TIME WARP THURSDAY- SUDDENLY IT'S 1958

 Love it or fear it, the 1958 Buick is a hard car to ignore. It's pretty much come to symbolize the chrome laden chariots of the late 1950's. A daring car, with Harley Earl's Dazzling Chrome Look all the way from the Fashion Aire Dyna Star Grille (flanked by new dual Vista Vision headlamps) to the chrome adorned tailfins- the 1958 Buick was an exuberant car for an exciting new postwar world.

A student of history will remind you that 1958 was a recession year and that sales of luxurious cars were down, yet the folks at Buick persevered and planned for a brighter future. The economy of 1958 had its challenges for Reynolds Buick too, but we kept our employees busy and our customers happy, as we've tried to do every year since Irv Sr. put up the sign in 1915.

And things were far from all bad- 1958 brought some milestones for us, too- Pete Reynolds took over the management of the dealership from his father, and the irreplacable Deane Salter (the Guinness World Record Holder for the the Automobile Salesperson with the longest continous employment with a single Employer) joined our sales force. It may surprise some to know that both are proud to be still affiliated with Reynolds Buick.

But it won't surprise many of our customers.

The Golden Anniversary Buicks of 1953

Hard to believe that the Buick Motor Division celebrated its Golden Anniversary sixty years ago in 1953. They had a lot to celebrate, too. The restyled line up featured more chrome, more comfort, and for the Super and Roadmaster models- a brand new high compression V-8 engine. The little Specials would have Buick's venerable straight engine for one more season, but the era of the Buick V-8 had arrived with fanfare. 

The new engine displaced 322 cubic inches and had an 8.5:1 compression ratio, which was the highest compression in the industry. It was rated at 188 horsepower in the Roadmaster, and 170 HP in the Super when equipped with Dynaflow. It was the beginning of a thrilling new era for Buick. 

There was another reason to celebrate as well- a new limited production model, the Buick Skylark. Offered in limited numbers, the Skylark was the most expensive Buick offering in 1953. Priced at a flat $5,000, it was built on a Roadmaster chassis and offered every Buick luxury plus a leather interior and chrome plated wire wheels. It made its public debut at the General Motors Motorama at the Waldorf in January of 1953. 

Greatness was the theme of Buick's advertising and the cars lived up to the claim. The new V-8 engine was a good one and would be used in Buick automobiles for fifteen years. The market responded to the Golden Anniversary Buicks with enthusiasm, allowing Buick to retain it's traditional fourth place in the industry with almost a half million sales- 488, 755 to be precise. 

Irv Reynolds, Sr, was the recipient of the above letter in 1952 inviting him to the showing of the Golden Anniversary 1953 Buick line. It further advised him that he would be recognized as having been a Buick dealer for over twenty five years. In fact, by 1953, Reynolds Buick had already been selling Buicks for thirty eight years. 

And sixty years later, we still are. 

Monday Memories: Covina in the early 1900s

 A streetcar on an unpaved road. Bicycles and horse drawn carts. These images aren't the wild wild west, they're our own hometown of Covina almost exactly 100 years ago. And they're a fascinating look back at our home town. The main streets of town were unpaved in these photos, the newest of which dates from 1911, or only four years before Irven G. Reynolds hung his Buick shingle at Daddy Weber's garage. Back then he was still  competing with horses.

A streetcar rumbles through the dust at Citrus and Bedillo, where Reynolds would open their brand new facility in 1922. The Fire Department will pose proudly in front of their new 1911 Fire Station, but their apparatus appears to still be horse drawn. It was a different time. Many of the buildings in the photos look familiar, but the setting seems otherworldly.

It took a lot of vision for Irv Sr. and the other civic leaders to imagine what Covina could become, and to invest their savings and their hard work into creating it. Ninety seven years later, we look back in awe and wonder. We hope you enjoy this glimpse back at Covina one hundred years ago.

In a Gran Manner- Hot Rod and Buick Sunday

This is one of the most interesting vintage articles we've seen yet. Hot Rod tested a new mid year '65 Gran Sport Coupe for their May, 1965 issue and were thoroughly smitten- with its power, its comfort, and even its fuel economy. But it didn't stop there- they describe being at San Fernando raceway with a half dozen Buicks owned by the local Buick dealers- and how they won classes B,C,D,E,F and K. Quite a day indeed.

Who did they find to show them how to set up the Gran Sport and then get the most of it? None other than our own Lennie "Pop" Kennedy. And the car he was driving? Our 1965 Gran Sport Number One- this was before Pete Reynolds' lesson in drag slick rain driving.

It had to have been "Buick Sunday"- Sunday, February 21, 1965, when Buick won every class in which it was entered. Not only did Buick tout the triumph to the press, they went so far as to have General Manager Roland S. Withers send a letter to every Buick dealer in the country talking about Buick's success.

The balance of the text we've taken verbatim for the original article, and the scans are attached for your perusal. It couldn't have praised the new Gran Sport more highly if Pop Kennedy had written it himself. And we're certainly not going to put that past him.

