The Buick Wild Cat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ5A6UUHTSQ

There was a friend of dad's that had a three pedal version, I will always remember it because it did not sound like anyone other car , in the whole neighborhood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnbk2oNfabk

On youtube I see WildCats and
riviera wild cats,
does anyone know why there are two ?

was it a power plant indicator?

The guy we knew had a work truck and the Wild Cat, He only drove the wildcat on Sundays and very special occasions, weddings, funeral's ,
anniversaries, holidays and such

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
The Buick Wild Cat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ5A6UUHTSQ

There was a friend of dad's that had a three pedal version, I will always remember it because it did not sound like anyone other car , in the whole neighborhood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnbk2oNfabk

On youtube I see WildCats and
riviera wild cats,
does anyone know why there are two ?

was it a power plant indicator?

The guy we knew had a work truck and the Wild Cat, He only drove the wildcat on Sundays and very special occasions, weddings, funeral's ,
anniversaries, holidays and such

There was the Wildcat model with the Wildcat engine and there was the Riviera model with a Wildcat engine.
Two different models, same version engine.

We had a '65 Wildcat with the 401 CID engine.

Sucker was fast. I coldn't drive when we owned it, but it had a buzzer you could set on the dash that sounded when you exceeded the set speed. My mother had that damned thing going off all the time.

If I ever buy a classic cruiser to restore, a '65 or '66 Wildcat would be high on my list.

The Riviera was a separate model, and more "sporty" for a giant boat.

Pic, but not ours. I'm sure ours is a bridge beam at this point.

if gas were back down at 59 cents a gallon , would we see a huge demand for these cars again?

Is this what cars looked like before they were built by focus groups?

The Wildcat engine was Buicks first V-8.
(It is also unofficially but better knows as The Nailhead).

It was used in the full sized cars from the 215 cubic inch in 1951 and the last being the 425 in 1966.

The 401 was put into a n intermediate (A-body) in 1965 mid year. This was the 1965 Skylark GS (Gran Sport) and there were also several other models that received the GS options, before the GS became it's own "model" in 1966 with the 1967 GS 400.

The 401 was "redesignated" as the 400 in 1965 for the Skylark GS, even though nothing was changed to "be in compliance with GM directive that the "muscle car" limit be to an engine no larger than 400 cid.

The "400" in the 1967 was a new v-8 engine design and not a nailhead.

The 300 V-8 has vertical appearing valve covers and is often erroneously called a Nailhead, but it is the V-8 small block engine that was originated with the 215 V-6 "Fireball" design.

The Rover company in England bought the rights and tooling and build engines for almost 40 years on that design.


During the "Horsepower Wars", when the Cubic Inch was the "measuring stick", Buick chose to list the Nailhead's Torque rating rather than Cubic inches, and that is why the engines showed "310 Wildcat" (the 300 V-8/2bbl was not a Nailhead, but it "looked" like one, so I guess Buick used that marketing).
The "315 Wildcat" same 300 V-8 with 4bbl.

Then the Nailheads with "Wildcat 350, 355, 410, 445, 465" and the "Super Wildcat" being the 425 CI with dual 4 Barrel Carter square-bore Carbs.


The "Wildcat" car was (mostly) the LeSabre body but several inches longer (in the front clip) and built on the Electra frame, and having some very nice options.

I have owned Buicks most of my life. I was born an Old Man...

And the "Super Wildcat" with three pedals in a 3200 lb car is more fun than a Trunk full of Monkeys!

Can you please pull the air cleaner off that Mike so we can see the carbs ? Just kidding now. That pretty blue shift knob shows nicely. Nice car sir.

so only nail heads were wild cats?

In the immortal words of Douglas Adams; "Looks like a fish, moves like a fish, steers like a cow."

Even at $.59/gal, I don't think so. They are not particularly efficient in terms of space. They are big, heavy, sloppy handling cruisers.

I'd have one for fun, but I wouldn't want to daily drive one to work. My F150 handles WAY better than those things did. I suppose you could build big cars with all the modern touches, and they would have a certain appeal; I mean, you can kind of still get them, with the Chrysler 300 hemi being probably best of the breed for an American manufacturer, but I don't think that anyone is building sedans with a truly comfortable three person back seat with legroom. That kind of size went out with the last Lincoln Town Car.

