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2026 Chevrolet Tahoe ReviewThis 1958 Buick Century is Peak Chrome
This 1958 Buick Century comes from the height of the chrome and fins era and offers heaps of both with head-turning vintage styling.
When Too Much is Not Enough
This 1958 Buick Century, with its cascades of chrome, massive bumpers, and Blue Mist finish, was an inevitability. Automotive styling became something of its own arms race in the 1950s as Detroit’s Big Three, Ford, Chrysler, and GM, vied for the attention and dollars of the car-buying public with ever gaudier and more grandiose designs. The fins got ever bigger, the front ends more ornate, and the cars so bedecked in chrome from stem to stern they practically blinded onlookers. Leading the charge for GM was head of design Harley Earl who felt the more baroque the better, pushing for ever more ostentatious flourishes culminating in cars like the ’59 Impala, ’58 and ’59 Cadillac, and the ’58 Buick.
Today, we’re highlighting this 1958 Buick Century convertible finished in a frosty Blue Mist with matching tri-color interior. With minor convenience updates, this ’58 Buick Century retains what made it a spectacular ride almost 70 years ago.
Second-Gen Century Year-By-Year
The second-generation Buick Century, debuting in 1954, brought the nameplate back after a twelve-year hiatus and smack in the middle of the era of chrome and fins. Naturally, the Century was equipped with the requisite materials: flashing wire-spoke wheels, giant chrome bumper (with prominent Dagmars) and a waterfall grille, gun-sight hood ornament, chrome side spears, and “VentiPort” side vents. The Century was offered as a two-door coupe or convertible body styles as well as a four-door pillarless hardtop or station wagon.
Initially, the Buick Century ran the 322 cu.-in. “Nailhead” V8 thus named because its small, vertical valves resembled nails. For 1954, the 322 V8 made 200 horsepower. Upgrades arrived for 1955 and 1956, pushing output to 235 and then 255 horsepower. Throughout the second generation the Century offered just one transmission the Dynaflow two-speed automatic. For 1957 the Century got a new, larger version of the Nailhead V8, now displacing 364 cu.-in. and making 300 horsepower.
Updates for 1955 included a revised mesh-style grille, new headlights, even bigger Dagmars on the front bumper, and four VentiPort side vents. Buick updated the car once again for 1956 with another front-end makeover that added a new grille and new headlights as well as a large jet hood ornament with gun sight ornaments atop the front fenders. 1957 saw the reintroduction of a waterfall style grille and altered side vents.
Last of the second generation, the 1958 model year provided the Buick Century with the most thorough reimagining yet. The grille was redesigned again, seemingly larger than ever. There were new quad headlights and a new chrome spear spanning the side of the car. The largest feature was the chrome body work added to the rear fenders. In the rear was the largest bumper of any car in production that year. Curiously absent were the VentiPort side vents. According to Buick designer Hank Haga, it was Harley Earl himself who’d requested a kitchen sink’s worth of chrome paraphernalia to be added.
Was it too much? Possibly. Buick’s sales for 1958 greatly underperformed, moving around a third of the units the brand mustered just a few years prior. Some attribute the gaudy styling of the ‘58 with the dip in sales, but then again, 1958 was a recessionary year and the entire car industry saw diminished sales that year.
And yet, the 1958 Century offered upscale innovations aligned with its premium position, nestled right below Cadillac. The ’58 model was the first to offer fined rum brakes, a design that optimized heat dissipation, a design what would be used into the 1970s. This was also the first year for Buick’s “Air-poised” air suspension, deployed for the Century at all four wheels. The air suspension system proved problematic and was shunted to the rear for 1959 before being dropped entirely for 1960.
This 1958 Buick Century
Our featured 1958 Buick Century convertible comes is a frosty cool Blue Mist and rides atop sparkling chromed wire wheels wrapped in white wall radial tires. The Century retains the original 364 cu.-in. Nailhead V8 but upgrades to an Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor. Shifting is done by standard two-speed Dynaflow transmission. The car comes with power brakes and power steering, a major plus for a weighty classic like this. Despite being a convertible, this Century adds aftermarket air conditioning. The interior is just as impressive as the exterior. It too is bedecked in chrome accenting with an aeronautically theme instrument display (the 1958 Buick was even marketed as the B-58) and comes with eye-popping tri-color upholstery.
This is one of just 2,558 convertible Buick Century built for 1958, making this a rare example. Even more rare is this car’s immaculate condition. It’s got a showroom finish from end to end and top to bottom. This impeccable example is currently listed for $109,995.
