USA and
their tenuous connection with
Aussie Roadhouses. At that time I
promised to review pie carts just
to complete the Australian picture
of pre-war fast food, so here we
go.
The USA has its hotdog stands
and in Australia we have the pie
cart. They pretty much serve the
same purpose – serving up cheap
food, fast.
As with diners in America, the pie
cart has become an iconic part of
our culture in certain regions and
cities.
Around Ipswich where we live it
was Joe’s Pies and his myriad vans
and outlets.
In Adelaide it is the Pie Car serving on Franklin Street at the GPO
and the meal to get is the Pie
Floater.
A similar fare can be obtained at
the numerous Harry’s Café de
Wheels in and around Sydney but
none more famous than the
Woolloomooloo cart.
Pie carts first appeared in Ade-
laide in 1880 and around that time
there were 13 pie carts operating,
however they became less in
number over time. By 1915 they
were reduced to 9 and by the end
of the 1950s only two survived.
Today there is just the one.
Described as carts, which is what
they started as, they have evolved
into a type of converted caravan
in most instances although at least
one in Sydney has rested on a
masonry base for many years
now.
The pie cart attracts many famous
eaters from around the world but
perhaps none more famous than
the southern gentleman with one
of the most recognisable looks in
the world of fast food. You guess
who he is!
To finalise our pre-war fast food
photo saga I have attached some
photos for your enjoyment.
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National Motor Museum Tas.
Located in Launceston the
National Automobile Museum
of Tasmania has a varied and
changing collection of privately owned cars on display.
Our interest lay in the answer
to a recent quiz. You may
recall the boxed Buick from
our August edition. This car
was most likely a 1925-49X
model tourer and the museum had a similar car on display during 2015.
We reproduce the car here
for your information and also
a roadster from the same
year.
Laurene and I have been
1925 Tourer and
Roadster to be
seen at the
Museum in
Launceston
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through this museum and we
highly recommend it to any
motoring enthusiast. They
have a wide variety of vehicles that span many years and
also many different makes and
style of vehicles.
If you get a chance to visit,
please do.
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The Tale of a One Family 28 Tourer
We’ve all heard about these rare
barn finds - pots of gold under
rainbows - long lost pictures and
records of famous people - diamonds in the sand - and of course
those rare old motor cars that sit
like forgotten statue heroes in
barns, sheds, under trees and in
fallen down garages. This is the
story of one of those finds - a rare
and beloved old family hand-medown that had been in the one
family surname for since 1928.
Eighty seven years of complete
known history just patiently waiting for someone with a belt of
enthusiasm to get it back on the
road once again.
The Bellinger Valley including
Bellingen was first settled by Kooris - the Gumbaynggir people long before European settlement.
The first European into the
Bellinger Valley was the stockman
William Myles who arrived in 1840
looking for new valleys north of
Kempsey and the Macleay River.
The growth of cedar cutting
throughout the 1840s was dramatic with 20 pit sawyers operating along the river by 1843 and, by
1849, the first timber vessel, the
'Minerva', being built by a shipwright named William Darbyshire.
The cedar was hauled down to the
river by teams of bullocks or horses. So rich was the area in cedar
that it was estimated that over 2
million feet of cedar were being
extracted each year.
In 1864 a site was set apart and
reserved for the village of
Bellingen. The town allotments
were surveyed in 1869 and were
sold by public auction at West
Kempsey Court House on Sep 14
1870, the deeds in every case
describing the land as in the village
of Bellingen.
In the 1890s, Bellingen was select-
ed as the government centre of
the valley, due to its location at
the tidal limit of the Bellinger River
and the availability of fresh water.
A period of rapid growth ensued.
In 1864 a site was set apart and
reserved for the village of
Bellingen. The Agricultural Society
was formed in 1891, the first year
of its annual show.
One of the early settler families
was the Raymond’s who set up a
Coachworks and Wheelwright
business to cater for the timber
cutters, bullockies and general
farmers within the area.
