1937 Buick Super Eight Coupe

Buick may be a US marque, but as General Motors’ influence spread around the globe, so examples found themselves sold in many different countries - for example, Britain’s King Edward VIII was a fan of the make and owned a specially-commissioned one during his brief reign, quite possibly influenced by the love he also had for the American Mrs Simpson. Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro also had a Buick Eight. The example we have here spent most of its life in South Africa; it wasn’t just shipped there in 1937, but actually built in General Motors’ own Port Elizabeth factory in the country.

While a lot of its history in South Africa is, currently, unknown - more on that later - what we do know comes from current owner Brian. He bought it last year from a very good friend in Cape Town, who used it very sparingly but kept it fully serviced and maintained. It arrived on these shores in October 2020, and was immediately put through an MoT, which it passed with flying colours and no advisories. However, to be on the safe side, Brian also put four new tyres on - there’s been nothing else that has needed to be done, aside from registering it in Britain. Its identity in South Africa was CA282-633, it’s now NXS 938.

After some very sparing use, Brian has come to the reluctant decision that he’s unlikely to drive the Buick as much as he’d want to; it’s spent much of its half a year over here sitting in his garage. Thus he’d like it to go to a good home where it can be more thoroughly enjoyed.

The Buick is finished in a very deep maroon that, in some lights, looks more purple. It’s definitely an eye-catching shade. While it’s unclear if the paint is original - with hot, less rainy countries like South Africa, it can be difficult to tell, because bodies don’t get attacked by weather and salt they same way they do in damper Britain - if the car has been redone, it was probably many years ago, as it has quite a mellow patina to it. The whitewall tyres that Brian wisely chose set it off very nicely.

The current odometer reading is just over 69,800 which, given what we know about the Buick’s limited use in South Africa and its overall appearance, seems genuine.

Super by name, super by nature; this Buick is a handsome beast, and for those more used to the somewhat staid British designs of the same era, it’s almost difficult to believe it’s a 1930s design rather than a 1950s one. The lines are sleek and streamlined and, out of all the Buick Eight bodies - saloon, coupé, convertible and estate, with various numbers of doors - we reckon the two-door coupés were among the best-looking of the bunch.

The friendlier climate of South Africa has been kind to this car. Whether the paint is original, or has been ‘refreshed’ at some point along the way, it’s survived well. We suspect it may be a more modern hue than the car started off with, due to its metallic sheen. Yes, there are flaws and marks, and the odd place where worn away paint has allowed some small superficial blossoms of rust. But there are no major areas of damage or wear. The paint overall has a bit of an ‘orange peel’ effect, more pronounced in some places than others, and you’ll find some cracking and bubbling in places, such as on the bootlid. But the overall impression is of a solid and honest machine. Does it need a repaint? Well, maybe if you’re a perfectionist, but if you like your cars to show some of their age - and, remember, this Buick is 84 years old - then we reckon you should let that character live on. Frankly, it suits this car immensely.

The chrome and other brightwork is holding up well, although the front nearside bumper blade has a crop of rust dimples. You can check them out in our picture gallery, but we reckon that, as the offside blade doesn’t display the same kind of outbreak, this Buick was probably parked behind another vehicle in a garage. And whenever that lead car was started up, its off-centre exhaust did just a little more damage to the damage to the shiny metal. Of course, if you buy this, you could always park it behind a vehicle with its exhaust pipe on the right-hand side and balance things out. Actually, no. Don’t do that.

There’s some pitting to the grille, which suggests it is either Mazak or aluminium, and an area of its top left surround where the finish has gone quite dull. Above the grille, the bonnet doors are decorated with the individual letters ‘BUICK’ and ‘EIGHT’. Some of them are a little skew-whiff, but they’re all there. So, there will be no cheerleading necessary with any American classic car parts specialists - ‘Give me a ‘B’, give me a ‘U’…’ etc. The small ‘Body by Fisher’ plaques affixed when new are still in place. One thing a little strange is that the side engine air vents have different branding on each side; the left side one marking this car out as a Super, the right one claiming it’s a Special. At some point, we’d imagine that one of the vent grilles was replaced and the correct one couldn’t be sourced.

As noted earlier, the crossply Firestone tyres are new, and they’re genuine whitewalls, as opposed to inserts. Suffice to say, having covered just less than a hundred miles, they’re all in excellent order, although some cleaning of the white areas, which easily show any mark, wouldn’t go amiss. The chrome hubcaps are generally good, but there’s some dimpling beneath the finish in places.

The cabin is a pleasant place to spend time, and while it may not be as lavishly equipped as more upmarket Buicks were, for the era, it gives quite a bit of driver information and is cosseting enough - up to a point. But being a coupé model, this version was probably a little more focused on being sportier than its family- and executive-orientated counterparts.

