[Closed] Dream Car of the 1956 Motorama: 1/18 Buick Centurion by Minichamps (PICS)

Dream Car of the 1956 Motorama: 1/18 Buick Centurion by Minichamps (PICS)

Among Minichamps' dream car offerings, this is the one that I most eagerly anticipated. The 1956 Centurion maintains the excellence of the entire dream car series, claiming the title of "crown jewel" in my collection.

The complex roof and window design of the car must have posed challenges for Minichamps, and buyers of the model are advised to exercise extreme caution with the roof and windows. The adhesive that Minichamps used to attach the windows to the slender roof pillars is easily undone, and I found it challenging to properly re-insert the side windows in particular. I had initially hoped to capture some dramatic outside images of the car, but the fragile windows quickly dissuaded me. Handling of this model is best kept to a minimum.

The model appears entirely accurate, but one quibble is that the front brightwork is simply painted silver rather than chromed. In view of the model's overall quality, this is a bit disappointing, and I suspect that the complexity of the roof compelled Minichamps to choose a cheaper approach for the front of the car in order to meet the long-announced price point. My enjoyment of the image is undiminished, and Minichamps compensated with its beautiful rendition of the tail cone.

Note the rear view camera, just forward of the tail cone.

The 1:1 Centurion resides today at the Sloan Museum's Buick Gallery in Flint, Michigan, where it shares space with the 1954 Wildcat II and 1951 XP-300. The model looks great with the Minichamps Wildcat II as a companion piece.

As futuristic as the Centurion would have appeared to Motorama-goers in 1956, the car reflected Buick's mid-1950's styling idiom of bodyside sweepspear, contrasting two-tone paint, and fully radiused wheel openings. Its relationship to the standard production models is illustrated by Motor Max's 1957 Roadmaster convertible, which exhibits the Centurion's rear quarter ornamentation.

It's interesting to consider whether Buick might have evaluated a Centurion-like car for production, particularly had it been possible to anticipate Ford's sales success with the 1958 - 1960 Thunderbird. Buick might well have been GM's most profitable division through most of the 1950's, a function of its high volume and transaction prices, and Buick had a powerful advocate in Harlow Curtice, GM's president through the mid-1950's.

I can envision a "productionized" Centurion, replacing the glass roof top panel with stainless steel (like the Eldorado Brougham), although adapting useful bumpers without destroying the design would have been challenging. A production Centurion might have been a marketplace sensation during 1957-1958, stealing the thunder from the Thunderbird. A new design direction for '59 would have necessitated a restyle. By 1959, Ford's "square bird" had already captured Buick's attention, leading to the near-production of the XP-75 Skylark II concept:

Despite an effort to field a Thunderbird competitor with its bucket seat Invicta Custom and Wildcat models, Buick would wait until the 1963 Riviera for a true Thunderbird competitor. Here's Highway 61's beautiful '64 Riviera with the Centurion:

I have often read that the Centurion predicted the "delta-wing" tail fin design of the 1959 Buicks, and this may have been the case, although the Centurion's fins were closer to the horizontal. Here's the car with Yat Ming's '59 Electra 225 convertible:

Personally, I see the Centurion's heritage more in the side sculpturing of the '71 Riviera, illustrated here with Road Signature's version:

Like the LeSabre and Wildcat dream cars that preceded it, the Centurion nameplate would later apply to a production series. Buick had relinquished he Centurion name, but re-purchased the rights from a Memphis ambulance builder, calling its 1971 - 1973 replacement for the Wildcat series "Centurion". I can attribute part of my interest in the Centurion dream car to the later production car, having continued to preserve and enjoy the '71 Centurion that my parents purchased new.