They soon established themselves
as reliable business people and it
wasn’t long before they were
drawn into the modern age by
stocking farm implements and
motor vehicles. Agencies were
established for Oakland, Vauxhall,
Cadillac, GMC Trucks, MasseyHarris farm implements and another motor vehicle marque called
Buick. EJRW Raymond’s Garage
was doing very well for themselves
and the community in the Bellinger
Valley.
Mr E. J. R .W. Raymond was one
of the best known figures, in a
commercial sense, on the Central
North Coast of NSW. He had
business interests in Bellingen,
Dorrigo, Coffs Harbour,
Bowraville and Macksville. He had
been continuously in business in
Bellingen for over half a century
and as a citizen rendered service
in many capacities. He was a member of the local land board, a director of the local butter factory,
a life member of every public institution in the district as well as a
Life Member of the Sydney Royal
Agricultural Society.
Edward James Robert Walter
Raymond’s greatest love was his
community, but his love for motor
vehicles and machinery was always
very close to his heart. In 1932 he
passed away at 68 years of age from
a pneumonic cold and it was reported as the biggest funeral ever held in
Bellingen and District.
In 1988 the Bellinger Valley Historical Society’s Norman Braithwaite
even wrote a fascinating book dedicated to the Raymond business success called “100 years of Wheeling &
Dealing : E.J.R.W. Raymond / E.H.H.
Raymond's 100 years in Bellingen”.
Another group of early settlers
were the Vale Family and one of the
family, Charles Edward Vale, bought
property on North Bank Road and
named it “Hillcrest”. They cut timber,
grew out beef cattle and had a
mixed farm including grain crops and
poultry. To put it bluntly it was
bloody hard work and somewhere
around 1919-1920 Charles invested
in a Massey-Harris tractor with a
few helpful add-ons from Raymond's.
“He dreamed
of a Buick . .”
Somewhere around 1924, Charles
decided the family needed a vehicle
to go into town and invested in a
heavily used Graham Brothers 4
cylinder pickup from Raymond's. It
was believed to be around a 1920
model body, and possibly a Model
BB, but may have even been cut
down into a utility style tray back
format to carry the various rolls of
fencing wire, essential farm goods
and general needs. Charles found it
didn't have enough space for all of
the family and dreamed one day of
buying a new car, perhaps even a 6
cylinder car for the power and
room. He also groaned that the
Graham often lacked power, but it
did get a fair flogging on the farm.
He dreamed of a Buick. One of his
sons George Frederick also shared
that love and dream of Buicks and
eventually became a talented blacksmith progressing eventually as a
mechanic with EJRW Raymond’s.
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the Engine Number was
2205635. On a little plate just
inside the front passenger’s
door showed Holden’s Job
No: 3401, Body No: 1073,
Model Buick 25T, Series 28111. It still has that original
engine and those allimportant numbers on the
car to this day.
1927 Bellingen Show
“Old Charles
loved the car . .”
That dream for Charles was
realised after a visit to the
1927 Bellingen Agricultural
Show, which brought people
in from not only within the
town, but from all over the
general farming district and
surrounds. The Vale’s exhibited cattle and poultry and did
quite well with a few prized
show ribbons here and there.
Charles saw his family’s
“dream machine” a Buick 6 cyl
Sports Tourer, and by August
of 1928 he had saved up
enough capital, with a little
help from his local bank, to
purchase the family’s first
new motor vehicle.
She was a gorgeous motor
car, built up and assembled by
General Motors (Aust) Pty
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Ltd right here in Australia,
possibly Marrickville in Sydney NSW or maybe S.A. or
Vic. She sported a 63 bhp,
207 cu in. 6 cylinder engine, 3
speed manual H-pattern gearbox - crash box as we affectionately called them - in the
preferred majorly factory
manufacturer colour of Trail
Green with Black Fenders
and a Buff-Beige Canvas Roof.
