Buick

US, 1903 to date

(1) Buick Motor Car Co, Detroit, Mich., 1903

(2) Buick Motor Car Co, Flint, Mich., 1904 to date

David Buick’s first car followed conventional American design in having a flat-twin engine mounted amidships under the floor, a two-speed planetary transmission, and final drive by chain – but unusual were its mechanically-operated full overhead valves, a feature of all cars bearing the name of Buick to the present day, apart from Buick fours of the 1906 – 1909 period, which had side-valves in T-heads. Capacity was 2.6-litres, and it sold for $1.250. Developments of this original Buick model were selling in England for £294 in 1907, but there was already a companion 4.2-litre four with front-mounted engine, and 1908 saw a ‘square’ Buick four (95.2x95.2mm) with planetary transmission added to the range. In 1908 W.C. Durant formed General Motors, Buick being one of the original members of the group. In 1909 Bob Burman drove a Buick to victory in the first race ever held at Indianapolis Speedway. Sales had exceeded 30.000 Buick cars by 1910. For the next few years Buicks with English bodywork were sold in Britain first as ‘all British Bedfords’, and then as ‘Bedford-Buicks’. By 1912 planetary transmission had been dropped and 4-cylinder Buick cars were available in 2.7-litre, 3.3-litre and 5.2-litre sizes, still with rhd, but with the brake and gear levers faired into the driver’s door. Delco electric lighting and starting were standard on all Buick models by 1914, in which year Buick marketed their first six, the Buick B-55. Nearly 126.000 Buick cars were sold in 1916, and the company entered the post-World War 1 era with a 2.8-litre four and a 3.9-litre six, cars which brought Buick into fourth position in US sales, behind Ford, Dodge, and Chevrolet, all far cheaper vehicles; a Buick Six tourer cost $1795 in 1921.

Drastic change came in 1924. The Buick cars acquired front wheel brakes as standard equipment, while cylinder heads were now detachable, and the rounded radiator shell gave way to an angular, Packard-like outline that was to continue until 1928. Prices of Buick fours started at $935, and the cheapest Buick six was listed at $1565. The 6-cylinder cars became the staple in 1925 and the ‘back-to-front’ gear shift pattern shared with Dodge was discarded in 1927. The Buick cars were completely re-styled in 1929, when hydraulic shock absorbers were added, and the capacities of the two basic Buick models were increased to 3.8-litres and 5.1-litres respectively. Prices ran from $1.195 to $2.145, but for Buick customers with slenderer pockets there was the Buick Marquette. Buick went over to an all-straight-8 programme, still with overhead valves, in 1931. Expanding brakes were now standard at front and rear. Synchromesh was standardized on the more expensive Buick models and available as an extra on all, and was standardized throughout the range in 1932.

Buick’s evolution up to World War 2 followed General motors policy; cruciform-braced frame and no-draught ventilation in 1933, Dubonnet-type ifs in 1934, and turret-top styling, down-draught carburation and hydraulic brakes in 1936 with the Buick DA-series – one example of which became famous when it took Mrs Ernest Simpson into exile at the time of the British Abdication crisis. Despite Buick’s upper middle-class position in the GM sales picture, the 1937 range of 4.1-litre and 5.2-litre eights covered everything from a sedan on a 10ft 2in wheelbase at $855 up to a seven-seater Buick C090 limousine at $2095; prices in Britain, where the Buick cars were consistently well received between the Wars, were £500 and £865 respectively. 1938 Buicks had coil springing all round, and that year the Division produced GM’s first ‘dream car’, a two-seater convertible coupé styled by Harley Earl on a Roadmaster chassis. Buicks used the same engines up to 1952, though they came out with a 2-speed Dynaflow automatic transmission in 1948. In 1948 they pioneered the now popular hardtop convertible body with their Buick Riveira. The smaller engines were, however, enlarged to 4.3-litres in 1952, and the following year the Division’s first ohv V8 unit appeared; its capacity was 5.3-litres, and its output 188bhp. All 1954 Buicks used this type of engine.

