Buick enjoyed a record year in 1941 with strong sales, an extensive model line, new features, and the slogan “Best Buick yet!”

Buick has certainly had some memorable slogans over the years, from “When better automobiles are built, Buick will build them” to “Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?” For 1941, the message was simply “Best Buick yet!” Now there’s a phrase filled with confidence, and in this case it was justified. Under the leadership of division president Harlow Curtice, Buick enjoyed its best selling year in history with more than 377,000 cars delivered. That was a 34 percent increase over the previous year and second only to giant Chevrolet among the General Motors divisions. Let’s take a look at what generated all that success.

After the unfortunate “short frame” debacle of 1939 (see our feature here) Buick quickly went straight back to conventional X-braced, ladder frame construction, and that’s what we find on the ’41 models. While there were five different wheelbases (118,121, 126, 128, and 139 inches), all were of the same general configuration, with short/long-arm IFS at the front and a torque tube and coil springs at the rear. This rear suspension system, used by Buick for decades, enabled soft rear spring rates that contributed to  the plush and quiet ride the division was known for.

Another familiar Buick feature was the smooth, powerful straight-eight engine with overhead valves (“Valve-in-Head” in Buick lingo). Offered in two displacements for ’41, 248 cubic inches and 320 cubic inches, the eights provided up to 165 hp—15 hp more than the  Cadillac V8 at the time. One new wrinkle for ’41 was Compound Carburetion, with two two-barrel carbs (Carter or Stromberg) spread out on the inline eight’s long intake manifold to improve fuel distribution. Essentially, the setup worked like the four-barrel carburetors that would come along some years later, with the front carb handling the low-speed duties and the rear carb kicking in when the throttle was tipped.

Roadmaster Series 70 Touring Sedan 

As you’ve no doubt already gathered from the five available wheelbase lengths, the Buick model line for ’41 was an extensive one. The 40A Series Special was a price leader built on a 118-in wheelbase chassis and Chevrolet body shell, selling for as low as $915. The 40B Series Special and Series 50 Super shared the 121-in chassis, while the Series 60 Century rolled on the 126-in platform, the Series 70 Roadmaster 128 inches. The long-wheelbase 139-inch chassis was reserved for the Series 90 Limited, most often bodied as a formal sedans or limousine. There were coachbuilt versions, too, bodied by Brunn.

Special Series 40B Sedanet 

However, the star of the show in ’41 was the Series 40B Special in GM’s new streamlined coupe body style, which Buick called a Sedanet. (The name was then popularly applied to the other GM streamliners, often spelled as sedanette.) Daring and modern for its time, the Special Sedanet sold 88,000 units, second only to the Special four-door Sedan. The standard 40B Specials outsold the junior-sized 40A Specials by a large margin, but all told, Specials accounted for 63 percent of the division’s sales in ’41.

While it sold in far smaller numbers, the 90 Series Limited was the flagship of the ’41 Buick line, pushing the division well into the middle of Cadillac territory (and surely vexing Cadillac management). With prices ranging from $915 to $2,350, Buick now had by far the broadest product line at GM, while as division manager, Curtice forged close relationships with chairman Alfred P. Sloan and styling chief Harley Earl. In 1953, he was appointed president of General Motors.

Limited Series 90 Sedan