1940 Buick convertible sedan bought new by Hamilton doctor
Posted Feb 9, 2012 By Bill SherkEMC Lifestyle - In the late 1950s, I attended high school in downtown Toronto close to the U. of T. campus. During lunch, some friends and I walked around the neighbourhood looking for old cars.
We hit the jackpot one day with a very rare 1940 Buick Special 4-door convertible parked on a side street. It was red with brown leather interior and whitewall tires, and in excellent original condition.
Just then, the owner came by (a young man in his early 20s), opened the door, and slid behind the wheel. We peppered him with questions and learned that his name was Bruce Bellingham, he was studying Music at the university, and his car had been bought new by a doctor in Hamilton.
In 2009, Catherine and I attended the big car show sponsored by Old Autos newspaper in Bothwell, Ontario.
Our friend Bern Fritshaw introduced us to Bob Ashton of Port Elgin, who was restoring a 1940 Buick Special 4-door convertible. Immediately thinking of the red one I had seen in Toronto 50 years earlier, I asked Bob for the colour of his car. Imagine my thrill when he said his car was red when he bought it in 1973. It sounds like the same car!
It was complete but rough. Bob stripped off the red paint down to bare metal and found the original colour, a light-to-medium blue. He visited a big swap meet in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and purchased all new rubber for the car. He replaced all the glass and made new running boards. All the wiring is now new. All the chrome has been redone.
The dash panels were sent to the U.S. for restoration. The heater is under the front seat and the defroster is on the firewall. The car has an original 5-pushbutton radio. The engine was taken apart and only needed new rings. The odometer shows 55,000 miles.
After finishing the body work, Bob repainted the car in beautiful Sequoia Cream (original 1940 Buick colour) with red rims and wide whitewalls.
The interior has been redone in the original brown leather. The top mechanism is complete but no upholstery shops have a pattern for the car because it is so rare.
Bob is looking for a shop that can install a custom fitted top, which will include a small glass rear window just like the original one.
The car was on the road by September 2011 and turned lots of heads at the annual Pumpkinfest in Port Elgin.
We hope this story will put us in touch with the family of the Hamilton doctor who bought a brand new 1940 Buick Special convertible sedan.
If the story of your car is published in this column, you will receive a copy of Bill Sherk's latest book "Old Car Detective Favourite Stories, 1925 to 1965."
To share your stories, email billtsherk@sympatico.ca or write Bill Sherk, 25 John Street, P.O. Box 255, Leamington, ON N8H 3W2.
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