And it’s said this car had a PTO operated winch up front. My initial research indicates panels like the entire hood assembly were pressed out of aluminum instead of steel, and not a single body panel went unmodified. It was quietly delivered to the ranch for his private ownership. And it’s not like they used the car as a show vehicle first, then donated or sold it to Mr. Kleberg had a lot of influence at GM, or he threw so much moolah at them that they essentially designed and created a 95% totally different car. I think it’s probably safe to say this is the only factory created Buick to have a PTO driven front winch.Įither Mr. I’ve included a photo from the January 1950 Popular Science article. I found a photo and now understand the reason those front 1950 style chrome “teeth” don’t go all the way down like production parts, it’s because the rollers for the winch are located there. I did some quick online research and discovered that this King Ranch Buick does indeed have a big PTO powered winch hidden behind all that front chrome. But the one thing he mentioned was the front mounted winch. While I have no proof this is the car my customer mentioned 40+ years ago, I seriously doubt there were 2 similar vehicles created by Buick for wealthy Texans. Until I read this posting, I had long forgotten about that visit to see the Toronado and being told about the custom Buick. He wanted a big Buick 4 door open car with folding windshield, front PTO driven winch, sidemount tires, and high ground clearance. My take on that is the “pull” this Texan had was political power and plenty of money, and as I remember the owner of the King Ranch back then had both. Apparently this guy had a lot of pull with GM. Anyway, he said one of his first jobs was at the Buick design center, where he was told to work on a special car for a member of Congress and a rancher in Texas. I can remember where his unusual home is located, but not his name. [I’ve wracked my brain to remember the Ferrari owner’s name, but I simply can’t do so. How does all the above relate to this Buick: When pressed on how he got the car, he said he had been a designer at GM and was instrumental in the overall Toronado design.
#1950 buick special 4 door serial number#
It was a pre-production example of an Olds Toronado, with a serial number containing only multiple letters “X”. During the time his car spent in the shop, I got to know the owner of the Ferrari, and he invited me to visit his home to see another car. About 1979 a customer drove into my shop with a Ferrari 275 long nose, and he asked me if we could repair the badly corroded doors on the car.