The All American Road Trip: Denver to Detroit in a 1958 Buick Part 1

[@cheyennedogsoldiers]

Damn, you suddenly realise just how mind numbingly boring modern car design is when you see them parked along side something like this. Great car, cool episode, looking forward to the next.

[@rizzlerazzleuno4733]

My grandparents had a new 1958 Roadmaster. They drove it from Harlan KY to La Mesa CA in 1961. It was two tone paint, "reef coral" and white. The chrome was blinding. I got to drive it once back in KY on the mountain roads. My grandmother was only 5 feet tall, so it was amazing to see her drive this huge vehicle.

[@jamesdavis5729]

Beautiful car. Nice of the widow to donate it to a museum. In '59 Buick was completely restyled and models given new names like LeSabre and Electra 225.

[@kirbyswarp]

Nice to see a 4 door get restored.

[@thejeepdoctor]

My grandpa had one of these. His was a special. Black with a white top. He drove from Lincoln Nebraska to Chicago to pick it up. It originally was owned by a mafia don. He said it had a bullet hole in it. When he was driving it through Chicago, he said that he was peeking above the steering wheel, worried that he would be mistaken for the previous owner. 😬 I remember going for rides in it. No seat belts. Was a beautiful ride. He allowed it to sit too long and the motor seized. Probably rust. I wanted it sooooo bad. He sold it to someone for $50. This was back in 1973.

[@johndoe-cr3eu]

My aunt had a red 58 Roadmaster convertible. Brought it to family reunions. Killer car.

[@TerryPattersonRetired]

Squint your eyes... That's me on my first long road trip --DRIVING my "home" I grew up on Route 66, Traveling at least once a year since I was 3. When I was 14, Mom sat in the back seat and Dad in the passenger and they put me at the wheel on the Turner Turnpike. Phoenix to Lincoln, Illinois, then back. over and over and over. My God how I love this car. I saw a photo of one with weed around it, hardly recognizable, and can hardly keep from balling... to think there is a possibility that our beautiful piece of art and precision could be somewhere...

[@Forge17]

People wonder why old people love buicks so much, but look at its long history of gorgeous, quality cars. Even through the 90s and 00s Buick’s have always been solidly built and premium for a reasonable price.

[@OneFastMac]

Barb is my aunt! Thanks for following her story!

[@abbieesdad]

My Grandpa had a '58 Buick Special in a beautiful mauve color. The look of that Roadmaster brings back wonderful memories of running over to the beer store (Otis & Lee, Northbrook, IL - still there 50+ years-on!) sitting in the front seat, of course, and grandpa grabbing a quart of Blatz beer to enjoy while listening to a Cubs game in his backyard. [I enjoyed a can of Canfield's Cherry-Ola Cola, not the Blatz. ;-) ]

[@matrox]

We had a 55 Oldmobile 88 when I was a kid. I can't remember how it rode but I do remember how amazingly smooth our 62' and 65' Olds 98 rode. They were made for Highway cruising.

[@daniellack3559]

My neighbor had a 55 Olds Holiday 88...believe me, it was one of the smoothest quietest rides ever, with the big time power of the fabled Olds Rocket88 V-8 engine...it glided along the highways and thruways, easily at 70mph...you could barely feel the speed...

[@TheCyclingArtist]

This is my dream car one slipped through my fingers 30 or so years ago.

[@johnnybarrett7006]

That is a beautiful 1958 Buick Roadmaster great video I'm in the market for a classic 1950s automobile I'd love to own that 58' Buick again great video guys. I can't wait for part two.

[@dougoverhoff7568]

My father, having been a Buick dealer, drove many, many of these older cars, and he always said that the 1958 Buick Roadmaster was the best riding car that he had ever driven. I can also attest, that those were special cars, and had an unbeatable ride.

[@txphotography6637]

I learned how to drive in a 1958 Buick Special, very similar to this car. This was in 1966. At 18, (1968) I drove the same car from Rhode Island to Florida. Little did I know I was driving a classic!

