Much as we like reviewing the newest sports cars, we love the classics just as much. Here's one in particular, an absolutely beautiful 1952 Buick Super, shot as the leaves change for Fall.
Now, we love a high-horsepower supercar as much as the next guy, and we will never turn down a low weight pseudo racer, but there is something fantastic about a big, old American car. Wide-radius curved sheetmetal, huge engines, and suspension tuned by the Stay-Pufft Marshmallow Man.
They are not performance machines for precision driving. They are not very fast. They are not safe in a crash. They are not good at saving gas.
Who cares? Cars like this are national treasures.
We will let reader NinetyQ, who owns the car, tell us about the car and the shoot. If you have any questions for him, or if you just want to compliment him on the car (as well you should) sound off in Kinja below.
The car is a 1952 Buick Super and has been in my wife's family since 1954 when her great-grandmother bought it used. It has never been restored, and has spent much of its life resting in their barn. Her dad works on it now and then and keeps it in good shape mechanically.
It was off the road for about a month and I missed out on having it as my wedding car (we got married in mid-September) because it was having distributor issues that came up just that morning. Just prior to the shoot, it got a new distributor, plugs, plug wires, and the carburetor was rebuilt.
It has Buick's OHV straight-eight mated to a Dynaflow transmission (two forward gears: Drive and Low, selected on the column. It won't shift unless you move the lever.) It's a smooth engine and has plenty of torquey power once it's up to speed, but is slow off the line.
For the photo shoot, it was a gorgeous day in northern Indiana. About 65 degrees and windy, which made for some nice blowing leaves in a couple of the shots. My wife and I got in the car and drove around the countryside around her house for about an hour.
I had a couple places in mind, but we basically just stopped whenever we saw an opportunity for a good shot. She acted as my lookout as I laid down on the road for a few shots.
I used a basic setup for my camera: an old 6 megapixel Canon Rebel EOS, the kit lens, and a polarizing filter. That filter helped get the reflections on the car to look good and also made the colors of the leaves on the trees really jump out.
Overall, it was a beautiful day and I had a classic Buick to photograph with fall foliage as the back drop. It doesn't get much better than that.
Photo Credits: NinetyQ