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  • A straight eight for Buick. 1931 Series "60" Roadster
  • A straight eight for Buick. 1931 Series "60" Roadster

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    • By: Juan Manuel Escareño
    • 26 de abril de 2014
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HeadLine.New HeadLine.Description Un ocho cilindros en línea para Buick. 1931 Series "60" Roadster HeadLine.DescriptionEnglish A straight eight for Buick. 1931 Series "60" Roadster HeadLine.SetAutor Juan Manuel Escareño HeadLine.AllowSendMail true HeadLine.ContentType 4 HeadLine.Date 2014-04-26 HeadLine.GetHtml
A straight eight for Buick. 1931 Series 60 Roadster

No doubt about it, there was trouble in Flint, Much! As recently as 1927, Buick’s share of new car registrations had been 8.86 percent. But in two short years that figure had fallen by more than half, to just 4.05 percent! No other car, save only the moribund Jordan, had dropped so precipitously over that two-year time span.

Styling had a lot to do with the problem, of course. If the 1928 model looked ponderous, and it did, the ’29 appeared pregnant. In striking contrast were the clean, crisp lines of some of the competition. Chrysler, for instance, Studebaker and Nash.

Nor was Buick’s performance anything to get excited about. The bread-and-butter 116 series of 1929, for example, employing a modest 4.3:1 compression ratio, was rated at just 74 horsepower. By way of compression the Hudson Super Six, which sold for a few dollars less than the Buick, put out a lusty 91hp!.

Then too, the Buicks, particularly the larger ones, had acquired a richly deserved reputation of being gas-hogs. That didn’t help, either. Not even in those days of cheap fuel!

Styling was cleaned up a bit for 1930, and the Buick’s profile was lowered a couple of inches. New titles were bestowed upon all models as they became the Series 40, 50 and 60. Displacement and horsepower ratings were raised across the board, and wheelbases were stretched. Nothing much was done about the problem of gas mileage; but the size of the fuel tanks was increased, which at last provided the cars with a greater cruising range.

But there was another string to Buick’s bow. Introduced in June, 1929 as a 1930 model was a lower-priced “companion” car called the Marquette. Four inches shorter in wheelbase, 775 pounds lighter in weight and $270 lower in price that the smallest Buick, it was expected to increase the division’s volume by broadening its market segment. Unfortunately, the Marquette – though it was a perfectly good automobile, and really a perfectly good automobile, and really a much prettier car than its senior partner – held little appeal for traditional Buick buyer. In every respect, including its side-valve engine, the newcomer was patterned after the Oldsmobile, rather than any previous Buick product. Nor was the coming of the depression any help. By the end of the 1930 model year only 35,007 Marquettes had found buyers, and the line was quietly dropped.

Meanwhile, though, something far more dramatic was under development: The first eight-cylinder Buick!

The addition of two more cylinders may seem an odd way either to fight the woes of the depression or to counter Buick’s image as a gas-guzzler. But bear in mind two factors: First, virtually everyone in those fays, from President Hoover to the horde of unemployed workers, expected hard times to be a temporary aberration. Prosperity, it was widely believed, was “just around the corner”.

And then there was the competition. Studebaker had offered a straight eight since 1928. Hudson and Nash had introduced theirs for 1930, and Chrysler was about to follow suit. No doubt about it, the eight-in-line represented the major trend in medium-priced cars, in those days.

Charged with the responsibility of developing the new eight-cylinder engine (or rather, three such powerplants) was a 27 year-old engineer named John Dolza. But the parameters were laid down by Dolza mentor, Buick’s chief engineer, Ferdinand “Dutch” Bower. Possibly as an economic measure – it is difficult to conceive on any other rationale – Bower decreed that the straight-eight engines must fit into the same engine compartments as the “sixes” whose place they took. Adding two cylinders without increasing the overall length of the block placed severe restrictions upon the young designer in such critical areas as the bore and – especially – bearing size. That he was able, working under such a handicap, to produce three reasonably satisfactory engines is evidence enough of this genius. Which is not to suggest that the results might not have been even better, had Dolza been permitted to lengthen the chassis, even by so little as a single additional inch!

Logic would seem to suggest that a “family” of engines should have been developed, in the interest of maximum tooling costs. “Dutch” Bower, however, would have none of it; and in the end, although there were obvious resemblances among the three Buick “eights”, the differences were great enough that each had to be tooled separately. In retrospect, Bower’s bullheadedness seems both foolish and costly and seemingly the only rationale was simply, “this is the way we’ve always done it!”

Series designations were changed again for 1931. Taking the place of the big 50 and 60 models of 1930 were the new 80 and 90, both powered by a 344.8 cubic inch straight eight. Horsepower was rated at 104, up from 98 in the previous 331.4 cid “six”. Replacing the former 40 series was the new 60, with 90 ho generated from 272.6 cubes. (This represented an increase of 9 ½ hp over the 257.5 cid six-cylinder engine previously employed.) And to fill in for the short-lived Marquette there was a brand new Buick, designated the Series 50. Priced only $35 higher than the Marquette and utilizing the latter’s 114-inch wheel-base, it bore a distinct resemblance to its deceased “parent.” A very competent 77 hp was generated by the 220.7-cid engine of this least expensive Buick.

Chassis modifications for 1931 were minimal. Nineteen thirty-one’s Series 60, for instance – apart from its new engine – differed from the former 40 series primarily in its use of a single-plate clutch, in lieu of Buick’s traditional multiple-disc type. (Oddly enough, the big 80 and 90 series cars clung to the older type clutch until 1936! Styling, too, was nearly identical to the 1930 line.)

Times were tough in 1931, of course; and like nearly every other manufacturer – Auburn and Plymouth being the major exceptions – Buick experienced another severe drop in sales volume that year. That the division’s market share actually increased slightly, to 4.76 percent, hardly compensated for the fact that Plymouth moved ahead to take over Buick’s hard-won third place!

Source:
Arch Brown, "A straight eight for Buick. 1931 Series '60' Roadster", Cars and Parts Magazine, USA. Museum Library Auto Transport Monterrey.

  • A straight eight for Buick. Roadster 60 serie 1931 |
  • A straight eight for Buick. Roadster 60 serie 1931 |
  • A straight eight for Buick. Roadster 60 serie 1931 |
  • A straight eight for Buick. Roadster 60 serie 1931 |
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