Offered from The Robert Lusk Collection; pinstriped by Von Dutch
1912 Buick 22.5hp Model 35 Touring

"Buick's most popular car this year (1912) was the new Model 35 Touring, which weighed 2,100 pounds and cost $1,000. Production totalled 6,050. Normally the car was finished in dark blue with gray wheels... The car had three functional doors, with a dummy door on the driver's side holding the parking brake and shift levers. It used the 165-cubic-inch block and a 101.7-inch wheelbase. Gas headlights and kerosene cowl and taillights were standard." George H Dammann, Seventy Years of Buick (photocopy extract in history file).

Augmenting the long-running twin-cylinder series, the first four-cylinder Buicks appeared in 1907 and by 1912 the range comprised fours only. Most popular was the 165ci (2.7-litre) Model 35, newly updated with three-speed sliding-gear transmission in place of the previous planetary unit. Suspension was by semi-elliptic leaf springs at the front and fully-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. The mechanical brakes operated on the rear wheels only.

The Buick Model 35 offered here has been pinstriped by the legendary American hot-rod icon, Von Dutch, a man widely acknowledged as father of the post-war California car art movement. Von Dutch applied pin-striping to the body, doors, and wings, and signed the car at the rear. Robert Lusk purchased the Buick from an American auction in 2013. The car would appear to have been sold from the Petersen Museum Collection. There is a letter on file from a previous owner, Mr John S Adamick, dated 15th September 2020, together with a photograph of the Buick dated 1959.

The Buick might best be described as an older restoration, now showing its age. The odometer reading of the Stewart speedometer is 6,643 miles (600 miles believed to have been covered by Robert). There is a 'Registered Motor Vehicle No. 75004 1915 State of California' plaque fixed to the dashboard. According to the V5C and HPI, the chassis number is '959'. We were not able to locate it at time of cataloguing; however, within the history file is a letter from the secretary of the Classic American Automobile Club of Great Britain, dated 10/03/20, stating the vehicle had been inspected and the VIN plate located and confirmed as being '959'. There is a certified image on file, and the car also comes with the 2013 purchase invoice and shipping paperwork, and a photocopy State of Montana Certificate of Title.

Offered in need of recommissioning, or possibly more extensive restoration, this charming 'Brass Era' Buick is sold strictly as viewed. It is not known when it last ran.

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