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Tom Costain was only looking for a Buick grille on eBay. What he ended up getting was a rusted and dead 1950 Buick Special that needed a lot of work.
Posted by Holley Performance, this ’50 Buick Special had several issues from the get go. A dead engine, rust spots, and a mangled interior; Costain’s ’50 Special was a handful to begin with. However, that didn’t stop him from bringing the Special back to its former glory.
Tom Costain standing by his beloved '50 Buick Special, which required much needed TLC.
Holley Performance Products was able to catch Costain at the 2013 Holley National Hot Rod Reunion, where Costain explained the story behind his ’50 Special.
“The grille catches your attention right off the bat,” said Costain. “The body lines on the car are neat with real port holes.”
Purchased 7 1/2 years ago off of eBay, Costain got more than he asked for. He said the original engine was locked up and the suspension was questionable.
As a remedy, Costain dropped in a 8.2L Cadillac 500 V8 engine and a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 automatic transmission. The first Cadillac 500 engine, produced in 1970 sported a power output of 400 horsepower and 550 lb-ft of torque.
Inside and out, Costain went the whole nine yards to bring this '50 Special back to life.
For the suspension, Costain replaced the front subframe with a Chevrolet Nova front subframe and installed a four-link suspension on the rear. The coilover spring setup allowed Costain to achieve the ride height he felt was right.
Costain found everything he ever wanted in his ’50 Special, calling it The Complete Package.
Costain cut the original exhaust pipes since he was always kicking the pipes when he used to walk alongside the car. Costain also said the ’50 Special needed a lot of work to get the car operational. However, the end result is a car he fell in love with.
“The flow of the fastback just adds to it all,” said Costain. “If it didn’t have the fastback I might have not been so enticed to jump on it.”
When asked about the car overall, Costain only had a few words to explain his ’50 Special.
“It was the complete package basically,” Costain said.
Do you agree with Costain? What would you have done different to this ’50 Special? Comment below.
A cool feature of The Complete Package – dual hinges to open the hood from either side of the car.
