Buick Viceroy Saloon (Dinky Toys 39d)
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Buick Viceroy Saloon (Dinky Toys 39d).jpg) (i)
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Arch Two , Area 21 Classic Dinky Toys (John Durrant Collection) |
| Shelf 5
1939 - 1950 |
Maroon Buick Viceroy Saloon with a low radiator on the front and black wheel hubs.
Based on the 1939 Buick Century Sedan. The name "Century" revealed the vehicle's top speed of 100 mph. It used the Special's smaller body in combination with the Roadmaster's 120 horsepower straight 8 engine. By 1939 the horsepower had been beefed up to 141, exceeding any Cadillac of the time.
Buick
Founded in 1899, Buick are the oldest surviving American automobile manufacturer. After several years of ignominy, a successful promotion drive by general manager William Durant capitalising on the vehicle's unprecedented hill-climbing ability saw them briefly become the largest American car manufacturer in 1908.
Their success in that year led to an acquisition drive which culminated in the formation of General Motors, who became Buick's holding company. Buick went on to feature as the company's second most prestigious luxury car brand after Cadillac, in a move intended to eliminate GM's marques cannibalising sales. Although outside America, Buick superseded Cadillac for those purposes, the categorisation still persists now.
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