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Last summer I kept hoping to catch this grand old car where I could take some pictures of it, and the chance finally presented itself one day.
This is a 1937 McLaughlin-Buick Series 60 sedan...a Canadian version of the American Buick Century from the same era.
A "Canadian McLaughlin-Buick", you ask?
For decades Canada built and sold strange, distorted mirror-images of Ford, GM and Chrysler's American cars and light trucks. We could still buy the American versions, but we also had the option of a Meteor (Ford), a Monarch (Mercury), an Acadian (Chevy Nova), a Beaumont (Pontiac), and so on. The Canadian versions mainly differed in little details like the names and the trim, but sometimes they were strikingly different. A Beaumont was a poor man's Pontiac, but the top-end Monarchs were as nice as a Lincoln.
Enter Sam McLaughlin, a wealthy Canadian carriage builder who saw that the future was in automobiles and not horse-drawn carriages. He struck up a deal with General Motors (who owned Buick) to sell Buicks in Canada under the McLaughlin-Buick name. He was President of GM Canada from 1934 to 1971, co-founded and ran the Canada Dry soft drink company, and lived to 102. Today, McLaughlin-Buicks are highly prized collectors' items, and I was astonished to see this one last summer. I'd never before seen a real McLaughlin-Buick up close that wasn't in a museum.
Buick introduced the Century in 1936, a year before this one was made. It was named the Century because it could hit 100 MPH in stock form, right off the showroom floor. Buick put their biggest engine (usually reserved for the big, heavy Roadmaster and Limited models) in their lighter, shorter Special model. In doing so, Buick set the template for what would become known as the classic American Muscle Car...a mid-sized car with a big engine to create a fast car.
Looking at this elegant old sedan, I'll admit that I found it difficult to think of it as a "fast car". It had a sheer presence to which a modern limousine could only aspire. I was very impressed...
A Crossfolf Camera Production.
- 'Gus :)
This is a 1937 McLaughlin-Buick Series 60 sedan...a Canadian version of the American Buick Century from the same era.
A "Canadian McLaughlin-Buick", you ask?
For decades Canada built and sold strange, distorted mirror-images of Ford, GM and Chrysler's American cars and light trucks. We could still buy the American versions, but we also had the option of a Meteor (Ford), a Monarch (Mercury), an Acadian (Chevy Nova), a Beaumont (Pontiac), and so on. The Canadian versions mainly differed in little details like the names and the trim, but sometimes they were strikingly different. A Beaumont was a poor man's Pontiac, but the top-end Monarchs were as nice as a Lincoln.
Enter Sam McLaughlin, a wealthy Canadian carriage builder who saw that the future was in automobiles and not horse-drawn carriages. He struck up a deal with General Motors (who owned Buick) to sell Buicks in Canada under the McLaughlin-Buick name. He was President of GM Canada from 1934 to 1971, co-founded and ran the Canada Dry soft drink company, and lived to 102. Today, McLaughlin-Buicks are highly prized collectors' items, and I was astonished to see this one last summer. I'd never before seen a real McLaughlin-Buick up close that wasn't in a museum.
Buick introduced the Century in 1936, a year before this one was made. It was named the Century because it could hit 100 MPH in stock form, right off the showroom floor. Buick put their biggest engine (usually reserved for the big, heavy Roadmaster and Limited models) in their lighter, shorter Special model. In doing so, Buick set the template for what would become known as the classic American Muscle Car...a mid-sized car with a big engine to create a fast car.
Looking at this elegant old sedan, I'll admit that I found it difficult to think of it as a "fast car". It had a sheer presence to which a modern limousine could only aspire. I was very impressed...
A Crossfolf Camera Production.
- 'Gus :)
Category Photography / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 960 x 1280px
File Size 237.5 kB
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