Home » Technology » Classic Cars » Buick Automobiles

Buick Automobiles

© Dan Cooper

Buick Automobiles

By Dan Cooper

Buick Motor Division of General Motors, and before that, the Buick Motor Company, have proudly offered some of the finer examples of automotive excellence in the industry. From David Buick and his engineers, Walter Marr and Eugene Richard, through Billy Durant and the good times and the bad, Buick cars have survived to be exemplary industry leaders.

Buick is one of the standards of the American automobile industry in several ways, and for very good reasons. Beyond the fluff of advertising rhetoric and wishful thinking, there are tangible measures of quality, as represented by objectively determined awards, and by the results of direct competition. Buick Motor Division of General Motors can rightly claim recognition in both of these areas in recent years, as well as in the earliest years of the company's existence.

Although General Motors is now in a state of decline from its lofty perch as the Automotive industry's all-time sales leader, Buick Motor Division appears to remain strong. In 1989, Buick's LeSabre model was ranked No. 1 in North America and No. 2 in the world among 154 domestic and imported models in quality rankings by the independent market research firm, J.D. Power and Associates. LeSabre repeated this honor by again winning best in class in 2002, and the Buick Century did it in both 2002 and 2004. Both LeSabre and Century repeated as top finishers again in 2005. Meanwhile, in 1992, Buick Park Avenue won the "Best American Car Value" award by Intelli-Choice, Inc., another independent market research firm.

Early in the company's history, the success that Buick experienced was almost entirely due to a revolutionary concept introduced by David Buick and his talented engineers. They created the overhead valve engine, and in so doing, made an engine that would dominate the competition and gain a world-wide recognition for Buick. At the time this innovation was termed the 'valve-in-head' design, and was touted as such in company literature. So equipped, Buick cars were hard to beat in competition. And their reputation for winning spread quickly. With its more efficient and powerful engine, Buick pulled up hills and through mud like few automobiles could.

In 1904 Buick was winning competitive hill climb events. In 1906, Buicks won a pair of 100-mile races in New York. The same year a Model F Buick was the only car to complete a 1,000-mile relay run from Chicago to New York. By 1908 there was a Buick racing team, with star drivers, Louis Chevrolet and Wild Bob Burman. From 1908 to 1910 the team won 500 racing trophies including major victories at the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway in its inaugural 1909 season. Sales were directly affected by this record of success in competition. By 1908, Buick was the American automotive industry leader in sales.