Buick 1955 - 57 custom & mild custom

tres belle couleur

We love the style of this custom Buick wagon. The chopped 4-door pillar-less hardtop design gives the car a clean but not overdone profile, and the 3-tone paint gives adds sophistication. We also like the spoke wheels and period Coker wide whites. Find it here on eBay out of Bakersfield, California.



The rear fins and lamps are from a Packard, and are much cleaner than the huge factory chrome units. Get a load of the interior below! Fantastic! All new leather in the factory two-tone pattern with an all stock dash.



The engine is the factory 364-inch Buick Nailhead V8, which has been given a Edelbrock triple carburetor intake and custom headers. We love the period look and originality.


The wagon rides on airbags, which are not usually our favorite, but we’ll give a mulligan because the frame isn’t dragging on the pavement. We like drivers and not show queens, so cars can be too low in our book.



This wagon is one of the nicest rods we have seen in some time. Bring it up about an inch, pack your crew inside, and drive it over the Grapevine to SoCal where it belongs.

THIS 1956 BUICK CUSTOM has been professionally restored over the last 3 years by Herbs automotive of Signal Hill, California. I have all the receipts. Body and paint alone cost over $16k and that does not include the additional $4k spent on House of Kolors black sparkle 3 stage paint and all supplies. $20k body and paint! You can absolutely assume the body is flawless. Taken down to metal, no rust, no damages. Door handles, hood and trunk emblems and fuel tank door have all been shaved. It was blocked and guide-coated several times, then base-coated and cleared, sanded and cleared, sanded and cleared and finally sanded and buffed to super mirror finish. Body panels this large deserve nothing less. And believe me, it’s spectacular! House of Kolors is the best paint there is. This particular black sparkle is so intriguing , goes from black in dark light to platinum sparkle under sunlight, simply gorgeous. I have about a half a gallon leftover paint for touch up or repairs. The roof is painted Pearl white metallic. With the exception of the Black sparkle, the car is as it left the factory. Color code is CAA {White/Black/Black split}. Finally, the look is finished with very tasteful pinstripping.




The front end of the car was apart for paint and all the engine bay aprons have been powder coated.




After the body was finished, the car was assembled with all new re-polished, re-chromed trim. I purchased all new glass all around including the vent windows, all new rubber weather stripping everywhere. Again, professional assembly by Herbs Automotive at a cost of $9k. Plus $5k for the chrome and polishing of every little stainless trim you can see including the side glass channels and rails. New window felts as well. Truly like new.




All new wiring for power windows and power door poppers with remote. Radio with CD and iPod is hidden under dash and operated by remote control. New battery. Windshield wipers have been capped but are fully functional. Heater as well for those from colder climates.




Engine has been rebuilt and nicely detailed by previous owner with all new gaskets and water pump. ZERO leaks {that is unusual for old Buick, let me tell you}. The motor starts and runs like a champ. Gas pedal actuated starter is functional.  322ci Naihleads are indestructible. Dynaflow transmission has been rebuilt 1300miles ago at a cost of $3450.




Car has new steering box with new gears and new power steering pump. Front suspension lowered and all new shocks and bushings, very smooth and secure ride. Powder coated rims and brand new Coker tires.




New brake with power booster  – the car stops like my Porsche – light touch of a pedal and massive stopping power comes to life. Very safe to drive and confidence inspiring. Everything mechanical mentioned above has less than 1500 miles on it.




In the interior I restored the dash and painted it body color. Seat upholstery is very nice with only 2 unfortunate rips as pictured bellow, otherwise 99.9% very nice. The carpet and sound deadening mats are new about a month ago. All new door panels and kick panels at that same time. New package tray and speakers in the back.

1957 Buick Special 2 door hard top Show stopper radical custom car.



The body is mounted on a 1972 Buick Chassis "Z'd" 4 inches in front spring towers, raised 4 inches in rear. Car has been channeled 4 inches over frame, so it is low and maintains the stock ride of a '72 Buick.



Over 20 body modifications have been made to the car:

Chopped 2-1/2 inches

Channeled 4 inches over frame



1972 Buick Frame

1956 Packard tail lights

Solenoid operated doors



Door handles filled

Solenoid operated trunk lid

Deck lid filled



Hood filled

Louvered hood

Custom built rear bumper

Classic Moon gauges (only 600 sets ever made)

455 engine .030 over, rebuilt 16,000 miles ago

Mild Crain Cam


Edelbrock intake manifold with 750 cfi carburetor

Turquoise metallic paint

400 transmission with shift kit



Front headlights shaped like 56 Oldsmobile


GM tilt column

Ron Franics wiring



A/C under dash



Upholstery is multi colored gray with gray leather like vinyl

Lacarra steering wheel

Chrome rims with 2:15 75 front tires and 2:25 75 rear tires

Tres jolie

1957 Buick owned by Kermit Hanson. Kermit's car was mildly customized by shaving the hood and deck lid for ornamentation. Side pipes were installed, and Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style painted some wild gold metallic flames flames on the car.[1] The flames were tipped in red and pinstriped in white. Kermit was a class mate of Larry Watson at Bellflower High School. Kermit used to pick Larry up at friday nights and they cruised around together. Larry named Kermit's Buick the "Snatch Wagon", and he painted an XXX-rated cartoon on the side of the car. After a week the CHP made him remove the painting.



Magazine Features

Rod & Custom October 1957
Car Craft November 1957
Motor Life November 1957
Trend Book 156 Custom Cars 1958 Annual


http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Kermit_Hanson%27s_1957_Buick

In case you didn’t know, My Ride is Me has a meaning. Everybody’s ride tells you a little something about the owner and every owner has a story. Ed shared this story for MyRideisMe.com about his 1956 Buick Special after I took some photos at the recent Cruise on Main Street in Mesa, AZ. It’s a beautiful car, so I’m happy to share this brief story and pictures. Enjoy Ed’s story of this custom Buick.



Written by “Special” Ed



There is a story with this car. (Isn’t there always?) I had a blue and white Buick when I was 19, and was devastated when a drunk hit me in the rear and totaled the car. I paid $375.00 for it and had to borrow $200.00 to get it.

25 years later, while living in Detroit, I asked my brother-in-law (who was in the car business in Chandler, AZ) to keep an eye out for a clean AZ ’56 Buick. I’ve owned several street rods and always had a soft spot for that old Buick. A few months later he called and told me I owned a ’56 Buick Special.



Perfect execution of a custom grille on a custom Buick Special



He had a mutual friend fix the bad spots and had an interior put in it and sent it to me in Detroit. From the beginning, the Buick was to look like I wanted my first Buick to look. There the sub frame and drive train work began. I found a donor ’73 Buick Electra 225 and used the 455 engine and the 400 trans. The sub frame is ’74 Nova welded in high to get the front end low and converted to disc brakes. The rear end came from the same Nova. Shortly after that, my wife and I decided to move to the Phoenix area. The car was then shipped back to Chandler (along with my ’47 chopped Ford sedan) and sat untouched for about 5 years while we reset our lives.



Selling the Ford freed up some cash to get the Buick on the road. It was finally street able in spring of 2000. I drove it for 5 years with blue and white primer, while I continued with body modifications, each time adding another spot of primer. The paint was done in August of ’05, and turned out much better than I expected. I have done a lot of work on this car myself, but the fabrication and bodywork and paint and many other details were done by many other people in the Detroit area and locally. Be assured that I have written all the checks. There are many war stories with the build of this car as there are with all car builds, but I would be typing for hours to explain them all. Thanks, Ed

http://www.myrideisme.com/Blog/1956-buick-special-mild-custom/