For many years, the mid-range Buick Super was the GM division’s best-selling car. Here’s a quick review.
1940 Buick Super Estate Wagon
When Buick introduced the 1936 Century—a smaller Buick with a bigger engine—it was only natural that the General Motors division would follow along a few years later with the opposite proposition: a bigger Buick with a smaller engine. After all, the latter was probably more aligned with the tastes of the typical Buick buyer. And that, in Buick lore, was the Super, but that’s a generalization. The formula was continually tweaked through the years as the model lines were adjusted.
1941 Buick Super Convertible Coupe
For its 1940 introduction, the Super (known in the parts and service manuals as the Series 50) shared the 248 cubic-inch straight eight and the new 121-inch wheelbase chassis of the base model Special, but with deluxe appointments and more standard equipment. Thus it slipped into the lineup above the Special, nearly alongside the Century, and below the Roadmaster and Limited. The formula was a winner, as the Super was the best-selling Buick in the lineup that year.
For 1942 the Super received a three-inch longer chassis but continued to share the Special’s smaller 248 CID engine, and this recipe continued in 1946 though 1948, when the Century was dropped and the Super was the sole mid-range model. In these years the Super continued to be Buick’s best-selling car, especially the four-door sedan. However, the two-door fastback Sedanet, the Convertible Coupe, and the wood-bodied Estate Wagon were respectable sellers, too.
1947 Buick Super Sedanet
When the Buick line was overhauled for 1949 and the chassis reduced to two, the Super was back on the same 121.5-inch wheelbase as the Special, combined with the smaller straight eight. (However, the ’50-’53 Super Riviera sedan was built on a 125.5-in chassis. It’s complicated.) As the V8 era at Buick began in 1953, the Super got the larger 322 cubic-inch version rather than the Special’s 264 CID V8, and in 1954 the Super shared a 127-in wheelbase with the flagship Roadmaster. When the Ventiports arrived in 1949 the Super was assigned three portholes per fender, but in 1955 it was promoted to four.
1950 Buick Super Riviera Hardtop Coupe
But by ’55 the market was changing, and the Super was no longer the volume leader. The division had risen to number three in total sales, in part through aggressive marketing of the low-priced Special, and the Century had rejoined the mid-range with the Super in ’54 as well, dividing sales between the two. The sales surge didn’t last, however. Buick was hammered in the 1957-58 recession along with the rest of the mid-priced field.
For 1959, Buick scratched all its existing model names and now the line consisted of LeSabre, Invicta, Electra, and Electra 225, with the mid-range Invicta replacing the Super and Century, more or less. The last of the original Supers was produced in 1958. However, Buick briefly revived the name, sort of, in 2008-09 with the LaCrosse Super, a LaCrosse sedan with a 4.6-liter Cadillac Northstar V8 under the hood.
1958 Buick Super Riviera 4-Door 
I love the styling of the 1947-59 Buicks. Best looking of all the GM cars during that period in my opinion. I even like the chrome-laden 1958 that everyone else seems to hate.
It’s always difficult to keep up with the Century and Super designations, I find that I invariably knee-jerk back to the “Century equals big engine in little body, Super equals little engine in big body” convention.
Although if someone says “Buick Century” without other context I’m picturing an ’80s/built into the mid ’90s FWD A-body.
It’s funny, I’ve owned one of those (an ’86 Estate Wagon inherited from my late mother) and an ’84 base sedan (part of my father’s estate, I drove it occasionally but sold it off quickly) . . . . yet if you say “Century” to me I’m automatically assuming you’re talking a straight eight Buick. Probably because the longest I owned a Buick was my first car, a ’37 Special 2-door sedan, which I showed for 12 years.
During this time, my uncle was a bank president in a small northern Wisconsin town. As a kid, I thought it amazing he rose from janitor to bank president. He bought a new Buick from Fraley Motors every two years, was proud of them and my dad was very envious.
Remember that from `49 until the end of straight eights in `52, the great majority had fixed-pitch Dynaflow. Pokiness was okay with those customers. They were in it for the smoothness.
During the straight eight era, Buick used that side latched hood that could be opened from either side or removed if you had a helper. Some guys loved it but it could be a pain in the butt to close if the alignment was off.
When the nailhead V8 was introduced in ’53, Buick switched to the conventional “alligator” style hood.
Yes, indeed. I worked in an old Buick dealership that still had hooks in the wall in the mechanics’ stalls for hanging the hoods.