F
or 1926, Buick leapfrogged Dodge, Hudson, and Willys-
Overland in the sales race, going from sixth place the year
before to third. Ford and Chevrolet were still in their own
league, battling it out for the common man on a previously
unprecedented scale. But in that next tier, Buick led the pack, its
near-luxury appointments bolstered by the company’s well-earned
reputation for quality. The 1926 Master Six Coupe on these pages
serves as a reminder of all that Buick did to earn its place on that
ever-important sales chart.
For the 1925 model year, Buick did away with its four-cylinder
line and introduced two different six-cylinder models, the Stan-
dard Six and the Master Six, each available in a variety of body
styles, with the latter higher priced and laden with more distinc-
tive features. The Master Six rode on a longer wheelbase than the
Standard Six, at 120 or 128 inches—depending on body style—
versus 114.4 inches. More than just additional size, Buick offered
the Master Six in 10 body styles in total, versus just fi ve for the
Standard Six. Among the models only available on the Master Six
line were a seven-passenger sedan—which surely made the best
use of the longest wheelbase, a fi ve-passenger Brougham Sedan, a
four-passenger Sport Roadster, and a fi ve-passenger Sport Touring.
The folks at Buick, the company that General Motors was
born from, knew more than a thing or two about selling cars, hav-
ing been successful at it for the better part of 20 years by the time
the Master Six hit the production lines. So, when they advertised
that “Power is the source of greatest satisfac-
tion in a motor car,” they backed it up with an
overhead-valve design that had done wonders
to fi rmly establish the Buick name over its fi rst
two decades. Overhead-valve engines quickly
proved to be more powerful per a given volume
of displacement than other designs, and also
capable of operating at higher rpm. It’s no
surprise that even as Buick found success in the
showroom in its early years, it also proved a
dominant force in the early days of racing and
speed-record competitions.
At the heart of every 1926 Buick sat the
marque’s famed Valve-in-Head engine. While
most other makers, particularly those mass
producing vehicles, made do with L-head de-
signs and other fl athead confi gurations, Buick’s
overhead-valve engines remained ahead of their
time, even decades after introduction. For theMaster Six, Buick installed the larger-displacement version of its
signature powerplant.
With a 3.5-inch bore against a 4.75-inch stroke, the 274.2-cu.in.
straight-six in the Master Six produced 75 horsepower and 178 lb-ft
of torque. Every Buick six featured all-cast-iron construction of the
block, cylinder head, and even the pistons. The drop-forged steel
crankshaft rode on four main bearings with full oil pressurization.
Buick advertised its engines in 1926 as “triple sealed,” owing to
its use of an air-cleaning device (it used centrifugal force to extract
dust from intake air, rather than a paper fi lter), an oil-fi ltration
system, and a strainer for the gasoline. Another advantage of Buick’s
OHV design was the ability to quickly reach the valves for any
required adjustments simply by removing the valve cover.
The three-speed transmission connected to the rear axle via a
torque tube, another Buick feature designed to separate it from the
rest of the mid-priced pack. Buick’s chassis engineers designed a
system that included cantilevered rear springs that worked with the
torque-tube system and its strut rods to improve the car’s ride and
control. The front consisted of relatively conventional leaf springs
on a solid front axle. Heavy-duty wooden artillery-type wheels
rounded out the chassis.
Given the engine’s output, Buick advertised that the Master
Six was good for 75 mph and between 14 to 16 mpg, both decent
performance numbers for the class. Buick included additional
mechanical improvements in the 1926 model range, including
Zerk-type grease fi ttings for chassis lubrica-
tion, dual-beam headlamps, an improved
multi-plate dry clutch, and other features.
Cosmetic updates for 1926 included a more
rounded radiator shell, double-belt moldings
on the body, and hubcaps and a gas cap
made from aluminum.
The Master Six line was distinguished
not only by the additional displacement
and power of its engine and the length of
its wheelbase, but by other touches such as
standard scuff plates, cigarette lighter, heater,
and a clock. Of more than 266,000 Buicks
sold in 1926—a then-record for the GM
division, just 10,028 were Model 48 four-
passenger coupes, which were built on the
longest 128-inch wheelbase, giving the car
an impressive scale for a mid-priced coupe.
The Master Six Model 48 four-passenger24 HEMMINGS CLASSIC CAR OCTOBER 2019 I Hemmings.com