Buick 'Super' returns after 50 years!

The title is "Super," and Buick is bringing back the historical moniker after 50 years. Beginning in the 2008 model year with LaCrosse and later with the 2008 Lucerne, Buick will emphasise its premium and powerful sedans with the Super badge.

"The Super name emphasises Buick luxury, power and performance," said Buick General Manager, Steve Shannon.

"We're taking a great name from our heritage to designate the most premium cars we have ever offered."

In 1939, when Buick introduced the Super line for the 1940 model year, it was the latest example of a new pattern for naming Buicks. Under General Manager Harlow H. Curtice - later chief executive of General Motors and recipient of Time magazine's 1955 "Man of the Year" award - Buick had returned to its traditional position as a brand of great elegance, style and premium value following the Great Depression.

To emphasise its recovery, Curtice announced interesting names for the new Buicks. Designations such as Model F, Model 10 and Master 26 were shelved. In the 1936 model year, a new, high value car was unveiled as the "Special," instead of the Model 41. All models in the powerful 60 Series became "Century." An upscale Model 81 became "Roadmaster." Models in the elegant 90 Series were badged "Limited."

While who originated the names is not recorded, historians have presumed they were dreamed up by GM design chief Harley Earl, Buick advertising genius Art Kudner, or even Curtice himself.

Buick didn't emphasise a link between its new model names and those of the great passenger trains of the 1930s, but clearly the lustre of the "20th Century Limited" locomotive rubbed off on the new Century and Limited Buicks. (An added advantage of the Century name was that it indicated the car could reach 100 miles per hour - impressive performance for the time. By 1938, the Century could actually reach that speed.)

When the 50 Series cars were introduced for the 1940 model year, and designated Super, it was no coincidence that one of the most famous American trains of the time was the 'Super Chief'. The Super Chief drew Hollywood stars and other celebrities. Not incidentally, it was also favoured by Curtice. The energetic Buick leader often travelled by rail to California to negotiate appearances for Buicks in movies - and to visit Buick's powerful West Coast distributor, Charles Howard (owner of America's legendary race horse, 'Seabiscuit').

From the beginning, the Super was a star in the Buick lineup and a big seller, with the name appearing on sedans, sport coupes, convertibles and even the Estate Wagon, which, in 1940, was Buick's first production station wagon (before then wagon bodies were farmed out to individual coachbuilders). Only 495 Estate Wagons were built for 1940. The combination of low volume and a wooden body makes surviving examples of this model exceedingly rare.

Perhaps the most popular Estate Wagon was the 1940 Buick Super Estate Wagon (Model 57), which was originally purchased by Warner Bros. studios in Hollywood for use in a number of motion pictures, including "Now Voyager" and "White Heat." Widely known as the "Bette Davis Buick," the vehicle - with a Burgundy exterior and matching interior - was gifted by Warner Bros. to Bette Davis. The famous Super, with only 37,471 original miles, is now owned by jeweller and Buick collector, Nicola Bulgari.

When Buick returned to automobile production at the end of World War II, after more than three years of building war materials, a Super was the first Buick off the line in October 1945. Almost all 1946 cars used 1942 styling, but the Super's '42 styling was so fresh that it gave Buick an early advantage in the marketplace.

Super remained in the lineup from 1940 through 1958. In the 1958 model year, Limited, Roadmaster, Super and Special all appeared for a finale, before Buick made a complete change with the radically designed Electra, LeSabre and Invicta - all with large, distinctive tail fins - for the 1959 model year.

After being on the shelf for 50 years, the Super name will be revived with the 2008 Buick LaCrosse Super.