The original NSW registration number was 176-578. It
was later changed to AVN
090 after the single rear plate
went missing one night, along
with the original Buick Goddess Lady radiator cap, while
parked outside a Grafton cafe
around 1952. The Chassis
Number was 2109636, while
Another fascinating identification plate on the l/h scuttle is
Holden Body’s “Winged Angel
Man with his sledgehammer” –
quite the rarity these days
and in great shape. A perusal
of page 7 of that fabulous
book, “Buick – The Australian
Story” by Eric North & John
Gerdtz will show you an example of that plate.
Old Charles loved the car
and taught his boys to drive
it. It was also noted that the
car was one of his most
prized possessions and a special shed was built to house
the impressive Tourer. It was
often cleaned down with
kerosene and always hosed
under the mudguards - it was
truly well kept and cherished
for a countryman’s car.
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Australia suffered badly during the
period of the Great Depression of
the 1930s. The Depression began
with the Wall Street Crash of
October 1929 and rapidly spread
worldwide. As in other nations,
Australia suffered years of high
unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging incomes,
and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement.
Anyone on the land could do it
pretty tough, however assuming
that they had enough land to run
cattle, sheep or crops, they could
just survive these turbulent financial times.
Although it was a struggle Charles
Vale had the help of his boys to
see him through these trying
times. He could breed up his
stock, sell off his beef, feed his
family and got through the Depression years with a minimum of
fuss, although rather prudently.
Charles was reported to be a
hard task master and this was
passed down to his sons, John,
Albert, Harry, Wally and George.
Sadly John lost his life for his
country in the WW1 conflict, but
Albert survived this fate only to
pass on in the 1930’s. Harry, Wally and George were all described
as active in the WW2 war effort.
Harry played a part in WW2 activities on the home front, while
Wally & George served overseas
from 1942-45.
When Charles Snr could no longer drive the boys took him everywhere in this marvellous 1928
Buick. Their sons all learnt to
drive in the car as well, plus the
many grandsons. One of these
young lads was George Frederick’s only son, John Levi Charles
Vale.
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Now old Charles was certainly a
man to be respected and one of
his last dying wishes was that the
Buick be kept within the family
structure. The registration was to
be transferred to the oldest son,
George and his mother. If
George predeceased his two
younger siblings then the car
would be passed onto the next
eldest, then the next. Such was his
domination over the family. It was
agreed, however that all three
boys had supposedly equal use of
the car. As fate would have it,
George outlived both Harry and
Wally.
George Frederick Vale married
Rose Alice and by all accounts was
the spitting image of his father. He
also followed his dad’s family rules
and he truly loved that old Buick.
He became a mechanic by trade,
working at Raymond’s and kept
up the same routine of very carefully and meticulously maintaining
the Buick and stated quite clearly
on many occasions that he didn't
need any other vehicle in his life.
Son John also loved the Buick but
was rarely allowed to drive it.
Only in Charles’ latter years was
John given the rare privilege of
driving the car, and on several
occasions he drove it from the
Bellinger Valley to a small crops
farm purchased by George at
Ulmarra just north of Grafton.
This was just at the conclusion of
WW2.
After a “bit of an accident” on the
farm, which was rarely discussed,
in 1954 George purchased a modest three bedroom home in Oliver Street, Grafton right opposite
the Racecourse. He was one of
the first people to ever invest in
building a double garage, which in
those days was quite unheard of
in suburban Grafton.
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Why? Simple, because on the right
-hand side of garage George
parked his dad’s beloved Buick
bequeathed to him all those years
ago.
George doted over the car and
like his father before him polished
the Trail Green and Black Fenders
with a kerosene base to keep it
sparking. He was also known to
carefully wipe down and dobbin
the leather seats and trims and
even though the front seat started
to crack, George loved it just the
way it was.
A decision was made, on insistence from Rose, to recover the
cracked front seat with a new
piece of leather. George took the
car to a local upholsterer and was
quoted the princely sum of £4/6/for the seats and the squab.
