Saturday, February 8, 2025
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RESTO RESURRECTION – GRAEME & DIANNE BLAIR 1934 BUICK

The term Resto Rod has become almost extinct. Shunned by the smoothster crowd popularised by Coddington and Co in the 90s, the blue collar style rod had been a corner stone of modern street rodding, especially in Australia. While similar styled vehicles pop up every now and then in US based magazines, the time honoured practice of updating an old car with modern underpinnings without major body mods has never waived for some enthusiasts. Just like the owners of this elegantly finished 1934 Buick Victoria, Graeme and Dianne Blair who had the completed picture pencilled in, even before they had possession of the rare bustle back beauty. 

“Before the Buick, I’ve had a string of other cars, but this is the first pre ’48 that I have ever finished!” Graeme chuckles. “I’m a great starter!”  

Past vehicles of note have been a ’36 Chevy sloper, a ’35 Chevy coupe, a couple of ’35 Chevy tourers a daily driver 1952 sedan now two door coupe. Oh yes, it’s a Chevy also. You don’t have to be Einstein to decode the pattern of preferred manufacture amongst the line-up, which is just one of the reasons that eventuated into purchasing the featured Vicky.  

With a ’35 Chevy tourer as his current project at the time, Graeme was invited to a friend’s place in Dalby for a Queensland Rod Squad club member gathering. Typically the shed and related acquisitions tour ensued and he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of a chopped and tudor’d ’34 Buick sedan. The former four door was really only mocked together and required a full transformation, but the profile and potential were presented on an original chassis just begging to be completed. Smitten by the vision, he made a deal for the ’34, swapping his similar conditioned tourer project. 

“I loaded the trailer with the ’35 and returned with the Buick… simple.” 

With another disabled orphan in his home garage, Graeme vowed that this one would be completed. Enthused with his new project, the body was separated from its frame and Graeme went to work installing independent Jaguar front and rear suspension. Assisted by his son-in-law Mark, who is a whiz with the welder, they located the 3.07 diff in place with a handmade housing, one inch lower than its original arrangement. Forward of the firewall, new frame rails were fabricated and stitched into place as this portion of the original chassis was damaged. Clever thinking resulted in re-contouring the new steel achieving almost a three inch step in the process. With both ends buttoned up in their factory arrangement, Graeme delivered the rolling frame to Greg ‘Curly’ Hardcastle for any alignment corrections and peace of mind. 

Adhering to his pencil coloured rendering, this was always going to be a regularly driven rod so a streetable drive train was paramount. Amongst Graeme’s parts collection he had a 350 Chevy small block engine and transmission for just such an occasion. Previously secured from a reliable source, the small block Chevy was pulled from a 1996 Camaro imported from Japan. Billed as a low mileage runner, the LT1 fuel injected V8 and matching 4L60E computer assisted auto was left in its stock configuration and positioned atop the XJ6 crossmember.  Once tied together with a purpose built driveshaft, the ‘34 was on a roll… literally. 

Keen to press on with his project, Graeme located a Buick register and systematically phoned all of the ’34 owners from Tassie to WA, in the pursuit of valuable parts to complete the body. 

In a blind twist, one of those cold calls unearthed this very rare Victoria body from a restorer/rodder in Victoria for an affordable sum and in really good shape. Obviously Graeme is a wise man, and could see an enormous time saving by purchasing the Vicky as well. As soon as it was home, he switched the frames, placing the new stocker under the cut up sedan and preceded to piece together his new acquisition on the updated version. 

Over the 40 years that Graeme has owned and driven his ’52 Chevy, he has yanked and installed seven motors by himself. But as a Telstra Technician by trade, he is honest about his automotive limitations and sought help to continue the ’34 until completion. 

First on the agenda was to chop… or not. With photo copies in hand and a fine edge blade, Graeme experimented with the roofline until he was happy with the visual appearance. Apprehensive because of is unique status, he confided his idea to wife Dianne for her opinion.    

“My wife really liked it, but I was reluctant to chop it because it was a bit rare. She won. I don’t think I devalued it any,” he says sheepishly. 

With the decision decided to decapitate, Tim Tyler was contracted to orchestrate the cut. Along with lowering the lid three and a quarter inches, the vinyl roof void was filled with material from a Mercedes Benz turret. Inside, Darryl Veith replaced wooden support structure with fresh steel and further body mods were kept to a minimum. Relocated fuel filler, filled cowl vent, shaved trunk handles and a two inch section of the lower grill shell are considered refinements rather than modifications. 

With the body resting in primer it was then moved to Ron Browns workshop (Rods by Rod) for its finale. 

“Rod is an old mate of mine and we bumped into him and his wife Erica whilst visiting friends,” Graeme recalls. “Erica mentioned that he was keen for some work and we had the Buick up there in no time. Truth be known, Rod is a Ford man through and through and I think it hurt him a bit to have a Buick in the shed,” he laughs. 

With Rod in on the game, progress was swift with Graeme stopping by for periodic updates. As mentioned before, the 1934 shell was in pretty good condition for its age with only a small amount of body repair by skilled body man, Terry Court. But with a palate of shiny black on the job card, he still had his work cut out for him.

Finished in high gloss two pack, the gangster approved exterior is highlighted by a mass of chrome and highly polished stainless steel. Graeme added to the bling count by ordering a set of American Racing five spokes from his friend, the late Jim Page at Menace Rod Supplies, who also supplied the gauges and Lokar shifter. With chrome handled by three separate platers, it’s a bejewelled beauty that’s dressed to kill. 

Entering the soft underbelly of the beast, occupants are greeted with a perfumed waft of fine leather as subtle hide covers a combination of original rear seat and modern day front buckets. Light tan leather, beige velour and brown carpet were sewn together by Ipswich locals B & B Trimming & Upholstery, in a fashion that pays tribute to the Buick’s art deco incarnation with contemporary inclusions. Power windows, air-conditioning, state of the art sound and computer controlled engine management instrumentation co-exist harmoniously, providing Graeme and Dianne optimum enjoyment on fail free adventures. 

Attaining rego just the day before the Easter ASRF Nationals held on Queensland’s Gold Coast, the Buick was well received by fellow rodders and onlookers. Even though it wasn’t 100% finished, Graeme could gauge the response to his unusual hot rod as positive.  

“They call me the orphan lover,” he jokes, “I love anything with wheels and cars that are different… especially GM made. Being awarded Top Tudor at the (ASRF) Newcastle Nats was unbelievable and means a lot of Ford owners voted for it. I couldn’t believe it!” 

It may have taken Graeme a lifetime to finish his first pre ’48 vehicle of distinction, but in our eyes it’s also a lifetime achievement.

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