1958 Buick Century Caballero Is a Four-Door Hardtop Wagon That's Rarer Than Hen's Teeth
In 1958, at the depth of the Eisenhower recession, Buick hit rock bottom, with production numbers going head-first into the abyss. From the historical 739,000 automobiles assembled in 1955, the General Motors division dropped by nearly two-thirds to 242,000. However, despite the hostile sales environment, Buick wasn’t cutting any corners in quality or design. Quite the contrary – the gloomy ’58 gave us one of the most spectacular Buicks ever made.
Meager sales gave brass hats at Buick something to think about, and their answer was to clad the cars in chrome. There isn’t a single body panel that’s not shining blinding with all the extra bling thrown on it. The perfect example would be one of the coolest automobiles ever to come out of Detroit – the Caballero, the most luxurious factory-made station wagon from General Motors’ portfolio.
When Chrysler came up with the Forward Look design language, it swept the floors with competition – and it took a while for the other big two to retaliate. GM’s first responders were Harley Earl’s stylists, who made the best they could in the shortest time. One of the first decisions was to dress up the '58s – something undoubtedly already challenging, given the overkill details already spread all over the cars.
Allegedly, Harley himself approved three separate proposals for the 1958 lineup, and the result is what we see in the video below, courtesy of Steve Plunkett from London, Ontario. The well-reputed collector and gearhead is mostly renowned for his Cadillacs assemblage. Still, his other GMs are worthy of a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. Among his gems, a 1958 Buick Century Caballero Estate Wagon is one of the rare crown jewels.
Rare is appropriate – only 4,456 examples were built for the model year, less than two percent of the total production run under Buick’s belt. With nearly three out of four Buicks being a Riviera, it’s reasonable why all other models would be few and far between nowadays, but the Caballero garnered 7,876 examples from the two series that carried the moniker, the entry-level Special and the high-up Century.
Play the video below (shot on-site by Lou Costabile, the insatiable car vlogger who can’t have enough classics) to see and hear the four-door hardtop six-passenger wagon cruising down the road like suddenly it’s 1958 again. Yes, the car was restored to showroom condition (Steve’s cars are all impeccable, even the survivors), but why should that chip its aura of greatness, even in the tiniest?
When I said chrome overkill, I wasn’t being metaphorical – point at any part of the car, and you’re bound to hit mirror shine. The front and rear are absurdly sparkling – particularly the majestic grille resembling a parade on wheels. Perhaps not without reason, the Caballero moniker was chosen for the spectacular wagon.
In Spanish, the word is the equivalent of ‘gentleman,’ but it literally means ‘horseman.’ Its origins are deeply rooted in medieval times, when horse riders were usually the rich - think knights and their code of chivalry. The Caballero is, therefore, a noble car, just like its namesake Spanish blue-blooded gallant. Speaking of horses, the Buick Caballero has plenty of them – 300, to be specific, quietly trotting under 12,000 lbs (5,443 kg) of pressure from every power stroke.
That’s the amount of thrust developed in each of the Nailhead’s eight cylinders, corresponding to 400 lb-ft of torque (542 Nm) from the 364 cubic inches (six liters) of Buick’s B-12000 engine equipped with a four-barrel carburetor and producing 10.0:1 compression. With a 3.23:1 rear axle, the big Buick was perfectly fitted for long, quiet, comfortable cruises, thanks to a three-turbine torque converter transmission.
This particular long roof sports the optional rack over the back—chrome, obviously—but its immediately striking feature is the studded wide-mouth one-piece Dyna-Star grille. Well, when I say ‘one piece,’ don’t take it literally – it’s more like 200 separate pieces if not more. The studs between the bullet-shaped ornaments look amazing – until you have to clean them.
Better known by their nickname ‘drawer pulls,’ the legend has it that designers were inspired by that particular furniture element when they splashed the front end of the Buick with 160 tiny squares. Car detailing in the late 50s must have been a very demanding occupation, given how intricate the cars of that period were.
Buick didn’t record heavy showroom traffic in 1958 despite its amazingly good looks and stout performance. The Eisenhower administration's reforms had knocked down the American economy. High-price cars were not a priority for buyers, and a $3,831 4,500-lb (just north of two tons) automobile was certainly not among the most productive cash cows in the GM barn. That’s one reason why the moniker was dropped at the end of that year and also why they’re so rare today.
One thing you’ll notice on the trim tag (see it in the gallery) is the Mitchell-Bentley Corporation name instead of the usual Fisher. The Caballeros were bodied by the Ionia Manufacturing Co. Division, but – unlike other luxury GM wagons – the Buicks benefitted from the manufacturer's full warranty.
