1940 Flxible-Buick Premier Service Car For Sale

Keith Snyder

PCS Member
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=viewitem&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&item=130743828859

Tom McPherson sent me this link to a 1940 Flxible-Buick Premier that is now for sale in Florida. He used the images to identify the car and sent me the following information..."Using the posted image of the ownership (registration) I searched through the listings for 1942 - even though I knew the car in the photos was not a 1942. Naturally there was nothing there - not even close. So....I went to the listings for the 1940 Buick Series 60. Viola.....there I found the vehicle identification number that matched that seen on the registration. The VIN - 63926752 - matches a 1940 Flxible-Buick Premier Model 60-8 service car (Flxible body #4268 and frame #13757955) that was built for James C. Corbett of Rochester, New York and delivered on March 19, 1940. This car had a list price of $2,695 when new. That VIN number was also the motor number. According to what I can glean from the records, Flxible produced and delivered 24 Buick service cars in 1940 however, I haven't broken them down by series so...I can't tell you exactly how many of these were on the Series 60 (Century) chassis and how many were on the Series 40 chassis. At some point in this particular vehicle's history it was mis-registered as a 1942 but, any fool can tell by looking at the car that it's not a 1942 and I haven't the faintest idea where that serial plate came from. It's certainly not from any Flxible professional car of any era. I still think it's off a bus." I thought I'd pass this along for anyone that may be interested. Recently, a 1939 Flxible-Buick service car showed up at the International Meet. Now a 1940 Flxible-Buick service car surfaces. They'd make a nice matched pair.
 
I love these guys who quickly spray a rust bucket like this one prior to listing it in an attempt to disguise all of the rust. This was must have spent some time in a swamp under a tree!
 
If it was built as a service car, is there a reason why the interior shots of the rear show window frames? It just seems odd to have the windows trimmed out internally or was it easier to construct them all the same as they were coming down the line and just not cut out the external steel if it was a landau or service car?
 
If it was built as a service car, is there a reason why the interior shots of the rear show window frames?

Jacob....that mystified me as well. So, I asked someone that would know. Yes, according to Tom McPherson, the basic body shells were all framed as limousine styles - as that was the vast majority of Flxible's production. If the vehicle was to be a landau or a service car, the window openings were simply paneled over - inside and out. No one would ever know what was under these skins and, having the additional all-steel framing to accommodate rear quarter windows added to the strength of the body and quarter assembly. It was simply more economical to build one basic body frame.
 
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