IN its two-tone blue paint job – the 1933 Buick Viceroy is a vehicle that attracts admiring glances as visitors stroll around the Lakeland Motor Museum.

And that’s not surprising. Buick is one of the oldest automobile brands in the world, dating back to 1899, and is known for producing beautifully engineered luxury vehicles. The ideal Buick customer was traditionally identified, in business blurb, as being comfortably well off, but not quite rich enough to afford a Cadillac – nor desiring the ostentation of owning one. But they would definitely be in the market for a car above the norm!

The Lakeland Museum model is a prime example. It was first registered in May 1933 on the Isle of Wight. It has a three-speed gear box, a sliding sunroof and a specification bristling with what, for the time, were ultra-modern features.

That included synchromesh, inertia-type shock absorbers, rubber engine mountings and automatic oil temperature regulation. It wasn’t fast – doing 0-60pmh in a rather stately 24 seconds. And it wasn’t cheap to run – achieving just 16 miles per gallon. Only 14 miles if “driven hard”.

In 1933 the Viceroy was sold as being extremely quiet running with a lively performance and good ride comfort. All of that for an asking price of £495.

In the 1930s the Buick brand in the UK was accepted as representing one of the finest examples of transatlantic design in the field of medium-priced cars. Models were exported to the UK from Canada and classified as being Empire-built.

The museum acquired the car in 1975 as a partially completed restoration project. Restoration was completed in 1978. It has occasionally been used for weddings and film appearances.

Records reveal that only 114 of this cars year and model were imported into the UK with this being the only known surviving example.