Buick is General Motors’ entry-level luxury brand and was started in 1903 by Scottish industrialist David Dunbar Buick. The first car, called the Model B, was produced in 1904. Since the Model B was produced, Buick has evolved into a company that not only produces luxury sedans, but also crossover vehicles. In addition to being sold in the United States, Buick cars are also sold in Canada, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwin, China and Israel. The company’s headquarters is in Detroit, Michigan.

Buick was originally headquartered in Flint, Michigan and it is there that the Model B was produced. Only 37 cars were made in the first year of production and no known survivors exist today. The world’s first closed-body car was introduced by Buick in 1911, giving it an advantage over the competition. By 1914, the car had gained the nickname of “doctor’s car,” as it was favoured among upper-class professionals. Buick was the first car company to introduce four-wheel brakes in the 1920s, something no other automaker was able to successfully do on mass-produced vehicles. Up until the oil shortages of the 1970s, Buick was known for its large vehicles, such as the LeSabre, Estate and Electra 225, but downsized their lineup to meet their customers’ needs. The subcompact Skyhawk was rolled out in 1975 and a smaller Regal was introduced in 1978. Buick had its best sales year in 1984, and then saw a steady decline.

Buick’s first generation of V8 engines lasted from 1953 through 1956. It was an OHV/pushrod engine like the then new Oldsmobile “Rocket V8″ engine. This engine became known as the “Nailhead” for the unusual vertical position of its small-sized valves”which looked like nails. The Nailhead-V8 family employed a camshaft with higher lift and longer duration to offset the smaller-sized valves and arguably restrictive intake- and exhaust-port areas. The small-size valves and intake runners made for engines with a lot of torque, with many exceeding one foot-pound per cubic inch, which was exceptional for the day.

In 1961 Buick unveiled an entirely new small V8 engine with aluminum cylinder heads and cylinder block. Lightweight and powerful, the aluminum V8 also spawned a turbocharged version, (only in the 1962-63 Oldsmobile Cutlass version), the first ever offered in a passenger car.

The company introduced a larger engine family to replace the “Nailhead” in 1967 and was produced through 1976. By the mid-1970s, GM was using powerplants sourced from various GM divisions where the Buick V8 was considered a factory option with the Buick 350 being the sole survivor.

-Some content sourced from Wikipedia