{"content":[{"text":"The Buick Special was an automobile produced by Buick. It was usually Buick's lowest-priced \n model, starting out as a full-size car in and returning in after a two-year hiatus as a mid-size. By \n , Special was no longer offered as a standalone model but the name would later be used for the \n entry trim on to and to Century models. The Model 10 started out as one of the independent \n brands merged into Buick, called the Janney. From to , Buick's Special model range \n represented the marque's entry level full-size automobile. The '36 was a very successful year for \n Buick and also marked the first time of using names rather than the simple serial numbers \n which had been in use before. The Special continued to also be known as the series, however. \n This was also the only model year that a four-door convertible Special \"Sport Phaeton\" was \n offered, although only were built. For the bodywork was again all new, with the front fenders \n now very closely integrated into the cars overall design. The Estate Wagon migrated from being \n a Super into the Special lineup. Also new was the A series the regular Special now being the B , \n a version on a three inches shorter wheelbase which shared its body with the Oldsmobile Series \n Production ended on 4 February The Special is rare, representing less than two percent of \n Buick's production that year. The car remained the property of director Ralph Clemente and was \n untouched for many years until sold to Florida restorer and car collector Axel Caravias. Halfway \n into the model year, the Specials received all-new bodywork, the first fully postwar design for \n the series. New was also the 40D-series, a better equipped version called the Special DeLuxe. A \n two-door hardtop coupe was also new for Introduced in the middle of the model year the \n four-door Buick Special Riviera along with the Century Riviera , the Oldsmobile 98 Holiday , and \n the 88 Holiday were the first four-door pillarless hardtops ever produced. By then, the Buick \n Special was one of America's best selling automotive series. This year also brought all-new \n bodywork, as well as a four-door hardtop station wagon called the Buick Caballero. Earlier \n versions had a \" Sweepspear \" inspired character line alongside the body, while later versions \n had the \"Sweepspear\" moulding attached to the side of all models. In , the car returned after a \n short absence of two years, but this time it was on the brand new unibody compact GM Y \n platform. In , the Special was the first American car to use a V6 engine in volume production; it \n earned Motor Trend ' s Car of the Year for Mechanically, however, the car was identical to the \n model. There was also some minor interior restyling, particularly to the dash and instrument \n cluster. The Special was available as a 2-door pillared hardtop coupe , a four dour sedan , a \n convertible , and a station wagon. The two speed \"Dual Path Turbine Drive\" automatic was a \n Buick design and shared no common parts with the better known Chevrolet Power-Glide \n transmission. The model sold ,, including 42, Skylarks. The body was only produced for one \n year; it sold , copies, including 42, Skylarks. After that, the found its way into the Rover P6 S in , \n but was never sold in North America in any great numbers. The Skylark became a separate \n series for The Special, along with the upscale Skylark , were redesigned for the model year with \n separate body-on-frame constructionâ€”renamed the A-body â€”and marketed as an \n intermediate -sized car. The Skylark was expanded to a full top-line series that now included \n two- and four-door sedans, two-door hardtop coupe and convertible, along with a station \n wagon. The other series models included the base Special and the slightly fancier Special \n Deluxe, in a more limited range of bodystyles. Also new for were engines. The capacity of the V6 \n engine was increased from to cubic inches, while the aluminum V8 was replaced by a new cast \n iron-block cubic inch V8 with aluminum cylinder heads. In , cast iron heads replaced the \n problematic aluminum ones. This reliable engine, produced until , was based on the aluminum \n V8, and many parts such as the cylinder heads were interchangeable. The Special nameplate \n was used on lower-priced intermediate-sized Buicks through the model year. In , the end of the \n Special came about when the Special Deluxe was dropped too in favor of the slightly upscale \n Buick Skylark. Although officially sold as the Buick Century Special, it was sometimes also \n referred to as just the Buick Special. Century Specials were usually powered by Buick's own V6; \n a V8 from either Buick, Oldsmobile, or Chevrolet was offered but rarely optioned. It used the \n \"colonnade\" roofline but was fitted with a landau roof that covered most of the rear quarter \n windows. The opening that was left was the same shape as the windows on the higher series \n formal-roof cars. In and , the Special trim continued on the redesigned Century fastback and \n wagon models. Special returned once again as the entry level trim on the Century sedan \n starting and wagon starting The \"Special\" designation was discontinued with the Century's \n redesign in From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Motor vehicle. See also: Buick Skylark. \n Standard Catalog of Buick, 3rd ed. World in Motion , The whole of the year's automobile \n production. Belvedere Publishing, Buick Motor Division. Retrieved June Popular Science : \n 90â€” Archived from the original on Buick vehicles. Established in , a division of General Motors \n since GL6 GL8. Category Commons. Categories : Buick vehicles s cars s cars s cars s cars \n Rear-wheel-drive vehicles s cars Motor vehicles manufactured in the United States. Hidden \n categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata All","bbox":{"left":0.050964,"top":0.031288,"width":0.897922,"height":0.894159}}],"images_bbox":[],"images_bbox_not_text_overlap":[]}