“Bugger that”, said George, “For a
guinea (£1/1/-) I can buy a strong
piece of vinyl!” So George bought
a piece of Beige Vinyl, tacked it on
carefully after removing the squab
and reckoned it looked great. Son
John told us later,.... “Mother never
spoke to Dad for about a week after
that!” Around 1957 a new roof
canvas was fitted to replace the
old tattered one.
“Mother
never spoke to
Dad for about
a week . .”
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In late December 1964 with
failing eyesight and ill health
George parked the car in the
double garage for the last
time. About a month later, he
jacked the car up, very carefully placed blocks under the
differential and front suspension and the car remained
there for the rest of its life in
Grafton.
A Goddess replacement . .!
“As a youngster
he followed a
path into the
motor industry .
.”
George would regularly go to
the garage start and run the
car and on occasion would
grease it, check the wheel
bearings and seals and check
it over in general - but he
never drove it. About 15
years later old George passed
on, not long after Rose had
predeceased him. In all that
time he never drove the
Buick, but at least bi-monthly
he started her. When asked
why son John didn’t drive the
car, he simply said, “Because
Dad said not to”.
John Vale used to respect his
father’s wishes and, like Dad,
he used to start the car up
every two to three months.
This went on then about
every 6 months, then 12
months and about 5 years
later when he found the battery flat the car was never
started again. John removed
the battery and placed it under the front of the car.
The same year, 1964, when
George blocked-up the Buick,
a young man from Sydney had
just finished a great season as
a Rugby League player. ‘64
had been an impressive year
but in the off season while
vigorously training he suffered
a severe knee injury which
ruined what would have been
a long and fruitful career as a
player. His father, Bill, was a
St George legend in the
1930’s and eventually became
a distinguished 2nd & 3rd
grade coach, moving onto
Chairman of Selectors and
eventually becoming a Life
Member of the St George
RLFC. He was quite distressed to see his youngest
son with such a severe knee
injury.
That young player was Ross
Summerell. As a brilliant junior player he was touted as a
future 1st Grade player, but
as fate would have it he never
got back on the field for three
years. When he did make that
eventual comeback he played
in local rep squad games and
decided a few years later to
move to country NSW, with
his new wife Wendy, and still
managed to play 1st Grade in
the local competition and
even made the Northern
NSW Coast Rep squad. But
the dream of playing first
grade for St George was
gone.
As a youngster he followed a
path into the motor industry
as a spare parts man, later
progressing to car sales in
Sydney. His eventual dream
was to own his own dealership - many felt it to be a pipe
dream.
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He also was a typical long
haired surfer travelling many
miles in an ex-taxi FJ Holden
which was eventually defected
off the road for rust. Where
he worked he was able to buy
a 1938 Oldsmobile which
became the new surf car, but
she had a slipping clutch
which would slow him and his
mates down every now and
then. Going up big hills was a
nightmare at times. The car,
did however, have a set of
Black & White number plates
- MM-036 - and a motor vehicle wholesaler called Milton
McAllen and who happened
to be born in 1936 wanted
those plates right or wrong.
Milton offered Ross a pretty
good deal - give him the Olds
with the plates and he would
swap him for a 1939 Buick
Century with 7 months rego.
What about that? Ross Summerell had just got his first
Buick. “What’s the Century
mean?” his mates asked. “The
bloke said it would do 100
mph!” It was never driven to
100 mph, or even close to
that – he was never game
enough. The problem was
that after about six months
the Buick used almost as
much oil as petrol and it was
going to cost a small fortune
to do the car up.
An old chap from Buttercup
Bakeries had the answer and
said that all surfers needed a
FJ Holden Panel Van, so the
Buick was straight swapped
for the bread van. Little did
Ross know the Buick was
worth twice what the van
was worth, but money wasn’t
really the issue - it was the
call of the surf on the NSW
South Coast.
