The Route 66 town of Springfield, Missouri, is hosting the Buick Club of America National Meet on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and attendees will have the opportunity to see an extremely rare Buick model.
According to a news release from the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau:
The Buick Wildcat I was built in 1953 as a show car for General Motors and will be on display during the event that will also showcase more than 300 classic Buicks of all shapes and sizes.
The public can view the Wildcat and other cars in the Show Field from noon-5 p.m. June 11, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. June 12 and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. June 13 in the Maui Room at the Ramada Plaza Hotel & Oasis Convention Center. There is no admission to view the automobiles.
The car, owned by collector Joe Bortz, is the only Wildcat I ever built. Bortz explains the car was a one-off show car handmade by world-renowned designer Harley Earl to show off futuristic designs and was never supposed to have left General Motors.
“It was supposed to be destroyed after it served its show purposes in 1953,” Bortz said.
The car, however, was “slipped out of inventory” and in the 1980s became the property of Bortz, who restored it and added it to his collection.
The Wildcat hadn’t been shown in about 10 years, and this marks the first time it’s been at the annual Buick meet.
The hotel is right off Interstate 44 at Glenstone (map here)
(Images via Bortz Auto Collection archives)