Buick 8 Trivia Question of the Week: 1. If I referred to a specific automobile as a ‘Caballero’ what make of car would it be? 2. 1958 was the year that Buick began offering a German-built compact for sale at Buick dealerships. What was its name? 3. What was the name of the fictitious character whose famous line was, "You can call me Ray; or you can call me Jay, but you doesn’t hafta call me Johnson!" ...and who created the character? 4. Released in 1990, ‘Buick’ is the name of a country music album which contains the song titles, ‘One Less Pony’; ‘Mama’s Little Baby Loves Me’ and ‘The Walk’, among others. What American country band performed these songs on this, their seventh studio album? 5. Whose fancy footwork earned him nine Emmys for his October 17, 1958 television debut when he starred in the NBC special, ‘An Evening with ____ ______? 6. The top grossing film for 1958 was the film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical South Pacific. Can you name the lead male and female stars? What was the gross take on this film? Was it: A. $4,442,000.00; B. $8,785,000.00; C. $17,500,000.00; or D. $34,700,000.00? 7. On January 8, 1958 a fourteen year old won the United States Chess Championship. Was his name: A. Terry Raines; B. Roy Campanella; C. Gamel Abdel Nasser; D. Paul Harvey or, E. Bobby Fischer? 8. On August 14, 1958, a KLM airliner having a tail with triple vertical stabilizers crashed into the sea, killing all 99 people on board. Who manufactured these popular airliners and what was it called?

You can call me an SUV; or you can call me a ‘crossover’, "but you doesn’t hafta call me a STATION WAGON!"

Once upon a time... long, long ago, before ‘soccer moms’ packed their minivans and SVUs with game gear and picnic essentials, there were cars called ‘station wagons’. All tomfoolery aside, the station wagon is still alive and well albeit a small segment of today’s automotive market, and I guarantee you’ll never hear it referred to with that dated term either in sales brochures or by the salesmen... er, I mean salesPEOPLE. (Overheard in a twenty-first century, Monday morning dealership sales meeting.) Sales manager to staff, "Now remember, under no circumstances are you to refer to the new "Infiniotasanexus Conestoga 3.0.5.3.1’ as a ‘station wagon’. Call it a sport wagon, an SUV, crossover... call it ANYTHING you want, but don’t you dare call it a STATION WAGON! Your commissions depend on it!"

Chrysler announced last year that, due to lagging sales, 2008 would be the last model year for the Dodge Magnum. That saddened me for, even though my parents never owned a station wagon, I was always fascinated by the wagons that my friend’s parents owned. Maybe if the modern wagons had some of the cool features that characterised those of the fifties and sixties, they would be popular again today! One such feature which stands out in my memory is the rear facing third seat. I’m sure the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (and a host of other federal agencies) would take issue with such a seating arrangement in 2008 for a host of safety reasons... like the car following you ending up in your lap in a rear end collision for one! Or more likely it’s because, in this day and age, if we sat back there making faces and obscene gestures at the car behind us (like us kids did in the fifties), we’d likely get a 9mm bullet through the rear window!!!)

Buick offered up two pillarless ‘hardtop’ wagons for 1958... the Special Riviera Estate Wagon and the more luxurious and powerful Century Estate Wagon, also known as the ‘Caballero’, which according to my personal interpreter, Pablo Rodrieguez means ‘gentleman’.

As one might expect, the station wagons followed their respective sedan siblings in style, trim, options, chassis and mechanical specs with a few exceptions such as rear axle ratios, etc. When it came to styling... well, what can I say? It was 1958 after all and if you had to pick one year in the history of the automotive manufacturing that was the most outrageous and ostentatious in terms of brightwork, it would have to be 1958... particularly in the case of General Motors automobiles. The ‘58 Buicks had more bling than Snoop Dogg’s dressing room! Dynaflows might not have had overdrive, but Buick designers went into it when styling what ad makers brazenly called "the freshest fashion in Buick annals!" Buick decision makers had their hearts and minds set on a tie-in with the jet age rage and, in particular, Convair’s strikingly handsome, delta-winged B-58 Hustler bomber which had just debuted two years earlier. The marketing team at Buick even tied this specific aircraft into their sales brochure with an image of it streaking across the front of its gigantic, 11 x 14, 36-page full color sales brochure for 1958. The headline was "The Air Born B-58 Buick" and right below that bold headline was an up front, in your face illustration of the big, bold Buick’s front end. The face of Buick for ‘58 featured what stylists called the ‘Fashion-Aire Dynastar Grille’ made up of 160 separate chrome squares, a feature that Buick head honcho Ed Ragsdale described as "the most dazzling grill design in the history of Buick". Above and below this flashy feature the chrome continued on headlight surrounds, bumper bars, hood badges and fender ornaments. The excessive brightwork continued down the sides and across the back of the car as well with the prominent styling cue being the heavy, bullet-shaped side applique which ran from just behind the front doors to the trailing edge of the rear fenders.

