Cadillac executives quietly lobbied to kill this Buick Limited, worried it crept too close to their own turf — even though Buick was building barely 1,500 of them a year.
Lead trim: Limited 320 cu in Fireball I8 (120 hp) · up to 141 hp
Buick Limited1936–1942
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Buick Limited yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactCadillac executives quietly lobbied to kill this Buick Limited, worried it crept too close to their own turf — even though Buick was building barely 1,500 of them a year.
The origins of the Limited name date to 1936, when Buick added names to its entire lineup; it shared its chassis with the top-level Cadillac Series 70 and was offered as a sedan and four-door convertible (later limousines), with all-steel "Turret Top" tops, improved front suspension, hydraulic brakes, alloy pistons and better cooling. In 1938 the wheelbase was stretched two inches from 138 to 140 in and the Limited, with the Roadmaster, lost its wooden structural members for steel, the last Buick passenger cars to rely on wood; the 1939 Limited kept its 1938 body, offering a sectioned rear compartment with a glass partition and AM radios as an option. Behind the scenes Cadillac executives lobbied to get it out of production because it infringed on their market; at US$2,453 it almost equaled Cadillac's factory-built Imperial Touring Limousine (which cost almost four times as much) in appointments, and Buick asserted production averaged only 1,561 a year for 1938–1940. For 1940 the Limited was given both the Series 80 and Series 90 names, the Series 90 being a limousine with a 140 in wheelbase and 8-passenger capacity. The engine was a 320 cu in (5,243.9 cc) 120 hp straight-eight, improving to 141 hp by 1939. Production: 4,086 (1936), 3,697 (1937), 1,491 (1938), 1,451 (1939), 1,739 (1940), 3,006 (1941) and 636 (abbreviated 1942), 16,106 in all; after the war Buick dropped its extended wheelbase models and cancelled the Series 90 Limited.
Collectors Spotted in the Buick Limited Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Buick Limited yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limited 320 cu in Fireball I8 (120 hp) | 1936–1938 | 5.2 L Inline-8 | 120 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Limited 320 cu in Fireball I8 (141 hp, by 1939) | 1939–1942 | 5.2 L Inline-8 | 141 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Buick actually undercut Cadillac on price for its 1958 flagship Limited — yet Cadillac still outsold it nearly two to one. Badge snobbery beat the sticker.
Cadillac executives quietly lobbied to kill this Buick Limited, worried it crept too close to their own turf — even though Buick was building barely 1,500 of them a year.
The Series 90 Limited's closed cars came dressed in mohair velvet, silk passenger-compartment shades, and wool carpet throughout — despite having no V8 to back up the luxury.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
This era's Fleetwood limousine rode on a stretched 134.4-inch wheelbase — over eleven feet between the axles alone, on top of everything else making up the car.
A front-wheel-drive limousine was almost unheard of in the mid-1980s — only this Executive and the Cadillac Series 75 offered the format at all.
Chrysler Limousine · Limousine (1986–1986) · 1986–1986.
Checker even pitched a prisoner-transport version of this van, the Convoy, complete with a rear-facing guard seat — nobody ever bought one.
Buick actually undercut Cadillac on price for its 1958 flagship Limited — yet Cadillac still outsold it nearly two to one. Badge snobbery beat the sticker.
The Series 90 Limited's closed cars came dressed in mohair velvet, silk passenger-compartment shades, and wool carpet throughout — despite having no V8 to back up the luxury.
Japan's own imperial limousine needed an American part: no Japanese maker had yet built a transmission that could handle the Prince Royal's V8 torque, so it shipped with a GM automatic.
This stretched DeVille-based limousine came with dual solid-wood writing desks and an in-car VCR with a foldaway LCD TV — luxury so extreme only 781 were ever built.