Steve Plunkett has been in the car collection hobby for over half a century, and in all his years, he’s only seen one more 1958 Buick Century Caballero. A hen dentist would be more successful in his field than a gearhead is to stumble across one example in such a good condition. However, if you like these once-in-a-lifetime chances, subscribe to Lou Costabile’s YouTube channel – he’s got quite a collection of classics ready (but wait to see what he comes up with next).
Meager sales gave brass hats at Buick something to think about, and their answer was to clad the cars in chrome. There isn’t a single body panel that’s not shining blinding with all the extra bling thrown on it. The perfect example would be one of the coolest automobiles ever to come out of Detroit – the Caballero, the most luxurious factory-made station wagon from General Motors’ portfolio.
When Chrysler came up with the Forward Look design language, it swept the floors with competition – and it took a while for the other big two to retaliate. GM’s first responders were Harley Earl’s stylists, who made the best they could in the shortest time. One of the first decisions was to dress up the '58s – something undoubtedly already challenging, given the overkill details already spread all over the cars.
Allegedly, Harley himself approved three separate proposals for the 1958 lineup, and the result is what we see in the video below, courtesy of Steve Plunkett from London, Ontario. The well-reputed collector and gearhead is mostly renowned for his Cadillacs assemblage. Still, his other GMs are worthy of a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood. Among his gems, a 1958 Buick Century Caballero Estate Wagon is one of the rare crown jewels.
Rare is appropriate – only 4,456 examples were built for the model year, less than two percent of the total production run under Buick’s belt. With nearly three out of four Buicks being a Riviera, it’s reasonable why all other models would be few and far between nowadays, but the Caballero garnered 7,876 examples from the two series that carried the moniker, the entry-level Special and the high-up Century.
Play the video below (shot on-site by Lou Costabile, the insatiable car vlogger who can’t have enough classics) to see and hear the four-door hardtop six-passenger wagon cruising down the road like suddenly it’s 1958 again. Yes, the car was restored to showroom condition (Steve’s cars are all impeccable, even the survivors), but why should that chip its aura of greatness, even in the tiniest?
When I said chrome overkill, I wasn’t being metaphorical – point at any part of the car, and you’re bound to hit mirror shine. The front and rear are absurdly sparkling – particularly the majestic grille resembling a parade on wheels. Perhaps not without reason, the Caballero moniker was chosen for the spectacular wagon.
In Spanish, the word is the equivalent of ‘gentleman,’ but it literally means ‘horseman.’ Its origins are deeply rooted in medieval times, when horse riders were usually the rich - think knights and their code of chivalry. The Caballero is, therefore, a noble car, just like its namesake Spanish blue-blooded gallant. Speaking of horses, the Buick Caballero has plenty of them – 300, to be specific, quietly trotting under 12,000 lbs (5,443 kg) of pressure from every power stroke.
That’s the amount of thrust developed in each of the Nailhead’s eight cylinders, corresponding to 400 lb-ft of torque (542 Nm) from the 364 cubic inches (six liters) of Buick’s B-12000 engine equipped with a four-barrel carburetor and producing 10.0:1 compression. With a 3.23:1 rear axle, the big Buick was perfectly fitted for long, quiet, comfortable cruises, thanks to a three-turbine torque converter transmission.
This particular long roof sports the optional rack over the back—chrome, obviously—but its immediately striking feature is the studded wide-mouth one-piece Dyna-Star grille. Well, when I say ‘one piece,’ don’t take it literally – it’s more like 200 separate pieces if not more. The studs between the bullet-shaped ornaments look amazing – until you have to clean them.
Better known by their nickname ‘drawer pulls,’ the legend has it that designers were inspired by that particular furniture element when they splashed the front end of the Buick with 160 tiny squares. Car detailing in the late 50s must have been a very demanding occupation, given how intricate the cars of that period were.
Buick didn’t record heavy showroom traffic in 1958 despite its amazingly good looks and stout performance. The Eisenhower administration's reforms had knocked down the American economy. High-price cars were not a priority for buyers, and a $3,831 4,500-lb (just north of two tons) automobile was certainly not among the most productive cash cows in the GM barn. That’s one reason why the moniker was dropped at the end of that year and also why they’re so rare today.
One thing you’ll notice on the trim tag (see it in the gallery) is the Mitchell-Bentley Corporation name instead of the usual Fisher. The Caballeros were bodied by the Ionia Manufacturing Co. Division, but – unlike other luxury GM wagons – the Buicks benefitted from the manufacturer's full warranty.
Steve Plunkett has been in the car collection hobby for over half a century, and in all his years, he’s only seen one more 1958 Buick Century Caballero. A hen dentist would be more successful in his field than a gearhead is to stumble across one example in such a good condition. However, if you like these once-in-a-lifetime chances, subscribe to Lou Costabile’s YouTube channel – he’s got quite a collection of classics ready (but wait to see what he comes up with next).