Century was to Buick what Super 88 was to Oldsmobile. If you’re not an Olds aficionado, allow me to explain. During the same period in automotive history, Oldsmobile was producing three series of automobiles, the entry level ‘Eighty-Eight’, the mid level ‘Super Eight-Eight’ and top of the line ‘Ninety-Eight’. The latter had an elongated wheelbase and body to match. This added mass, plus a few extra pounds of chrome and other add -ons, required a bit more power to get off the line and so engineers dropped a more powerful engine into their ‘high line’ automobiles. The Buick Century, like Oldsmobile’s Super 88, had the smaller body and chassis of the entry level models (Buick Special and Oldsmobile Super 88), but with the higher-output engines of the top-of-the-line models... Roadmaster in the case of Buick, Ninety-Eight for Olds. This mating of smaller, lighter body to more powerful engine resulted in Century being what Buick called ‘the liveliest-performing of all Buicks!’

Despite Chrysler’s decision to tank the Magum, I wouldn’t be surprised if station wagons make a small resurgence what with the tarnished reputation SUV’s have garnered due to their irresponsible consumption of fossil fuel in recent years. Add to that the fact that many buyers like the more car-like feel that the traditional station wagon platform offers. When minivans first hit the market, their tall profile, and the resultant high seating position, was a new experience for many drivers and one that was appealing because of its commanding view of the road (and traffic) ahead.

While Buick wagons for ‘58 didn’t have that risky, rear-facing third seat, they were classic examples of a body style that had been popular since the early 1900s and were so named because they were originally designed in answer to railroads need to transfer passengers and their baggage to the train stations... hence the term ‘station wagon’.

Whether it was soccer in Sauget, Khoury League in Calverton Park or a picnic in Pie re Marquette, the Buick Century Caballero for 1958 was ready to and willing to haul any necessary gear and do it in gentlemanly style.

For the answers to this week’s trivia questions and other images of the 1958 Buick... visit the FIN MAN’s web site at http://thefinman.com. To e-mail him, click on this link: mailto:the_fin_man@msn.com.

‘The FIN MAN’TM is available for your group’s special occasion. In addition to his seminar schedule, he has been a guest speaker at group meetings including car clubs, engineering clubs and other professional associations. He has also acted as host or emcee at a number of special events including trivia parties, holiday parties, social and professional club events, benefits and fund raisers. There are still a few open dates for December, 2008 and we are now accepting bookings for calendar year 2009. During his appearances, he presents an overview of the collector car hobby plus a detailed look at American cars from the fifties and sixties. His program includes a fascinating Power Point presentation with images of collectible automobiles and various associated nostalgia and Americana. Guests also have the opportunity to play "FINS for FUN," the video game he produced in 1987 which inspired his nickname, in which players compete to identify the year, make and model of cars from tightly cropped photos of fins and taillights. Those who score the highest win auto-related prizes donated by supporting Fin Man sponsors. Be sure to sign up for the program which is being presented at the secluded YMCA Trout Lodge in April and May of 2009. For more information, click on this link: http://groups.msn.com/the-fin-man/seminaragenda.msnw.

Bruce Kunz is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians, the St. Louis Chapter of the Buick Club of America and the Monte Carlo Owners Association of America. He welcomes your comments and suggestions. To e-mail him, click here > mailto:the_fin_man@msn.com.

Bruce Kunz- a.k.a. "The FIN MAN"