Posted on 04/04/2010 5:27:23 PM PDT by JoeProBono
KANKAKEE, Ill.- A 1958 Buick has been unearthed almost 40 years after three young men walled it up under an Illinois house as a practical joke , observers said.
The Buick Special was abandoned in Kankakee, Ill., in 1971 when it broke down and its owner couldn't afford the repair costs, The Chicago Tribune reported Sunday.
A local dealer had no use for it and gave it to the three jokesters, who bricked it behind a wall in the basement of a house one of them owned, the newspaper said.
Daniel Newman, 65, one of the perpetrators of the gag, still lives in Kankakee.
"It was just something to do. ... We just pushed it down there ... but first, we took the tires off because they were good," Newman said.
John Tamblyn bought the house three years ago and discovered the car when he looked through a hole in the basement wall.
"I was surprised it was in such good shape, considering the car is 52 years old," Tamblyn said.
Tamblyn says he hopes to restore the car.
I sold a 56 Buick not 2 years ago.
All original too !
Cheers,
knewshound
My uncle still had two of these when I was a kid. I remember riding in them.
Last I saw of them was in the late Seventies. They were at his farm sitting up on the hill in the grove rusting away. I remember thinking what a shame that was.
Joe, I should have been more clear in my note.
Those are the right colors—exactly right. The car was a ‘58 Chevy Bel Air my dad bought in late ‘57.
He was a factory worker, paying a mortgage, had four kids, and could still buy a new car all on one salary. Those were good times.
Remember how cool it was to see the changes every model year?
When they said power steering and brakes that’s what they meant. One finger to spin the wheel out of a parking spot and you could put an egg under your foot and still apply the brakes.
Kind of a Cleopatra’s barge on white walls.
ping - Mr. Buick, tear down this wall!
Dan Matthews of Highway Patrol (Broderick Crawford) also drove a ‘58 Buick. Probably a Super with a Police package.
Back then, Buicks still had Dynaflow transmissions, which meant no mechanical coupling, just the hydraulic turbine. (By that time, I believe they had automatic variable pitch, so you could feel a shifting effect.)
Dad’s second new car (after the ‘47 Chevy) was a ‘51 Special, followed by a ‘55 Super hardtop. Later, Mom bought a used ‘57 Super.
The family of a high school buddy had a ‘58. He left the rear right passenger door open in the garage one day, and then his mom got in and tried to back out. Oops!
Shoot! You can’t tell from the pic whether there’s three for four portholes!
Given that it was Perry Mason, I’m sure there were four.
It looks just like this, with a red interior. It's in pretty good shape.
Oh, by the way I have the original hubcaps and even the keys, which are made out of aluminum. And yest it has the dash “torqueflight” transmission. The only thing is it doesn’t have the 383 engine, which was a mighty thing to behold. That was in my original car.
Rats. They won’t let me show it.
Is this "buried treasure" that the lucky feller found?
Leni
After being forced out by bankers, he partnered with Louis Chevrolet to found a new mass-market car to compete with the Model T. The success of this venture enabled him to regain control of GM and to make Chevy a GM brand beginning in 1916.
He was later forced out of GM yet again by rival financial interests. He died in 1947 in the Detroit area, about two weeks before Henry Ford.
I think that’s the most unexpected ping I’ve received from you. :)
That was a big OOPS.....law on unintended consequences...
I believe Christine was a Plymouth Fury.
57 Chev
56 Chev
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