Buick sales dropped in 1958, but the 1959 cars were style leaders with the delta tail and fins. Buick’s first effort at a compact car in 1961 was the Buick Special with an all-aluminium 155bhp, 3½-litres V8 engine, replaced the following year by a cast-iron V6, used also by Oldsmobile. The demand for cars with a sporting flavor resulted in the handsome Buick Riviera sports coupé of 1963, which by 1966 was giving 340bhp from 7 litres, and was capable of 120mph. Automatic transmission was, of course, standard. The 1966 Buick range had a more sporting atmosphere than in the past, and embraced the Buick Special with a 9ft 7in wheelbase and a choice of V6 or 4.9-litre V8 engines; the Buick Skylark with the same chassis dimensions and a 6.6-litre V8 engine; and the bigger Buicks in the shape of the 5½-litre Buick Le Sabre, the 6.6-litre Buick Wildcat, the Buick Electra, and the top-line Buick Riviera. These models continued without basic change until 1971, though concealed screenwipers (found on other GM cars of that year) and the option of front disc brakes came in 1967, and cylinder capacities were increased: the biggest V8 ran to 7046cc in that year, to 7456cc in 1970. The small 3½-litre V8 abandoned by Buick in 1963 was taken up by Rover of England in 1968 and was subsequently supplied by them to Morgan. The 1971 Buick station wagons featured glide-away tailgates. By 1972 all but the economy Buick Skylarks had front disc brakes as regular equipment. Engine outputs were reduced (from 370bhp to 250bhp in the case of the most potent V8), and the Buick Riviera was restyled in the Chevrolet Corvette hardtop idiom. Only V8s, of 5736cc and 7456cc, were offered in 1973; the Buick Skylark gave way to a new car with an old Buick name, the Century, that reverted to the single-headlamp layout.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Hotchkiss

France, 1903 – 1955

(1) Hotchkiss et Cie, St. Denis, Seine, 1903 – 1936

(2) Automobiles Hotchkiss, St. Denis, Seine, 1936 – 1955

The American Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss set up his ordnance Horchkiss car factory at St. Denis in 1867; the Hotchkiss cars were the result of an arm slump. The work of Terrasse, these first Hotchkiss cars were T-headed fours with pair-cast cylinders, 5-ball-bearing crankshafts, low-tension magneto ignition, round honeycomb radiators, 4-speed gearboxes, and the famous Hotchkiss drive by live axle and open propeller shaft. Initially cylinder capacities of Hotchkiss cars were 4.6-litres and 7.4-litres, but the Hotchkiss car company’s first racers of 1904 were 17.8-litre monsters notable for their aiv and chain drive. Though their 1905 successors conformed once more to touring-car practice, they were even bigger Hotchkiss cars, with 18.815cc and an alleged 130bhp. Hotchkiss’s last racing season was 1906 with their Grand Prix Hotchkiss cars had 16.3-litre L-head units and quick-detachable wire wheels. Though these Hotchkiss cars were unsuccessful, Hotchkiss sold 167 cars that year, with gate change standardized, and a choice of five Hotchkiss car models: a short-lived 4.2-litre petrol brougham, fours of 18, 30 and 42hp, and their first six. The last-mentioned Hotckiss car was the large V-type that evolved into a 9½-litre machine and was still being offered in 1912 as a Hotckiss car. Chassis price was £1.000 and it was capable of 60mph.

The slump following the Agadir crisis led to the abandonment of ball-bearing crankshafts on Hotchkiss cars; at the same time there was a move towards smaller Hotchkiss cars with the 3.1-litre T-type, with side valves in an L-head and high-tension magneto ignition. Two years later came something even smaller and more modern, the 12/16hp Hotchkiss X-type with 2-bearing crankshaft and three forward speeds at £390. Soon monobloc engines spread up the range to the 3.7-litre Hotckiss AB of 1912. From 1911 there were some smaller L-head sixes, the 4.678cc Hotchkiss X6 and the 5½-litre Hotchkiss AC6; 1912 sales were a record 598 Hotchkiss cars. Electric lighting was available from 1913, and all the 1914 Hotchkiss car models – the 2.6-litre Hotchkiss AG, the 4-litre Hotchkiss AF, the 5.7-litre Hotchkiss AC, and the 6-cylinder Hotchkiss AC6 – had semi-elliptic suspension all round.

The wartime demand for Hotchkiss machine guns led to the establishment of a branch factory under the Englishman Harry Ainsworth, this subsequently making engines for W.R. Morris until it was absorbed by him in 1923. At home Hotchkiss sold off their surplus works capacity at Lyons and concentrated on a revised Hotchkiss car again, the AF with full electrics and a horseshoe-shaped radiator in place of the traditional round one. Its successor, the Hotchkiss AH of 1921, had cantilever rear springs and torque tube drive, and a year later came the Hotchkiss AL with ohv, and a detachable head; front-wheel brakes were added for 1923. There was also a prototype luxury Hotchkiss car at the 1921 Paris Salon; this Hotchkiss AK had a 6.6-litre 6-cylinder ohc engine, dual ignition, 4-speed unit gearbox, servo-assisted 4-wheel brakes, and a cruciform-braced frame, but it never went into production.

