On September 30, 2000 Debbie and I purchased this 1956 Buick Super. We did not have an old car but while attending various car shows we noticed a nice 56 Special at one of them and really liked it. We decided to start the search. Using the internet, the ones we located were pretty far from home, and since we had no way to get one home we passed on a few. We finally located this one in Austin TX, and after talking on the phone to the owner we decided to make the trip from north of Dallas to see the car.
We left home after work on Friday so we could spend the night in Austin and see the car the first thing in the morning. When we drove up the Buick was in the driveway and this is what we saw.
At first sight, it didn't look too bad. A closer look showed she needed work. The headliner was ripped up pretty bad, holes in the front floor and bad carpet from where the weather strip leaked and water accumulated, the interior had been redone with red vinyl and a type of black velvet that was very faded from the Texas sun. The paint on the roof was thin and there was some surface rust on the roof, the chrome was pitted pretty bad on all of the pot metal, the body was solid, straight, and had great potential. The spot of oil on the garage floor was not that big, but I expected that from the original Dynaflow. The original 322 four barrel started right up with a push of the button under the dash. It idled good, did not smoke, and responded with out a miss to the accelerator pedal. I got the feeling she would have "Plenty of zoom at the top". After a short test drive and a little bit of price dickering we made a deal and Debbie and I became her care takers.
The first thing we did was head for a tire store and replace the balding tires with a new set. They did not have wide white walls in stock so we "settled" for what was available. Rather than jumping on the Interstate we took a nice secondary road back to Dallas. Power seat adjusted to fit my large body, all four windows power windows down in the September sun and it was a trip I remember well. My wife was following me in her car and at the first stop after the tire store she informed me she named the car BOB. When I asked "Why BOB" she replied "Because she is a Beautiful Old Buick", the name fit the car perfectly. What can I say, BOB has it all, "Sweeping Beauty -- with wide awake action"
With the exception of wandering all over the road, and the big smile I could not get off of my mug, the ride home was uneventful. After cleaning BOB up the best we could and accumulating all the necessary parts we took her to a reputable shop in Denton to have the suspension and brakes replaced with all new parts. I was surprised, no shocked, at the difference this made. We were finally experiencing that "New Boulevard Ride - even on the byways"
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