How common were high-end Buick A-bodies without hood ornaments?

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick caregivers,

There is a number of threads on the Buick Club of America section of the Antique Automobile Club of America forum devoted to photos.  This afternoon there is a photo posted of a 1964 or 65 Sportwagon.  Here is a link to the thread:

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/357072-red-friday/?do=findComment&comment=2637583

This might display the photo here:



What struck me is that clearly there is no Tri-Shield in either the 64 or 65 position.  What do folks on this forum make of that?  There are some aspects of the photo that suggest it has been "Photoshopped" but other aspects that seem genuine.

What do you think gang?

Edouard

[schlepcar]

   I don?t believe the 64 ever had an ornament on the hood,but I do think a skylark as  pictured in 1964 always had a circular grille emblem with the tri shield. A special would not have came with the grill emblem in 64. That makes me believe the car pictured was not a production car.

[elagache]

Dear Dan and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

You can see my puzzlement!  It has the "vista-dome" glass which makes it a Sportwagon - the top of the Buick wagon line.  So it should have had the tri-shield in the middle of the grill if it is a 1964 or a hood ornament if it is a 1965.  There is something phony about the photo.  The car is much sharper than the background.  On the other hand, you can see how the occupants are dressed and it sure looks to be mid-60s.  Overall, the image is very sharp.  That means it isn't simply a photo taken at the time because both slides and prints fade.  The only thing from that period that would remain sharp would be an image from a high-quality magazine.  I was wondering if perhaps this was either an advertisement or perhaps a story from a magazine.  In order not to appear to be endorsing Buick, they removed the emblems.

That's about the best theory I can come up with.

Edouard

[Jimbo]

License plate has NOV OREGON 64 on it. So is it a 64 or a 65?  Front bumper right (pass) side looks funky.

[Loren At 65GS]

As pointed out, it is a '64. But in '64 it was not called a Sportwagon. It was a "Skylark" wagon.

  Loren

[Mark Ascher]

I spent a year or three in graphic design and advertising. The image posted looks like it may have been taken by GM Photographic. In a studio. Then the background is “stripped in” as a step in creating the completed image. Many jobs that existed then are long obsolete as the computer revolution took hold in the 80s-90s. One was “strippers”, skilled jobs used daily to create and produce art for advertising and print. Another skilled craft was retouching, used to clean up or modify an image already taken. This job was taken over by Photoshop as noted. The airbrush was a key tool used by retouchers. Images used in creating dealer albums, model line brochures, etc were often modified by retouchers, sometimes due to final trim, color and so on may not have been finalized by the time these pieces had to be printed. You’ll see the disclaimers in these printed pieces noting that. Go to the GM Photostore, you’ll see many more images resembling the one posted.

[schlepcar]

 It definitely had to be promotional because nobody ever paid the extra for a wagon for hauling around just one kid. My sister and I were stuffed in the area behind the seats of a corvette to commute before my brother was born. It was only then that we could all have a whole seat to ourselves?..lol. It?s a pretty cool ad that probably involved a lot more effort than we know.

[elagache]

Dear Jim, Loren, Mark, Dan, and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

Thanks for the insightful and interesting comments.  I was wondering how they "photoshopped" images back in the 60s.  That still leaves the puzzle of why this promotional image doesn't feature the Buick Tri-shield logo where it belongs on a 1964 wagon.  Without more information about the image, most likely we will never know!

Edouard

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick caregivers who are detail-oriented,

Someone on eBay is selling an advertisement purportedly for a 1964 Buick Special.  Here is the link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276313245195

Once more, I'll try to post the advertisement image directly:



Okay, for starters I had never seen the "Wouldn't you really rather wash a Buick?" sales pitch - cute!   However, what struck me once more is the lack of a Tri-shield.  I've heard that the 1965 base-line Specials sometimes didn't come with a hood ornament.  Was the same true for 1964 Specials as well?

A curious mind would like to know!

Edouard

[TrunkMonkey]

I had a '64 Special back in the '70s. It had the grill tri-shield emblem but I pulled it off, because I never liked the look.



BTW, the red wagon is a '64, based on the side trim and the front bumper.

I think the photo is "real", and is typical of a "stage set", with a "Matte painting" background and a "created" (stage) foreground, same as done in cinema.

[elagache]

Dear Michael and mid-60s Buick caregivers who are detail-oriented,

I had a '64 Special back in the '70s. It had the grill tri-shield emblem but I pulled it off, because I never liked the look.

Honestly, I have never liked the Tri-shield on the grill either, but obviously, I have been biased by my upbringing!

BTW, the red wagon is a '64, based on the side trim and the front bumper.

I think the photo is "real", and is typical of a "stage set", with a "Matte painting" background and a "created" (stage) foreground, same as done in cinema.

Okay, that's still another way to create a "photoshopped" image back in the day.  Thanks for mentioning it.  We forget how resourceful us humans have been in the epoch before computers!

Edouard