The return of Ainsworth to St. Denis in 1923, coincided with the construction of a new Hotchkiss car factory and a more realistic type of car, the 2.4-litre 12CV Hotchkiss AM, with 4-cylinder sv engine, 4-speed unit box, four-wheel brakes, wire hwwls, and Hotchkiss drive once more. Between 1924 and 1928 it was the Hotchkiss car company’s staple product, selling at the rate of over a thousand a year and offering a 70mph performance at a modest outlay. It persisted until 1932, acquiring ohv in 1926 and rod-operated brakes in 1928, and its engine was used in some Morris-Léon Bollées. Even better was the Hotchkiss AM80 of 1929, largely the work of Bertarione. This was a short-stroke (80x100mm), 7-bearing ohv 3-litre six that owed a good deal to the AM2, though early cars featured torque tube drive; it was to be the basis from which all subsequent Hotchkisses were evolved. A silent 3rd gearbox featured on 1931 Hotchkiss car models, Hotchkiss drive reappeared in 1932, and 1933 improvements included Bendix brakes, cruciform-braked frames, down-draught carburetors and mechanical fuel pumps. Hotchkiss AM80 engines were also fitted to Sizaire Frères and Tracta cars.

The 1933 Hotchkiss car range was expanded both up and down, with new Hotchkiss 12CV (2-litre) and 13CV (1.3-litre) fours for the economy market, and an 85mph fast tourer, the 100bhp 3½-litre Hotckiss AM80S, for the enthusiast. This Hotchkiss car was based on the car with which Vasselle won the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally. Hotchkiss cars repeated this success in 1933 and 1934: in the latter year the Hotchkiss cars collected two Glazier Cups in the Alpine Trial. There were further wins in the Monte Carlo in 1938 and 1939; on the latter occasion a Grand Sport Hotchkiss car tied with a 3½-litre Delahaye. Radiators were moved forward on the 1934 Hotchkiss cars, and the 3-litre gave way to a 2.650cc 15CV that was not a success and lasted only one season. The 1935 Hotchkiss cars had synchromesh and integral boots, and at the top of the 3½-litre 20CV range was the twin-carburettor Hotckiss Paris-Nice, a 115bhp sports car capable of 95mph. Hydraulic brakes appeared in 1936 on Hotchkiss cars (to be quietly dropped halfway through 1937). The sports 20CV engine was now giving 125-130bhp and when allied to a short 9ft 2in wheelbase resulted in the Hotchkiss Grand Sport, a true 100mph saloon.

By 1938 the horseshoe radiator on the Hotchkiss car was now a wire-mesh grille, but despite the exigencies of French rearmament programmes the Hotchkiss car company managed to deliver 2.751 Hotchkiss cars that year, made up of the two fours, the reinstated 3-litre Hotchkiss 680, and the 3½-litre Hotchkiss 686 in various forms, including seven-seater limousines with the single-carburettor 100bhp engine. Hotchkiss also came to the rescue of the ailing Amilcar concern, helping to make the Grégoire-inspired 1.185cc Compound, a small fwd saloon with unitary construction in Alpax; this was sold in England, though not in France, as a Hotchkiss car. A 1.3-litre ohv development, the Hotchkiss B67, was ready for production when France collapsed in the summer of 1940.

Hotchkiss never really recovered from World War 2, though Peugeot were briefly interested in the Hotchkiss car company and Hotchkiss 686 cars won the first two post-war Monte Carlo Rallies of 1949 and 1950. The Hotchkiss 12CV and Hotchkiss 20CV were back in production, unchanged, by 1946, but the first year’s output was a miserable 117 Hotchkiss cars. Hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension did not appear until 1949 on Hotchkiss cars (though Hotchkiss had experimented with the latter in 1937), and a Cotal electric gearbox became a factory option. The 1951 Hotchkiss car models were ‘facelifted’ with V-screens, recessed headlamps and auxiliary coil rear suspension, but in the meantime there had been an expensive mistake: the acquisition by Hotchkiss of the rights to the Grégoire flat-4. This ingenious device was a development of the 1938 Amilcar theme featuring all-round independent suspension and a 4-speed overdrive gearbox, as well as front wheel drive. Production Hotchkiss car models with 2.2-litre engines were said to achieve 95mph and 30mpg, but the teething troubles were endless, and Hotchkiss only managed to make 250 Hotchkiss cars in the end. There was a shutdown in 1952 and the price of recovery was a merger with Delahaye that led inevitably to concentration on commercial vehicles. The old Hotchkiss cars 13CV and 20CV received another facelift in time for the 1954 Paris Salon, but his was their swansong, though medium-powered trucks continued to be made until 1970, along with a version of the American Jeep built under licence.

GB, 1920

Hotchkiss et Cie, Coventry, Warwickshire

Hotchkiss of Coventry, a British offshoot of the famous French Hotchkiss car firm, was set up during World War 1 to make engines in Britain. Their units became best known as the motive power for Morris and BSA light cars, but before they were taken over by William Morris, Hotchkiss experimented with a small car of their own. The Hotchkiss car consisted of their 1.080cc air-cooled V-twin ohv engine installed with a 3-speed gearbox in a pre-war Morris Oxford chassis. It never went into production.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS, TRN

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com