Engine Number 999,816
Frame Number 920,129
Horsepower 27.5
We named her SPARKIE and here she sits in all her glory after 15 years in a ground up restoration. She's 83 years new and ready to go. In 1923 she was bought from the Lincoln, Nebraska Auto Company by my grandfather Franz A. Wangerin and taken home to the farm in Kensington, Kansas. He had six children all of whom ended up driving her at one time or another. My father Clarence Wangerin used her for attending Kersingtn High School, but most noteworthy is that he also used her exclusively for dating my mother, and I heard alot about some of those wilder dates.
Grandpa often visited a sister in Colorado Springs, Colorado, so he's load the family (kids and all) bag and baggage and off they would go. The trip would take some six or seven days or a distance of some 300 miles. They camped out at night along the road, cooked over an open fire,n' patched tires along the way (usually 4-6 a day) On rough days they all had to get out and push the car through sand and mud, up steep slopes not to mention having to ford the Canadian River near Limon, Colorado, where again they had to bull out and push. I did establish that she has made about 12-13 trips to the springs in the 20's. They always made if there and back, as the kids had the job of repairing the tires in the back seat as they drove off awaiting the next flat, grandpa took care of the mechanicals. Remember now that in the 1920's the highway was graded dirt county roads, trails, cow paths, wagon tracks, few if any bridges and open prarie (routing was usually nicely marked). This was grandpas 2nd. Buick the first was a 1917 Buick, Model D-45 Touring and he liked it so well he bought the 23 Touring (larger) to carry the crew. Preceeding the 1917 Buick Touring was a 1911 Oakland Touring. I'm not sure just why he liked touring cars.
The 1923 served the family well as old reliable till 1931, after that passenger section was removed in favor of a pickup bed. The car was finally retired to the machine shed in 1936. Linda and I picked It out of the shed, removed the bed and rettached the passenger section, put her on a trailer and brought her home to Lakewood, Ca. Now some 15 years later, here she stands in all her glory. We totally restored everything, just about every part is original, new manufactured parts have replaced the worn ones, we did have to cast some door handles, and a robe rack, and even reconditioned all the original nuts and bolts. With her block lacquer fenders, cobalt blue lacquer body, leather interior and the original type top material, replating, added a second spot light to match the existing one. For safety we installed turn signals and brake stop lights for the final touch.
She's on the road now and has about 10 miles on the odometer, nedless to say, we plan on putting many more on in time. Buick in March of 1923 produced the (1,000,000) millionth car as a 23-6-55 touring, that same year Lowel Thomas drove a 23-6-49 touring into Afganistan and a 23-6-55 was driven at a top speed of 108.24 mph at Maroe Dry Lake, in California. Today there are only (2) 23-6-49 Buicks in the Buick Registry that are operable and still distinguishing themselves on the road.
Like the old Buick Slogan, "When better cars are built, Buick will build them"
Lee and Linda Wangerin, Lakewood, BCA # 15259
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