[@cynthiamoon372]

My parents owned Buick’s from ‘49 to mid 60s. Nice heavy cars.

[@ArthurSperotto]

Amazing video!! I'm anxiously waiting for the next! Thank you, Arthur.

[@STEVE33437]

A great video. I'm looking forward to the rest of the trip! You really should promote this channel more on TFL Car!

[@armandomarin-arias4021]

Buicks did not have leaf springs but coil springs front and rear.

[@ryan9570]

the '58 Buicks and Oldsmobiles were the "kings of chrome". when the '59s came out, I thought we'd been invaded by aliens from outer space...

[@luxurreview]

I'd love to go on a 50s road trip in an old car wearing 50s clothes listening to 50s music ❤😊

[@ImTheDaveman]

Sad thing being that husband and wife never did get to take the Route 66 trip together in this treasure of his. Two of his favorite girls. :-)

[@eddie054]

Beautiful Buick

[@1guyin10]

Its good to see that one live on. So many of the family cars from that era were left to rot in favor of the more hot-rodable two doors. I used to see old Buicks and Oldsmobiles sitting in the weeds all over the place and now they have all either rusted into oblivion or been crushed.

[@MerleOberon]

I love the Fashion-Aire Dyna-Star grille.

[@jeffyjohn5673]

I love 1958 models. I have a 58 ford fairlane.

[@falcon664]

I think there was some confusion- 1958 was the last year for the Roadmaster model name, brought back years later. In 1958 there was a one-year only revival of the "Limited" model, a throwback to the 1930s. The Limited was a step above the Roadmaster, even longer and with more trim.

[@34Packardphaeton]

What a great choice for a road trip car: a light green (!), four-door hardtop with VENT windows in both front and REAR doors!

[@geoffdearth7360]

One sweet ride.

[@clausewitzmoltke]

Only made it for one year? Yeah Of course the 1958 Buick Roadmaster was only made for one year!!!

[@NathanDAdlen]

That style, that model with no port holes was made for one and only one year.

[@MrKeyboardCommando]

Fucking good point, Clause, pity they all missed the joke. ;-)))

[@clausewitzmoltke]

MrKeyboardCommando Thank you :)

[@1940limited]

Well, I'm sure the poor old widow didn't know all the details of Buick history, models available, etc. The Roadmaster 75 was a Spring introduction in 1957 and is a very rare car. In 1958 they were all badged as Roadmaster 75s. Power windows, seat and steering was standard equipment on the Roadmaster for '58. It had coil springs in the rear, not leaves unless you opted for the disastrous Air Ride.

[@clausewitzmoltke]

g bridgman Buick made Roadmasters in more than one year, but Buick only made 1958 Buick Roadmasters in one year, 1958.

[@TheItsmegp46]

All of GM's divisions were completely restyled for 1958. But prior to that, the bigwigs spotted Chrysler's all new designs for 1957. GM couldn't do anything about the 58's since the cars were close to production. GM was so traumatized by Chrysler's new designs, they scrapped the planned face lift of the 58's and created all new styling for 1959. So the 58's were a one year only body style.

[@MostlyBuicks]

It is the 1965 Skylark that caught my eye. My dad had a 1957 Roadmaster Model 75 Riviera Sedan. (4 door hardtop). His had power windows and factory A/C. I like the looks of the 57 more than the gaudy 58.

[@crankychris2]

The 1958-59 GM cars were the pinnacle of chrome and fins. Unfortunately, the "Dyna-Flow" 2 speed auto with a 'switch pitch' converter was so poorly built that hauling a trailer caused many to fail within the 12 month warranty.

[@MrTheMiguelox]

It din't have leaf springs. Buicks had coil springs all around since the 30's. I just hate when people speak without knowing the facts.

