Buick Roadmaster – 1954 Classic

This Buick Roadmaster was my father’s choice in 1954. Ours was a rich metallic red with a white top. I think the color of ours sets the car off better than white and our two-door hardtop was classier than this sedan.  It was a stop down from the Cadillac my father wanted but still a pretty upscale car with exotic power windows. In 1954 GM brought out the wrap-around windshields which it had been using in its show cars. To me this was the point when cars broke away from the utilitarian designs left over from the depression and war times and began to point to a new future. Chevy and Pontiac followed Buick, Oldsmobile and Cadillac in 1955 along with Ford with their own versions. Chrysler was slow to wrap their windshields and only went partway. They made up for it with tailfins leaving GM and Ford to play catchup. To a 13 year old boy, this car was a class act even if it was still a coupe like our Chevy and only a little roomier for three boys in the back seat. We still had this car when I turned 16 and took my drivers test. I practised long hours learning to parallel park in the pasture. By this time it had nearly 100,000 miles on it and my father was ready to trade and he surprised us all.