 All the normal driving done with the Gran Sport served to whet our appetite for a couple of shots at the quarter-mile, and just about the time our appointed drag weekend was coming up, a fantastic stroke of luck fell our' way. Various members of the L. A. County Buick Dealers Association had recently begun campaigning a number of Gran Sports at area strips, and when they heard that we were doing a test on one, offered to bring a number of cars to San Fernando Raceway for us to try. The beauty of the whole operation was these rigs were slightly set up for class competition, or about as the average buyer might design for himself. In the end, the "several" cars turned out to be six, ranging from Lennie Kennedy's B/S, which most nearly resembled our test car, to dealer Ted Baker's coupe, sporting a small 225-inch V6.

 Lennie's car was representative of the modifications performed on all the Buicks so we jotted down the information, which really didn't represent much alteration as "stock" classers go these days. The engines had all been disassembled, checked through for factory-recommended clearances, and the deck height of .030-inch attained. While the heads were still off, their combustion chambers were measured out to 123 cc's and a fresh-up valve job applied. The engine was buttoned back up and' a set of Hooker headers leading into 3-inch collectors fitted for improved scavenging. 


All the cars had Positraction rear ends to which 4.30 gears were added, as well as a set of super-bite Casler recaps. The final touch was a set of Delco air' shocks added in the back of Lennie's machine which he declared enable him to jack more weight to the right side for bite on acceleration. And that was it. All the cars had been driven in the 'Fernando front gate and remained entirely docile for street use. Up to that day Lennie's best time was, now get this, a frantic 104.46 mph in 13.42 seconds with headers open. Such performance is truly remarkable.

And that's the way the afternoon went, with the Buicks gobbling up everything in sight, copping B, C, D, E, F and K classes for a spectacular string of successes in a mixed field of sticks and automatics.

 The message from these triumphs and others like them at Southern California tracks is stamped large on the competition scene, for anyone who surveys the situation has to concede that Buick will be the car to beat in the lower classes, wherever they run.

Thinking back over the days we had the Gran Sport, and especially the drag fling, the test was a most happy experience, including the Flint price tag of $3,441.40 ($3,090.40 without air) and the gas mileage which ranged as high as 19. Of the GM Divisions, Buick was the last to introduce a sports model, but as in former days, "When better automobiles are built ... " Need we say more? -HR

Covina Union High School 1910 Commencement

It's kind of amazing what we find our files- like this 1910 Commencement program from Covina Union High School. There were fifteen graduates in the Class of 1910, including our own Founder and Patriarch, Irven G. Reynolds. The class flower was the red carnation, the class colors were blue and gold, and the class motto "Esse Quam Videri" is a Latin phrase meaning "To be, rather than to seem," which pretty much sums up the philisophy that Irven G. Reynolds Sr. used to run both his business and his personal life.  

It's worth noting that there were ten teachers and two administrators for a Senior Class of fifteen. All told there were probably about sixty students in the High School. The program is in excellent condition, especially for a document that is one hundred and two years old. We've scanned it for your enjoyment.

Kind of a nice reminder that, even as we enter our ninety-seventh year in business under the same family ownership, we've been part of the fabric of Covina and West Covina for even longer. And we hope to be for many years to come. 

Aerial view of Covina Union High School from the Cardinal yearbook, 1954

Fast Friday: Gran Sport Opel

We had lots of fun with our Opel Showroom Stock Racing Class article last time but it raised an additional question- since we're world famous for drag racing some of the fastest Buicks of all time, did we ever try drag racing an Opel? Well, the surprising answer to the question is a resounding yes.

Take a look at these pictures from 1965- here's out 1965 Opel Kadett "Gran Sport" racer. It took on more than a few Volkswagens and won its own share of trophies- several of whom are seen on the hood. Of course, it's not really a GS- but rather a Kadett Sport Coupe, model 32, and carried a base price of only $1,778.00.

It wasn't quite as much of a contender as the big 401s, owing in part to its 1100cc engine, but its light curb weight of 1442 pounds allowed it to make the most of what it had. Also note the tiny rear wheels- an attempt to improve the launch ability of the little Kadett.

Shown behind the wheel is longtime salesperson and friend of Reynolds, Ed Dilliard. We've asked him if he has any racing stories to share with us, so we expect there'll be even more to come on the Opel "Gran Sport" Drag Racing adventure.

Monday Memories: Holiday Style

Hollywood Blvd, 1940's

We hope each and every one of you are having a wonderful Holiday season. We love the texture of the holidays, the connection to years gone by as we observe our Holiday traditions. There was a time when beautiful decorations were utilized by many of the communities in Southern California.
It seems that some of the most elaborate decorations were in Hollywood, and recently we were fortunate to come across a stash of old Hollywood photos that show some very charming and elaborate decorations, as well as some scenes from old Hollywood Christmas parades. We also found the Eastland Tower made into an atomic Christmas missile, and our own downtown Covina in 1962.

We hope these scenes of days gone by will bring back happy holiday memories of good times with family and friends.

Hollywood, 1946

1949 Roadmaster in 1948 Christmas Parade

1949 Hollywood Christmas Parade

Hollywood Blvd, 1950

Hollywood and Vine, 1950

Streetcar in Inglewood, 1957

Eastland Center's "Christmas Tower", 1957

Our own Downtown Covina, 1962