mongooz
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After nearly a quarter of a century and the restorations of the bus-size General Motors Futurliner No. 10 and a 1929 Buick phaeton, Don Mayton can finally call the restoration of his one-of-a-kind 1956 Buick Century convertible “done.”
Mayton discovered the unique Century in the Buick Club of America’s Buick Bugle publication back in 1991. The seller said the car had unique trim and had originally belonged to Bill Mitchell, GM director of styling during 1956. Since the car was only 12 miles from Mayton’s Zeeland, Michigan, home, he couldn’t help but check it out. When Mayton arrived, he found the car largely disassembled with the advertised trim pieces scattered throughout the seller’s garage. From his years of working at GM Fisher Body, Mayton recognized the car’s trim was cast of brass — a form of construction that GM reserved for trim on unique cars, never production cars.
The seller also had a 1964 letter from Buick Motor Division stating the car was, indeed, built for Bill Mitchell, but it contained no other details.
Mayton didn’t purchase the Buick until four years later, when he came upon the ad again in his wallet. He called the seller and asked if he still had the car. He did.
Mayton bought the car and added it to his fleet of “to do” projects. In the meantime, he began to research the car to figure out exactly what he had. By contacting folks at the General Motors Tech Center and going to the GM styling center, Mayton was able to get much more documentation on the car, including original color photos taken immediately after it was built and a list of the 225 custom changes that Bill Mitchell ordered for his unique 1956 Century convertible. All of these changes earned the car its own name: 1956X Century, which Mitchell had embossed in the custom grille ornament.
read more: https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/car-of-the-week/car-of-the-week-buick-1956x-century
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