Photos and research courtesy Kustomrama
In 2003, Yaril Quintana of Yaril’s Customs in Hialeah, Fla. purchased a ’51 Buick Special. It still wore its original coat of paint, with no rust on the body, so after installing air bags, nosing and decking the car and shaving the door handles and antenna, Yaril got right on the road with the Buick as his daily driver.
A year later, he’d put many miles on the car and it required some minor repairs, so Yaril thought he might as well upgrade the Buick while he was fixing it. He updated the drivetrain with an automatic 700R4 transmission (modifying the original column shifter to accommodate it), but kept the straight 8 already under the hood, as he intended for the car to be a highway cruiser. The new transmission hooked to a ’79 Cutlass rear end featuring 3.42 gears. A triangulated 4-link and a number of other mods were necessary to fit the new drivetrain.
Yaril went on to use a Walker 4-core brass top to replace the radiator and Slam Specialty bags to improve the car’s safety. He put Cutlass drums in the rear but kept the stock drums up front. The dash was also kept stock, but granted a coat of custom paint. Yaril welded a second exhaust port to the stock manifold, as well.
The radio buttons were converted into air bag controls, and the A/C routed out through a grille originally meant to serve as the speaker. In addition to the existing gauges, Yaril added an air gauge. He placed a CD player in the glove box to preserve the original appearance while gaining access to newer tunes.
Yaril wrapped up his Buick build in style with a homemade black and white Plexiglas shift knob, a ’53 Buick steering wheel, wide white walls bias ply rubber fit tires and ’54 Mercury hubcaps. He lowered the rear of the car an additional 1.5 inches.
The build was sufficiently completed by November 2007, but in December 2008 Yaril noticed a picture of Sam Barris’ 1950 Buick on the cover of The Rodders Journal and was immediately inspired to french the headlights on his own Buick. He did this by welding the stock rings to the fender. In order to hide the edges of the two different types of black paint, he pinstriped scallops on the car.
In July 2009, Yaril decided it was time for yet more modifications; he chopped the roof 2 vertical inches up front and at the b-pillar and moved the taillights onto the bumperettes. A bit earlier that same year, he had moved the gas filler neck to the car’s trunk and welded the gas filler door shut. While chopping the car, he laid down the rear three piece window and moved it forward three inches.