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Years later at Taree NSW he
found it pretty easy to get a job in
sales and became the Manager of
the local Subaru, VW and Peugeot
dealership. Car salesmen were a
dime a dozen, but experienced
people trained in business ethics
with the ability to lead teams
were a bit of a rarity. The experience of being a successful Rugby
League player and coach gave
young Ross these valuable attributes. Even though the St George
dreams were shattered, he was a
premier winning coach, on more
than one occasion, in country
NSW and very proud of those
facts.
The local Ford dealer, Keith
Chadban, had noticed the Subaru
market share, in particular, had
jumped and had been affecting
some of his sales, so he offered
Ross the job of Sales Manager.
Around five years later Ross and
his wife Wendy were offered a
golden opportunity. Ford Motor
Company were backing young
progressive people into dealerships and they jumped at the idea.
They settled on a dealership in
Beaudesert Qld which had been in
receivership on two separate
occasions. After a lot of hard
work and determination it became
a virtual gold mine and the move
was highly successful. So efficacious was the business that within
two years they had built brand
new showrooms and service facilities on a 2 acre site.
One of the many cars they traded
was a one owner 1960 Ford Fairlane Tank Model. The son of a
Brisbane doctor spotted the car
and asked if he could trade in his
late father’s old car. It was a 1948
Buick 8/40 Special - Black with
Bedford cord trim - and just a real
gorgeous old car. Ross kept the
car for years and had he had
PAGE
joined the Buick Club of Australia,
he more than likely would have
still had that car today. But being a
dealer he sold it and saw it several
years later - repainted a nongenuine colour, wrong interior
trim with several other unsavoury
modifications. “That’s footy” was
one of his mottos. He always
regretted selling that ‘48.
After a successful business career,
which included another dealership
with franchises for not only Ford,
but Mitsubishi, Daihatsu, Subaru,
Suzuki and Lotus, he and Wendy
retired. Well, not exactly! As a
sideline they had built up a massive herd of commercial Alpacas
and became Qld’s largest Alpaca
stud and retired from that after
about twenty years of sideline fun.
Their farm also bred some of the
best Australorp and rare Campine
poultry in Australia and that hobby takes Ross all over Australia as
both an exhibitor and a specialised
poultry judge. His lines have been
purchased from other breeders in
every state in Australia including
Great Britain, parts of Europe and
Brunei.
Ross needed another motor-type
hobby and found the best 1947
Buick 8/40 Special Sedan that he
had seen in years. Fully restored
to perfection by Adrian Barnes it
still sits pride of place in his workshop sheds today and gets driven
regularly. After eventually joining
the Buick Club’s Qld branch he
spotted a simple email message
passed on via Qld President John
Forster.
Someone in NSW has a reported
1927 Buick for sale in Grafton.
After a quick phone call to a very
old voice on the other end of the
line, he packed an overnight kit
and said to his wife, “See ya, I’m off
to Grafton to buy another Buick”.
Wendy just didn’t believe it! “Here
we go again” she muttered. He
drove 3½ hours, stayed overnight
in a local old Grafton pub and was
on the old chap’s doorstep, via an
appointment, at 8.15 am the next
morning. That man was John Vale
and that car was his grandfather,
Charles Vale’s, precious Buick.
“Someone in
NSW has a
reported 1927
Buick for
sale . .”
13
PAGE
14
John Vale at 85 years of age is
just simply a charming old
country man. The morning he
met Ross they both clicked
almost straight away. That
was that day after our Aussie
cricket team was all out for
80 in England and to break
the ice Ross said to John, “Did
you watch the cricket last
night?”
Waiting since 1964
“John Vale is just
simply a
charming old
man . .”
The reply was, “Oh no, we
have never had a television, but
I listened to a bit of it on the
wireless.” They both had a
chuckle about that, but John
was fair dinkum - he'd never
owned a tv - Dad didn't like
them.
They walked down to the old
double garage down the back
of the house passing a rather
unusual collection of old bottles and bric-a-brac, all
stacked neatly, and John carefully unlocked the door and
Ross clasped his eyes on a
total time warp.
