1958 Buick Century Coupe 364 CI V8 2 Speed Automatic Classic Vintage Collector

1958 Buick Century -- Description

Buick has always taken pride in building luxury vehicles that incorporated the best new technology for comfort, convenience, and improved safety. It was sometimes called a Bankers car. But they also took pride in building performance. Buick's Century was created by mating small, light, Buick Special bodies to large, powerful engines. This earned it the nickname of "the Bankers Hot Rod". So, "small" and "light" are relative terms. This 1958 model doesn't look either small or light... by todays standards, but it definitely looks like an awesome Buick Hot Rod. It looks like it's going 100 mph even while its sitting still. A unique grill of square openings is framed above and below by copious amounts of chrome. Marker lights are mounted on each side of it in rocket like pods and there are fantastic ornaments that grace the front of the hood and the tops of both front fenders. Chrome accent stripes capture headlights and dress the side of the car in a line that dives down toward the rear wheel, then turns up and underlines a trim panel on the rear fender that looks like it could be a jet booster. The large rear fins are totally encased in chrome and blend into the substantial rear bumper that has a gas cap built into the center just above the license plate. Open the door and you will find a luxurious two-tone interior. The door panel sets the look with alternating sections of tan and light beige. A large tan steering wheel wears its vintage heritage proudly with a T-shaped chrome center and full circular horn ring. The tan upper dash is padded for safety and below it, a chrome section contains a linear speedometer with the engine gauges lined up along the top of it. The center of the dash panel is darker tan with ventilation controls that look like jet engine throttles. The seats both front and rear are super comfortable, as would be expected in a Buick, and beautifully upholstered with pleated beige centers with tan trim and beige piping. Tan carpets and a tan headliner trimmed in chrome tie the look of the interior together nicely. An aftermarket stereo and CD player has been added under the dash with speakers in the rear shelf for a bit of modern listening pleasure. Open the hood and you will find an engine that is the culmination of four years of development that increased displacement and power each year. It is a 364 cubic inch "Fireball" V8 that makes 300 horsepower. It is a wonderfully stock motor and engine bay in the survivor tradition rather than one that has been meticulously restored and dressed up. The exhaust system includes a pair of straight through mufflers that give the car a nice sound, and power flows back through a 2-speed automatic transmission to the rear axle mounted on leaf springs. Up front, power steering works through a control arm suspension with coil springs, shocks and even a sway bar along with power front disc brakes that provide good stopping power. The car sits on classic wide white walls from Coker that look like bias ply tires but are actually modern radials which are mounted on the stock steel wheels and dressed up with those gorgeous polished hub caps. Come on down and check out this classic Buick hot rod. Then take it home and maybe by the bank to make them jealous.