Given that people are willing to spend what ever it takes to have the car they want these days as is evidenced by tremendously expensive, fuel burning large SUVs, I think you would see these being built if there was a market for them. But not even luxury manufacturers like Mercedes and BMW are building huge sedans now. Mercedes folded their Maybach brand and just this year rolled out a concept car to re-test the idea. Rolls Royce and Bently still make big cars, but even they sell more of their smaller models than the huge rollers.

The Wildcat is as wide as, and only 12 inches shorter than, my 4 door F150 with 5.5' bed.

I always liked the 64 Wildcats, something about them. In fact, that is my second favorite car of that year, the first being the 64 Mercury Park Lane.

And about the point that Steve brought up, three pedals are fun in a full size car. Have one at present, a 67 Pontiac 2+2 and another many years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
so only nail heads were wild cats?

Well, yes. (and no).

The Wildcat engine was the name Buick gave to the engine (known as the nailhead), but then someone in marketing used the "Wildcat" (engine) designation on the 300 CI engine and they had the "Wildcat" decal on the aircleaners.

"310 Wildcat" (the 2bbl)
"315 Wildcat" (the 4bbl)

But the 300Ci engine was the V-8 based on the 215 V-6 that was called the "Fireball". And it really was not a "Wildcat Engine". (although many people call it a "Nailhead")

The "more correct name" would have been better had Buick called it the "310 Fireball" and the "315 Fireball" and mabe added II after.


But as far as the car model, "Wildcat" was it's own model, and had the "Wildcat" engines until the third generation V-8 arrived.

The 340 Small block, 400 and 430 big blocks from 1967-1969, and then the 350 Small Block and 455 Big block from 1970 on (455 stopped in 75) the 350 went on through 1980.


A similar "incorrect" identification is people calling the 2 speed auto ST300 transmision a "Powerglide", they are visually similar and 2 speeds, but very different design, construction and operation.

At present I have a Buick project car in the garage, unfortunately not a Nailhead, it's a 455. A 55 Special body on a 78 LeSabre frame.

Originally it was destined for a 401 Nailhead but due to the donor car being stolen by the guy that removed scrap from the car dealership I worked at........

A little correction to Sigmonkey's Nailhead history.

1953 was the first year of the V8, a 322 c.i.d.
All across the line except for the Specials were equipped with the Nailhead. Specials were the last of the era, straight eight, IIRC 320 c.i.d. but I could be wrong on that. And the first year for 12v electrical systems except for the Special, that was the last 6v to be built.

Starting in 1954 they made a "baby" Nailhead, same external dimensions but smaller displacement for the Special models, a 264. Same stroke but smaller displacement with a 2 bbl carburetor only. 1956 went to 322 again across the board for all models, the last year for that displacement.

1957 brought a redesigned block now a 364. There were some dimension changes from the 264/322, these changes stayed in until the next big change in 1964 when the Dynaflow was replaced by the new Hydramatic design later destined to become the TH400.

Incidentally, 1955 brought an interesting variation in the Buick line. If you look at production figures they show a 1955 Century two door sedan with a very low production number, about 271 IIRC. Based on the Special body with a Super drive train. All of those were built for the California Highway Patrol, about half were Dynaflows and the other half used the heavier duty three speed from the Super models. Supposed to have been the fastest car the CHP tested to date. Somewhere I read that during dyno testing of those cars they had a tendency to shred the rear tires. Tire companies had to find a fix for that. I think U.S. Royal was the O.E. tire supplier for the regular production Buicks and don't know who finally solved the tire problem.

Sigmonkey, it’s not clear to me; is, or was, that gorgeous, white Skylark convertible yours?

Yes. I am it's curator.

Sigmonkey, I see the brake mods! Nice!

Always loved those factory aluminum valve covers. I had a set of Offenhausers saved for my Nailhead that are now going on a friend's '57.

quote:

Originally posted by
Yes. I am it's curator.

Very cool

That's a beautiful car, Monkey!

sigmonkey ,
if you could spend $2500.00for parts, and put a new suspension built with todays technology, would you go ahead and do it ?

to achieve far superior handling abilities

My family had a Buick Wildcat, I can't remember the year but it was probably early 60's because my dad traded it in on a Mustang when they first came out in late 64.
The Wildcat was tan with a black vinyl roof.
I thought the engine said 425 on the air cleaner.
It was the first car I drove after I had my drivers license. What a whale to drive.
GREAT MEMORIES!