Inside the garage was a plethora of old tools, wood working apparatuses, plastic bottles, ice cream containers and
smithereens of carefully scalloped vintage timber. To the
right and with a big ladder
leaning beside it was an old
Green and Black car covered
in light dust, but all there. It
was the supposed 1927 Buick.
“You know it’s not a ’27. It’s a
’28 Tourer” John quipped. “I’m
afraid Cousin Charlie got it
wrong.”
Charlie Vale was John’s 70
year of cousin from Tumbi
Umbi on the NSW Central
Coast. John had decided that
he wanted the Buick to stay
within the family and offered
AUSTRALIAN
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the Vale clan car to Charlie.
“Just take it if you want it“, he
said.
Charlie really didn’t really
want to have an old car in his
life at his age. Besides that he
didn’t have the room to
house an old car, or the inclination to get it going again.
Charlie reckoned that John
could “get a few dollars for the
old thing” and it was Charlie
who contacted the Buick
Club, via email, and passed on
that valuable information to
the club’s members. John had
had dozens of phone calls
enquiring about this ‘1927’
old treasure.
John said the phone rang with
enquiries from many parts of
NSW, a few from Victoria
and Queensland and even one
from South Australia, but he
liked the big fellow standing
next to him in his garage on
that day, and
quickly decided
that he seemed
like the man to
give the car a
new aspect in its
life and treat it
with the respect
that this cherished family
heirloom, this
1928 Buick
Tourer deserved.
That morning
Ross Summerell
couldn’t believe
his eyes. Under
all that dust was
a car that was
87 years old and
it appeared to
be 100% complete!
BUICKS
It had sat in this shed unmolested and virtually untouched
for over 51 years and he
simply couldn't believe what
he was seeing. He walked
around the car, albeit a very
tight fit, as all over the garage
he had to step over various
curios and bits-n-pieces. He
noticed the tyres seemed full,
but also noticed blocks of
wood under the front springs
and diff. A quick look at the
interior showed a dusty aspect, but everything was
there - nothing was missing. A
neat spare wheel still sat on
the back of the car. A large
canvas was covering the rear
seats and there were spare
tyres and a few old tools on
the front seat. He never even
opened any of the doors or
even lifted the dual bonnets.
Ross recollected to himself
that he had never seen a car
this old in such fantastic condition.
VOLUME
4,
ISSUE
2
Sure, he had recalled that he had
traded in dozens of old relics over
the years including some interesting vehicles such as a ‘59 Mercedes Benz 190 Sedan, a mint
condition ‘64 EH Holden Premier,
a 25,000 mile ’62 VW Beetle, a ‘64
Chevrolet Belair, several old Ford
Falcons from XK to XW, a ’51
Ford Twin Spinner Ute, a red ’71
MGB , a’47 Plymouth, a ‘59
Chrysler Royal and dozens of
other older unwanted, but often
desirable, cars. Nevertheless
nothing compared to this family
owned Buick in that old double
garage in Grafton that day. He
was absolutely gob-smacked!
John quizzed Ross that if he took
the old Buick home to Queensland what were his exact intentions with it? Ross reckoned that
he wouldn’t repaint the car as it
appeared so original. His idea was
to get the car running again, give it
a thorough detail and clean, prepare and guarantee its roadworthiness, register it and basically
have as it was in 1928 - after all it
was so damn unique. John likes
that idea and a satisfactory mutual
financial deal was struck between
the two gentlemen and they drove
just around a few corners into the
Grafton city centre to do a transfer of funds.
Over a cup of tea Ross deduced
that old John's favourite treat
were good old-fashioned Jam
Drops so when he picked up the
Buick less than a week later he
got his wife to make two dozen
Jam Drops as a gift for John.
