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Stunning 1918 Model E46 Opera Coupe Proves Buick Was Once Amazing, Also a Movie Star

Buick is a Chinese company. Okay, that's not exactly accurate, obviously, but more than three quarters of all sales coming from there is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Based on some of the sales figures we've become used to from one of America's oldest surviving passenger car moniker, it appears at the very least like their market focus has undeniably seen profound changes lately.
Buick Model E46 Opera Coupe 12 photos
Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution
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Back when the shoe was well and truly on the other foot, as in during the turn of the 20th century, Buicks embodied the spirit of a country ready to explode into a superpower, under a sea of asphalt and tarmac. As of 2022, one of the last reminders of what Buick used to be ages ago is parked alongside a litany of aeronautical and automotive brethren in the collection of the Glenn H Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York.

The museum is a warehouse-sized facility stuffed full of the life's work of one of America's most brilliant and pioneering auto engineers, Glenn Hammond Curtiss. But alongside an original Curtiss P-40 Warhawk WWII fighter and fully restored 1920s speed boat powered by a Curtiss aircraft engine is a collection of some of the finest classic cars and motorcycles ranging in age from 30 to 120 years old.

It's not quite Jay Leno's Garage worthy, but we're sure the patron saint of denim-on-denim and internal combustion himself would get a kick out of what's on display. But in this collection, one car stands out as more significant than all the rest.

Not least because it's all by itself in its own little corner of the museum. It's a 1918 Buick Model E46 Opera Coupe. Apart from being a gleaming example of how awesome Buick used to be eons ago, it also has an eclectic story behind it.

Buick Model E46 Opera Coupe
Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution
We bet you think hardtop convertible luxury cars were some sort of novel technology. But no, dear friends, it's been around since before any of us were born. Granted, it's not exactly a power-folding top. As far as we can surmise, it'd take another 17 years for the Peugeot Eclipse "Decapotable" to claim that title.

No, really, that's its name. How utterly horrifying. In any case, with little more than a couple of bolts and some metal clips, the Model E46 Opera Coupe's rigid metal roof could be whisked away to your awaiting garage while you go get some wind in your hair. What appears to be powering this pre-First World War hardtop coupe is a variation of the crude but dependable Buick straight-six.

Museum staff at the Glenn H Curtiss Museum peg the exact displacement for the 1918 model year at 242-cubic inches, or four liters exactly. With a bore and stroke of 3.375 inches by 4.5 inches (85.7 mm × 114.3 mm), there must be some pretty chunky pistons lurking inside this engine.

Power numbers were not all that easy to get right with hardware 100 years old or more, but museum staff reckons the chauffeur in this executive hardtop convertible could cruise at 50 miles per hour (80 kph) without much trouble. Although we're sure it was still relatively terrifying.

Buick Model E46 Opera Coupe
Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution
With space inside for three, including the driver inside the cabin, the kids are forced to endure the horrifying prospect of riding in the rear open-air rumble seat behind the enclosed passenger compartment. Without any seatbelts or crash protections whatsoever, we can only imagine life insurance policies were a tad more expensive back in the day if you adjusted for inflation.

But despite what you might think, this Buick had some pretty fantastic fuel economy numbers for its time. Museum staff pegs it as anywhere from 15 miles per gallon in the city and 18 on the highway (13 to 16 liters per 100 km). We may laugh in 2021, but that figure would hardly improve for the next 50 years of the American auto industry.

The story goes that the car was originally purchased by a businessman in Sayreville, New Jersey, between New York and Philadelphia. It's said the old man drove it less than 3,000 miles (4,828 km) before his death. Because neither of his two daughters could drive, it sat in a barn until 1958. At which point, Robert T Gibbs and his son, Robert Jr, purchased the car. After running some anti-seize to free up the engine after years of disuse, they found the car to be in more or less like-new condition.

Artifacts like a custom hat box and flower vase appear to have not even been touched by the car's first owner. No wonder it's a car that's since won multiple awards by General Motors, including a special tribute for GM's 50th anniversary. It's all topped off by starring in a scene in the iconic The Godfather Part II.

Buick Model E46 Opera Coupe
Photo: Benny Kirk/autoevolution
So then, does it make sense why this car has its own spot in this museum? It's got credentials most cars of any era could only dream of.
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