Duke of Earl: ’53 Buick Super Estate Wagon
We’ve had Woodies before because people really like them. This is one of those transitional Woodies. The wood is real but it isn’t structural. Sort of the best of both worlds. You get the structural rigidity of a steel car with the warmth and beauty of a bit of timber. These are pretty rare with under 1,900 built in ’53. This was also the year Buick celebrated its 50th Anniversary. The Buick gets some one-year-only badging to record the milestone. The Buick’s imposing design is from the hand of Harley Earl – GM’s first head of Design and the first top executive ever appointed in Design of a major corporation in American history. Earl’s work is legendary including GM’s first concept car – the Buick Y-Job. I, like many of our readers, would love to have a Y-job. After the auto show circuit, the Y-Job became Harley’s daily driver. It was good to be Harley Earl. Today’s find is really something. This is a fresh restoration and it is done very nicely. It is a color change but this choice of an available factory color is just fine. Equipped with a V-8 and Dynaflow transmission, it is probably a good cruiser on the highway. It also has a working swamp cooler! The Kelsey-Hayes wire wheels look great against the exterior color. We can find no issues if the seller’s description checks out. In other words, we wouldn’t change a thing. It won’t sell cheaply so be prepared to pay top dollar for an extraordinary station wagon. Click here for the eBay auction.