[@varigdc10]

+MrTheMiguelox I may be wrong but I think GM never built a car with leaf springs, I think all or most Chrysler cars were leaf spring. I always hated leaf spring, my buddy had a 74 Plymouth Fury with leafs, you can see them in the car from across the street, very ugly.

[@MrTheMiguelox]

varigdc10 Almost all cars had leaf springs (front and back) prior to 1934, when some brands, including GM introduced independent front suspension with coil springs in all models. In 1938 Buick introduced rear coil springs, becoming the first mass produced american car to have so. Cadillac, Pontiac and Chevrolet replaced the rear leaf springs by coil type in 1958. Oldsmobile was the last one, becoming full coil only in 1961. After 1961 all gm standard (full sized) cars had full coil springs, but many of the smaller cars had rear leafs, like the 1962 X-bodys, and the first generation camaros.

[@varigdc10]

+MrTheMiguelox Thank you and WOW, you really know a lot about cars. Maybe you can help me, I had a 71 Pontiac Bonneville with the 455 CID and a single 4bbl carb, don't remember if it was HO or not, I am trying to remember the HP rating on that car, someone told me it was 385, somebody else told me 325, if you know, I would appreciate your comment, thanks..........

[@MrTheMiguelox]

+varigdc10 thanks, the 1971 455-4v was rated at 325hp gross, 260hp net, the HO was a very rare engine, especially for the Catalina it was rated at 335hp gross, 310hp net. The net values are much more reliable as engines used to be overrated with the gross numbers due to major differences in the testing procedure. Still they were quite powerful and had huge torque numbers (they were undersquared engines) which is uncommon for the time, and that design favors torque over horsepower.

[@varigdc10]

MrTheMiguelox You are amazing, thanks again, that car was a beast, used premium gas always, I think it had positraction, when I went only about half on the gas pedal fro standstill, I would peel off like crazy, just loved that Poncho!

[@matrox]

It looks better than the new car at .50sec in. Its stylish. The new one is a pod.

[@TooLooze]

The '58 Oldsmobile was just as gaudy and even had a removable radio. All tubes, and batteries lasted about half an hour back then.

[@raiderrichard7291]

Beautiful front end

[@jeffsmith2022]

The 58' Buick seems to be a motor vehicle of'' substance' for sure...

[@MostlyBuicks]

I have driven from Denver to Minneapolis at LEAST two dozen times. It only takes about 18 hours max to do so. No overnight stops needed. I suppose going the back roads would require one overnight stay.

[@johnfranklin5277]

It doesn't have leaf springs. It has rear coil springs with rear trailing arm's. The 57s and 57 Cadillac's did have leaf springs. Factory AC was terribly expensive. Was an option even on the cadillac. My 58 cadillac that my parents bought in 1960 does have Factory AC. Lifelong Southern California car, I still drive it regularly.

[@paulcheek5711]

roomy comfortable ride, the way to travel

[@trailerparklife2484]

Back in the day it used to cost me $7 bucks to fill the tank.

[@quagmiredavis4117]

I see Dimentia runs in this family .. I would keep and enjoy .. I commented before

[@darrenbrown9096]

great car

[@SodaWolf]

Highway 30, in Illinois? I only know the one that's not i90/94 from Madison to Milwaukee since the interstates took over reads before me since I'm only 15.

[@tmklunk]

called route 30 here in PA.

[@davidbush5323]

I'd love to go for a long ride in this one

[@MichaelAChang]

Did Barbara not want to go on the road trip? It would have been a nice gesture had Buick offered since it was supposed to be Ed and Barbara's dream trip.

[@NathanDAdlen]

She came with. Barbara drove separately with one of her friends for the whole trip.

[@MichaelAChang]

nathan adlen Wonderful! Kind folks like her warm my heart. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip.

[@marajadeskywalker5992]

You see, just cause your car is this old, doesn't mean that it can't go on a road trip. I've driven to Chattanooga and back to Maine in my 57 Chevy Bel air several times.