When he gave John the gift the
old chap said, “These are my favourites - awww go to buggery - are
they really for me?” Richard Vary, a
great mate of Ross and an old
tractor fanatic from Kyogle NSW
who travelled down that morning
with Ross reckoned the old boy
PAGE
was more impressed with Wendy’s Jam Drops than selling the
car. He wasn’t far wrong.
That morning Ross and Richard
took down a small compressor
and a floor jack with some extra
essential tools. They carefully
added a conservative 18lbs psi
into the Buick's tyres, lifted it off
the wooden blocks where she had
sat faithfully waiting for a new
lease on life for all those 51 years.
The boys simply wheeled the old
dear out of the garage and pushed
it along the long driveway to the
road where Rob’s Transport from
Brisbane was contracted and waiting to load it onto one of their
flatbed trucks. After securing the
Buick and covering it with a good
strong car cover it was back in
Ross’s bottom farm shed near
Tamborine Qld four hours later,
sharing the floor with some old
horse-drawn sulkies and buggies.
And, yes, the old tyres were still
inflated.
Ross Summerell didn’t tell a single
sole about this amazing barn find
as he was a little worried that
someone may have offered more
money to get John Vale to change
his mind. In fact, John had told him
that a few aggressive types had
offered him a lot more than Ross
had paid, but it wasn’t about the
money at all. John wanted someone to respect his Grandfather,
Charles’s wishes and he knew that
the car was in good hands.
Ross eventually contacted Buick
Qld Club President, John Forster,
and he and wife Lauren drove to
Ross & Wendy’s Mundoolun farm
to inspect this newly found piece
of motoring history. They were as
equally impressed with its condition as Ross was when he first
sighted the car.
Now still in the very early stages
of restoration the car has now
had its engine thoroughly cleaned,
the under-body water blasted and
the seats and upholstery have
been carefully removed. The
treasures and secrets of this 1928
Buick are still being excitingly
revealed.
15
PAGE
16
Your Own Risk
“Oohhh . . and
the little stash
of cash.!”
In the door pockets
were discovered some
small wooden cylindrical tubes which revealed, very carefully
packed in wadding,
spare headlamp globes.
Also another little tube
containing various
spare parts, including
vulcanising patches. A
copy of a 1965 Woman’s Weekly magazine
which featured a story on
The Rolling Stones and why
they were so misunderstood.
A small box of pre-decimal
coins and a 2 x £ pound notes
and many other items of
those early times. Plus a rather dilapidated Buick Reference Book 1928 with no
cover, but still 95% legible.
On the front floor was a hand
tyre pump, a complete vintage spot light that attaches
to the windscreen cowling,
the original crank handle, two
original tyre gauges and several other items.
Under the front seat was a
treasure trove of complete
original Buick tools including
the wheel nut spanner, the
floor jack and handles, a spare
crank handle, a set of six new
spark plugs and distributor
points all in their original
boxes, plus dozens and dozens of numerous other spare
parts and bits and pieces still
being identified.
On the back floor was a
spare wheel rim, a separate
spare tyre and two brand
new tyre tubes carefully
wrapped in an oil cloth. In a
pile on the left side of the
back floor was a complete set
of Weed brand mud/snow
AUSTRALIAN
PRE
WAR
chains that went with the car
from brand new.
On the back seat were all the
original side curtains which
will be ideal templates from
which to have new curtains
made – carefully preserved in
cloth coverings.
Under the back seat were
even more surprises. A complete and almost mint 68 page
book called Buick Reference
Book 1928 with EJRW Raymond’s stamp on the inside
rear cover. This was the same
as the dilapidated book that
was found in one of the door
pockets.
Also found was a partial
newspaper from Friday
October 19, 1928 featuring
a large half page advertisement by Boyd Edkins Ltd
about the success of Buick
in 1927 and the ongoing
commitment by the company for 1928. These were
very carefully preserved in
a oilskin type of material.
Another surprise were
small sections of a 1929 or
1930 women’s magazine,
but rather the worse for
wear as it wasn’t preserved
in the oilskin style material.
