Buick Roadmaster custom wrecker

Usually, we discuss these unique cars in beautiful and smooth conditions like the special vehicle-entitled Lil Redd Wrecker by George Barris. However, this time we will look at and discuss a such car, both in form and function but in the conditions as they are.

1950 Buick Roadmaster Custom Wrecker built by a Buick dealership near or in Oakland, California. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2ZP2ebk)

This is Buick Roadmaster Custom Wrecker which is believed to be a special vehicle that was modified in the 1950s. Although there is no official record regarding it, judging from the condition when it was found it still looks very good as it can be concluded that the custom car is made by a reliable auto builder.

It’s also stated the car runs fine, stops, and is ready for wrecking duty should it come to that. As quoted from Barn Finds, this special car was found in dry storage for years in northern California, and now in Lynchburg, Virginia.

1950 Buick Roadmaster Custom Wrecker was found in dry storage for years in northern California. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2ZP2ebk)

First glance, when you see the shape of this car from the side like a complete Buick Roadmaster where you can't see the shape of a tow car. There are something unique features especially embedded in the wrecker, the boom actually retracts into the floor of the bed. 

That's why it doesn't look like a tow truck, and we thought it’s almost like a James Bond car.😅 And according to the seller, the car that started life as a luxury car was later converted into a wrecker by a Buick dealership near or in Oakland, California with extraordinary craftsmanship.

1950 Buick Roadmaster Custom Wrecker has a special boom actually retracts into the floor of the bed. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2ZP2ebk)

As quoted by Hemmings, the unique Buick Roadmaster custom wrecker is built by a couple of friends named Harper Honea and Clark Burr, who often worked together in the town of Susanville, California. So when Burr decided to go into business as a Buick dealer in 1948, he enlisted Honea’s help in building the dealership on Susanville’s Main Street.

1950 Buick Roadmaster Custom Wrecker is known to be sold with a price tag of $45,000 in 2016. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2ZP2ebk)

Not a big Buick dealer, it can be seen when the two of them are seen doing all the construction work on the building. And when the dealership operates, Honea is the only full-time mechanic in there. According to Harper's son, Darrel Honea, a few years later, his father and their Clark Burr stumbled upon a pair of Buick Roadmaster wrecks, both 1950s, both originally sold through the dealer.

1950 Buick Roadmaster Custom Wrecker while was used as a special big tow vehicle at a Buick dealer in California. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/35Sihci)

So over the course of the next few years, Honea pieced the cars back together, shortened the cabin, and added the bed, boom, generator, and motor to turn the Roadmaster into a wrecker, all according to plans previously had engineered by Burr. And the dealer is operated the Buick custom wrecker until the 1970s.

And in 2016 this unique big tow car is known to be sold with a price tag of $45,000, but it was not stated whether the unique wrecker was successfully sold at the price the seller wanted. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | BARN FINDS | GM AUTHORITY | RODAUTHORITY | HEMMINGS]

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