[@bry4950]

I would love to drive a dynaflow Buick again.

[@TheItsmegp46]

Dynaflow was the Buick equivalent of Chevy's Powerglide. A two speed automatic that really blunted performance.

[@bry4950]

Powerglide and Dynaflow were not the same transmission. Powerglide had a shift. Dynaflow did not shift and was ultra smooth. There is something to be said for smooth operation as opposed to ultra fast acceleration.

[@TheItsmegp46]

They were similar in concept. The first powerglides also started in direct drive, then later models started in low gear. I don't have experience with Dynaflow, but I do with powerglide as well as Chrysler's powerflite and torqueflite. Smooth? Perhaps, but with the 2 speeds, any above 50mph even with a V-8, performance was tepid to say the least. If the car has an inline 6, it was non existent.

[@grogalien6682]

itsmegp46 my 56 Buick has a dynaflow transmission with the 322 nailhead, if you put it in drive it doesn't shift 0-100 its super smooth no shifting at all and alot of tourqe with easy exceleration, or you can manually shift lever down to low and take off in low gear up to around 35 mph which is actually a different gear which can increase off the-line performance. I think the dynaflow got a bad rap, mine is the original one and they are really reliable I'm sure they tie up some horsepower but great cruiser experience. I wouldn't switch mine out.

[@1940limited]

It's missing the trim piece under the rear license plate. A common occurrence with 58 Buicks! I guess whoever restored it didn’t know it was supposed to be there or couldn't find one.

[@1940limited]

Look at some 58 Buicks on Google images if you wan to and you will see the trim piece under the license plate. there were three holes in the bottom of the bumper to hold it in place. Every 58 I ever owned had it. It had to be removed to change the license plate. Usually it got discarded. Here's a link to a picture that shows the trim piece in place. www.google.com/search?q=1958+buick&biw=1680&bih=921&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIiPDUweycyQIVCVgmCh2oYQGS#imgrc=VLyEbXTcZcbAyM%3A

[@RaymondHaley-bi8lx]

That's why they called it the roadmaster.the poor man's Cadillac.

[@michaelcook768]

For some reason, the 58 Buick was called ugly. I think it's a beautiful car. Much better than the 59...YUCK! I would have loved to have driven it on the trip myself.

[@j.r.z.4453]

I HAD A 1958 BUCK SPECIAL, SAME CAR BASIC, AND THE ONE MAJOR NEGATIVE IS THE FRONT END OF CAR IS KNOWN TO COLLAPSE WHEN DRIVING THE CAR. NO STEERING, WHEEL, BUSHINGS, TYROD BREAKING WHEN DRIVING. HAPPENED TO ME AND BUICK CLUB MEMBER SAID AS THE CAR AGED THE STEEL WAS DEFECTIVE AND BECAME BRITTLE.

[@LaurenceHuber-d6p]

1958 Buicks did NOT have leaf springs. Buicks had coils all around since 1938.

[@fomfom9779]

Buick Apollo had leaf springs.

[@jeffyjohn5673]

These small Motels is where you run into Norman Bates.

[@MungoidHen]

Thank you Thank you, Thank you. What a chromey BEAST ! Really did enjoy that upload. What does the 'G' on the gears denote, by the way ? Is it GLIDE ? (only joking.) No, what IS IT for ? I can't think, even tho I bet it's obvious.

[@frankgiaquinto1571]

I believe that the "G" stood for grade,which was needed on long,steep downgrades,in order to provide some much needed engine braking,so as not to overheat the brakes - a very necessary feature on a Dynaflow transmission...

[@thenomadrhodes]

I wonder what kind of MPG that 58 gets?

[@NathanDAdlen]

Our estimate was 9-ish MPG on the highway.

[@trailerparklife2484]

Back in the day it used to cost me $7 bucks to fill the tank.