The seats are substantial black leather benches front and rear. The leather on them is so good that it has to have been replaced at some point; hide doesn’t last over 80 years and still look like this, especially in a place with South Africa with lots of hot, direct sunlight. The leather isn’t perfect, but it has a pleasing patina of light cracking, plus a few random age marks. The rear bench seat has less signs of use, having presumably seen fewer posteriors over the decades.

The grey carpets are well-preserved, as are the door cards. The dashboard, painted metal, and no padding, has a few scratches, chips and blemishes, plus the occasional very shallow, small dent. The instrumentation runs to a speedometer behind the steering wheel, flanked by a combined fuel (well, gasoline) and oil pressure gauge, and a battery charge and temperature dial. Finished in brown and cream, they’re very evocative of their era. There’s also a very elegant Buick-branded electric clock set into the glovebox lid, which emulates the look of the speedometer, presumably so any passengers can feel more involved in proceedings. It doesn’t appear to be operative though, unlike the other gauges. Some of the Bakelite switches, once pale grey in colour, now have a more mottled veneer. Overhead, the headlining is in nice order.

One departure from GM factory spec is the red battery cut-off switch mounted in the driver’s footwell, poking through the plastic mat. While it’s a wise fitment, its position underneath the driver’s legs does open up the potential for it being accidentally knocked sometimes.

Turning to the boot, it’s quite spacious for a coupé, and carpeted throughout. Part of the car’s South African past can be found under the false wooden floor (which is in good nick, incidentally) in the form of what looks like a original spare wheel complete with ‘In Suid-Afrika Vervaardig’ (Made in South Africa) lettering.

Open up the centre-hinged bonnet doors, and you’ll find a well-detailed engine bay, with a glossy black rocker cover and air cleaner casing. It’s all very clean, with only the carburettor showing some staining. It’s a pretty substantial engine, thanks to those eight cylinders all in a row. But because it’s free of all the piping, wiring and many of the ancillaries that usually surround newer engines, access for maintenance is excellent. However, an alternator has been fitted in place of the usual dynamo, to provide a more reliable and stronger source of electricity. Bill has the original dynamo, however, and it will be supplied with the sale, should the new owner wish to take the Buick back to standard.

Having been MoT’d back in November, there’s the assurance that the car’s underneath has been professionally scrutinised and found to be safe and solid. But have a look for yourself, via our photo gallery. While it’s a little dusty in places, it’s all very sound, with few traces of any rust beyond the usual cosmetic patches. Much of the metal is painted, rather than being undersealed. The massive coil springs in each corner are just one of the signs of how wonderfully over-engineered this period of Buicks were.

Bill reports that the car is in ‘perfect running order, and drives beautifully’. As the car is with us in Abingdon, we’ve tried it out and are happy to concur; it starts first time and runs like a sewing machine. For those who might be concerned about the three-speed column gearbox - which can become a bit recalcitrant in old age - Bill’s assessment is that this one is still smooth and easy to operate through its three forward ratios plus reverse.

There is some history from the car’s South African life, but it has yet to be sent over - and with the current Coronavirus situation and its ex-owner there away, it’s not likely to be forwarded until around July. So we - and even Bill - don’t know quite what there is. However, when it does make its way to the UK, it will be passed onto the Buick’s new owner. So, for the present, the only paperwork is limited to the most recent British stuff, such as the MoT certificate and UK registration document. 

The V5 specifies a build date of January 1937 but this will be based on the South African registration document which is kept by the DVLA. The other South African history may help explain why some of car's features come from a 1940 or 1941 model according to some experts. This may be a feature of the South African production. 

What a debonair and dashing Buick this is - and pretty rare in this country too. While there are other Eights from the same era over here, they are few and far between, and we couldn’t find any others for sale at this present time. ‘It’s stylish and ever so comfortable, you just float along,’ says Bill. ‘It drives just as sweet as can be. It has a lot of appeal; everybody wants to look at it and know more about it, wherever I go.’

While the vehicle does display some of the signs of its advanced years in its paintwork and brightwork, it is, overall, very presentable. There’s a lot of originality, which is always appealing and desirable, and few modifications that take it out of period. However, it’s the way it drives that really stands out; its 124bhp straight-eight engine gives good performance for a machine of the 1930s. You won’t be slouching around holding up traffic as so many pre-war cars are wont to do. But anybody behind you will have something wonderful to look at if you do decide to take it easy and just cruise for a while - and this Buick is the ideal cool cruiser.

We’ve put an estimate of between £24,000 to £32,000 on this fine pre-war American (well, South African, but you know what we mean) machine. And it has the bonus of its wheel on the right side of the car, rather than the wrong (left) side, as would have been the case if it had been imported from the USA. If you buy this Super, you’ll have something rather, well, truly super indeed.

Inspection is always encouraged (within government guidelines of course), and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.