Buick Series 90 Origin
The Buick Series 90 was a luxury car produced from 1931 to 1935 and assembled in Flint Wagon Works, Flint Michigan, United States. It was, at the time, the top model of the company’s model cars and was meant to compete with the Packard Standard Eight. The predecessor of the Buick Series 90 was the Buick Master Six which was introduced in 1925 and whose production continued until 1928.
The Buick Series 90 was a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive which came in various body styles which include; a 2-door coupe, a 2-door sedan, a 2-door phaeton, a 4-door sedan, and a 4-door limousine. The car used the General Motors C-body platform – a feature that is shared with the Cadillac Series 355. For the 1931 to 1935 model year, the model cars featured a 132-inch (3,353 mm), 134-inch (3,404 mm), and a 138-inch (3,505 mm) wheelbase.
Stay with me, and I will give you the whole package of this classic
Buick Series 90 Overview
The interior of the Buick Series 90 featured mohair velvet interiors and the rear side windows and back window were characterized by silk roller shades while the floors had wool carpeting. However, Phaetons, convertibles, and Roadsters came with a standard leather interior.
Fisher Body was the sole supplier of the coachwork for Buick’s model cars but what made these cars unique was the fact that clients could arrange for the chassis to be specially designed.
In 1932, Buick remodeled the Series 90 to have a larger size and the new model came with a high-performance engine that was capable of producing 113 horsepower. The following year, this luxury car was redesigned to have a ‘streamlined’ exterior which all the GM cars of the year shared stemming from the Art and Color Studio which was then under the supervision of Harley Earl.
The company reduced the length of its running board in 1934 and the power of the engine was amplified to about 116 hp. The year 1935 saw another redesign of the exterior. It was in 1931 that rivalry for high-end sales of luxury cars started between Cadillac and Buick. This model was succeeded by the Buick 90 Limited which was produced in 1936.
Buick Series 90 Engine
The Buick Series 90 ran on a 344.8 cubic inch (5.7 L) Buick Straight-8 engine OHV I8 engine which was able to generate 104 bhp at 2,800 revolutions per minute. The transmission that these model cars used was a synchromesh manual transmission. The Packard Standard Eight also used a straight-8 engine like the Series 90, however, they charged an extra fee for appearance and refinement.
Buick Series 90 Production
In 1931, out of the Series 90 body styles, 4,159 units of sedans were built. The company also built 514 units of the limousine and 392 units of the Phaeton. The Series 90 also has a 5-seater sedan of which 7,853 units were built. The company produced 7,705 coupes. All in all, about 25,503 models of the Buick Series 90 were produced just for the year 1931 and it accounted for 18 percent of the cars that Buick built that year.
Buick Series 90 Price
I did make you all a promise that I would get you the major specs of the Buick Series 90 and that includes the price.
The 1931 7-seater sedan of the Buick Series 90 was priced at $1,935, the 7-seater limousine was $2,035, and the 7-seater Phaeton was $1,620. In today’s market, the price of the 7-seater sedan is around $35,791, the limousine costs $37,640.54, and the Phaeton costs $29,964.46. The 5-passenger coupe which was sold at $1,765 in 1931 is about $32,646.46 in today’s market.
That’s all for today guys. I’m sure you loved this article, so hit that share button, and stay tuned for more classic car articles.