[@jeffreywilliams9971]

nathan adlen of

[@jeffreywilliams9971]

Trailer Park Life ikmni

[@slicksnewonenow]

That car SHOULD get about 8 around town and AT LEAST 18 on the highway.... No foolin.

[@zoogleanimation3306]

No, beanie wonder boy is of course plain wrong. All Buicks of this vintage had coil springs on all four corners and absolutely zero jars and road clumping. Buick invented the term Boulevard Ride. Nothing today compares to this era of ride comfort in Buicks and Cadillacs. These were not your mass consumption belly button chevy, ford or chrysler products which indeed for the chevy and fords had as the beanie boy said, the rear leaf spring suspension. The chryslers had the stiff n ridged torsion bar suspension good for motor crossing but a little harsh for the boulevard and new freeways. People with means at the time wanted the pillow floating ride, beefy weight and long wheelbase for comfort and safety. This 1958 Buick delivered that in spades !

[@sim61642]

0:23 Not to mention 1958 era safety standards :P

[@slicksnewonenow]

But notice how there wasn't a fatal wreck EVERY 2 minutes, back when we KNEW HOW to drive?

[@kirbyswarp]

I disagree.The 90's Roadmaster was dope!

[@MrKeyboardCommando]

Er, does that mean it was good or does it mean it was bad ????????

[@kirbyswarp]

MrKeyboardCommando good

[@MrKeyboardCommando]

kirbyswarp Thank you.

[@kirbyswarp]

MrKeyboardCommando haha

[@ayp1938]

True especially the lt1 powered wagon

[@tommywatterson5276]

Be careful. The sun hits that thing just right and it'll blind everyone around it within a half mile. This is when GM, Ford, and Chrysler ruled the US roads. One of the pinnacles of American luxury, when cars were cars.

[@djoldsoulkid3407]

Omg we got the same name

[@tommywatterson5276]

Hate to clean the bugs out of that grille

[@أبوفراس-ن8و]

سيارات رائعه

[@thewiseowl3672]

There has never been a car worthy of the Roadmaster name since this car. Those ‘90’s, so called, Roadmasters were a complete disgrace to the name and GM.

[@kfs025]

i had one

[@stedydoch9911]

What's the intro song?

[@desertbob6835]

These things were total pigs. Worst gas mileage of ANY car in the Mobil Economy Run in '58, and it got less than half that of the Hydra-Matic-equipped Cadillac....8 MPG overall, and they were pretty slow. Blame mostly the horrid Dynaflow transmission. The optional Triple Turbine Dynaflow, very similar to Chevy's failed Turboglide, was even worse. '58 was the last year of Harley Earl's career, and he just blew it with Olds and Buick, while Cadillac, Pontiac and Chevrolet divisions had pretty good looking cars. The Roadmaster shown here shared the same Fisher "C" body shell with Cadillac. In comparison, the '59 Buicks were a pretty clean design, while Cadillac had the most obnoxious styling of any car of any era.

[@quagmiredavis4117]

Museum... disgusting. Keep driving. Don't let it rot in Museum ..i promised my uncle his 56 and 58 roadnmaster cars would Be driven after his death That was 7 years ago still driving them top down

[@Thirdgen83]

Too bad it's a 4-door.

[@necs.photos5798]

First!!

[@cheffington999]

if only somebody cared

[@mattadrev471]

man....this is a SLOW series....

[@stephenjones62]

What a terribly produced video. You did that great old car no justice. Wonderful old car. Crap video.

[@MrKeyboardCommando]

" Very, very unique " ???? For fuck's sake, Nathan, unique is an absolute, it doesn't have degrees. The phrase you're searching for is ' very rare '. I know you're probably suffering from sleep deprivation, but come on, dude, let's maintain standards.

[@dontellgucci1117]

MrKeyboardCommando Rare and unique are two different things. Agree rare and very rare ex: 67’ Belair vs. 69’ Cutlass without power steering and brakes.

[@TheUnknown-mg8fv]

So sad a modern car looks ugly they all look the same