www.buick-59.com

My good Buick friend, Gary Klecka, sent me a series of photos back in 2001, revealing an amazing treasure trove of vintage Buicks outside of Anchorage, Alaska. The cars had evidently come to Alaska from Utah, and most were very solid, restorable cars that could be purchased for the right price. Gary always referred to this stash of old Buicks as "Buick Heaven".

Shortly after receiving Gary's photos, I mentioned to another '59 Buick enthusiast that my friend had stumbled upon a number of '59 Buicks and '58 Buick Limiteds near Anchorage, Alaska. The '59 enthusiast subsequently mentioned these vehicles to an airline pilot in Colorado, who was routinely on the lookout for late-1950's Buicks to purchase, possibly for resale. The pilot flew to Anchorage and nosed around until he located the treasure trove, then purchased seventeen old Buicks and had them barged and trucked back to Colorado.

So, these cars can no longer be found near Anchorage, and who knows where they all are today. But I thought you would enjoy seeing the photos and hearing the details.

Car #1: 1959 Electra 2-door hardtop

This car has been for sale in Colorado during the recent past, and I know that Todd had some photos. Todd, if you can find the more up-to-date photos of this car, I hope you'll post them.







VIN # 7F4018047 built in Framingham.
Fisher Paint Code = NC (Lido Lavender/Arctic White)
Interior Trim #733

Options:

Triple Turbine
6-way Power Seat
Wonderbar Radio
Automatic Heater Control
Power Antenna
Rear Speaker
Super Deluxe Wheel Covers

Gary mentioned that the car has dual outside rearview mirrors, and also notes that the padded dash was perfect -- still soft and supple. The vehicle had some very minor rust through on the fender bottoms, but not too bad.

You'll see that the car was parked alongside a 1960 Buick 2-door hardtop.



Car #2 -- LeSabre 4-door hardtop











VIN # 4F4033449, Kansas City-built

Fisher Paint Code = CLC (Arctic White/Tampico Red/Arctic White)

Gary mentions only that this has a gray interior and rubber floor mats, which standard-type heater/defroster controls. He also further notes that most of the firewall is painted white on this "reverse" Spring Accent car. Gary believed the paint to be factory original, and the paint code confirms it.

Car #3 - 1959 Electra 225 convertible



This car looked relatively rough, but he mentions that it is parked next to a blue 1960 Electra 225 flattop, a '68 Wildcat convertible, and a '52 Roadmaster 4-door.

Car #4 - 1959 LeSabre 2-door sedan



Again, no data on this one. Gary points out five other vintage Buicks partially visible in this photo.

Here's another view of this car, parked among other old Buicks.



Here is a shot of three 1958 Buick Limited 4-door Rivieras parked together.



Finally, the car that was probably the "holy grail" of the bunch -- a 1958 Buick Limited 2-door Riviera, of which only 1,026 examples were built.

Hi Jeff, thanks for the clarification. It sounds like I had some erroneous information from another source regarding possible sales to overseas buyers.

I believe that he was offering the '59 Electra coupe for $7,500 when Todd received photos from him.

Sounds great!

Yes, I think that this car would be a dynamite restoration candidate. One only needs to look at the photos of electra's '59 Electra coupe for inspiration.

Actually, bbwb, that car is a 1968 Buick Electra 225, which shared its roofline with the Olds 98 of '67/'68.

You will, however, see a '59 Oldsmobile flattop just beyond the '68 Buick.

bbwb, that pillared sedan style seemed to be far more common on the Olds 98, due to the "Luxury Sedan" model that used this roofline. The color combination was also more typical for Oldsmobile than for Buick.