Then, a major surprise, was
a rather small little old tin Wild Woodbine Tobacco
Ready Rubbed Fine Cut with no tobacco but inside
the tin revealed one x £5
note, 3 x £2 notes and
several Florins (two shillings) and several sixpence
and threepence coins.
Could these items been
there since 1928 and put
there by Charles Frederick
Vale in the 1920’s?
BUICKS
Was this Charles secret stash
of cash for a rainy day? No
one even knew that they
were there after all these
years!
What a find! - What an adventure! The circumstances –
this outstanding and original
1928 Buick 28-25 4 door 5
passenger Sports Tourer the history – the selling dealership - the newly found
friendship and charm of 85
year old Mr John Vale grandson of the original owner, Charles Vale.
Oohhh…. and the little stash
of cash!
VOLUME
4,
ISSUE
2
PAGE
17
1928-25 barn
find!
PAGE
18
Women in Buicks in Photographs
If we are allowed to have
traditions then I expect this is
one of them. When Laurene
edits the magazine each February we like to feature some
snaps or stories about prewar women and their Buicks.
We present here three eras –
veteran, vintage and pre-war.
I am unsure whether the first
photo is actually from the
time period suggested as the
quality is very good. The original caption suggests that it is
period so here it is and, yes it
does look somewhat staged!
“The original
caption suggests
that it is period . .”
Our second photo is a model
shoot from the twenties. The
caption indicating that the
Buick was being pressed into
service for a little golfing fashion modelling in California
during 1926.
Finally, what appears to be a
family snap of a young woman
posing with a 1937 Century
four door sedan in what is
described in the caption as a
middle-class suburb.
AUSTRALIAN
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BUICKS
VOLUME
4,
ISSUE
2
PAGE
June Collyer
June Collyer was born Dorothea
Heermance on August 19, 1906 in
New York City and died aged 61
in Los Angeles in 1968.
She was film actress active between 1927-1957 and successfully
transitioned from silent movies to
the talkies during her career.
When she moved into acting she
took her mother’s maiden name.
June’s first starring role was in
1927 when she starred in East
Side, West Side.
Why is she in the Australian Pre
War BUICKS eMagazine? The
photo here was taken in 1928
(clearly obvious I know) and June
is amongst the girls on the Buick.
That year she starred in Me, Gangster.
Can you pick her?
What Next in the E-Magazine
We dig into the thirties next edition of the Australian Pre War
BUICKS looking at a top of the
range 90 series sedan on the mend
before reviewing another 1937
Sloper that came to life with the
help of Phil and Ron.
Preston Motors, long renowned
for delivering Buicks to Australians, features in our pre war garage
series and while we are in Victo-
ria, we look at what is lurking in
the Victorian archive photo vault.
While on the subject of pre-war
garages we take a quick look
around the world at some other
pre-war garages, firstly in the USA
and then in New Zealand, just to
keep perspective of course and to
see how our garages rated at the
time.
Finally, we inspect the impact of
travelling
on the
sub –
continent
and the
traffic
conditions that
may be
met!
19
This e-magazine is produced under the auspices of the Buick Car Club of Australia Qld
Inc. to cater for the needs of car enthusiasts
with an interest in Pre War Buicks.
The Buick Car Club of Australia Qld Inc.
It is a medium created for the exchange of
stories and ideas. Its aim is to support enthusiasts in the preservation and use of the
Buick Automobiles built between 1903 and
the end of 1941.
Web: buickcarclubaustralia.com
The editors welcome contributions at
laurenejohn@bigpond.com
The editors reserve the right to include sub-
When Better Automobiles Are Built
Buick Will Build Them
mitted articles or not at their discretion.
The Last Wor(l)d—Australia 1923
Australia was seen as part of the
great unknown in 1923 I expect and
GM used us to demonstrate their
penetration into the world market
in advertising as an example of how
far they had reached into this great
unknown.
The poster on the right is an example.
Reproduced here for your information and enjoyment of how the
world saw us in 1923!