There are only two 1954 Buick Wildcat IIs. The original in the Sloan Museum, and this remarkable recreation. Story and construction scans complements of Ken Mitson and Ron Will.
1954 Buick Wildcat II Recreation
by Pete Phillips, BCA #7388, Bugle Editor
Parked right outside the convention center door during most of the meet was this replica of Buick’s 1954 Wildcat II concept car. You would have been forgiven if you thought it was the real thing, which is housed in the Sloan Museum’s Buick Gallery in Flint, Michigan. But this is a replica of the original, and represents an eight-year labor of love-some might say obsession-by owner Ken Mitson.
Ken has owned Buicks since 1966, when he bought a new Riviera, so he is hooked on them. After finishing a complete restoration of a 1953 Skylark, he was wondering what would be his next project. He had fallen in love with the Sloan’s Wildcat II, due to its beautiful flowing lines, and thought that it could be a really neat, cool project if he could get close enough to it to take hundreds of measurements and photos. Right here, it should be noted that Ken owns a couple of manufacturing companies-one that builds pipe-making tools and one that builds high-performance race car parts. So he has some expertise that the average person lacks.
The Original Wildcat II
Ken befriended Jeff Taylor, the Curator of the Buick Gallery, and talked him into being allowed to take photos and digitized drawings of the 1954 Wildcat II when it returned from the Pebble Beach car show one year. When Taylor called and said the Wildcat II was arriving back at the museum, Ken and his paint and body man flew up to Flint, set up a digitizing camera, established a grid system with the ability to add dimensions to the photos, and “shot a zillion pictures” as Ken tells it. The photos were loaded into a computer, blown up to actual size, and big digital cut-outs were made to guide the fabrication of the fiberglass panels which make up the car.
Interview with Ken Mitson at SEMA in 2013
What followed was months and years of whittling, cutting, gluing, and building molds for the fiberglass panels. Ken’s objective was to reproduce the original car’s appearance, but to make it more drivable and handle more like a sports car. The original Wildcat II has a 322 Buick V-8, Dynaflow transmission, torque tube, and lever-type shock absorbers-in other words, 1954 Buick chassis and drive train technology. “It’s more of a push-toy than a real car,” says Ken.
The Original Wildcat II
The Wildcat II’s design is based on an early Chevrolet Corvette, including the cowl, windshield, and body design. So, Ken’s first search was for an early Corvette body and frame. He found a 1956 Corvette frame and a complete 1954 Corvette body in a guy’s backyard, and bought them. Then, he got a 425 Buick nailhead V-8 and set about updating it. The 425’s block, cylinder heads, crankshaft, and oil pan are from the Buick engine, but everything else is new, using the latest engine technology. For example, it has the latest fuel injection system, computer-driven controls, electronic timing, oxygen sensor, hardened valve seats and guides, a solid lifter cam-all of the things that a modern, high performance engine has. According to Ken, the horsepower output is about 450 h.p.
Photo by Ron Will
The car’s suspension is also updated. Ken bought a late 1980s, burned Corvette, took the suspension parts off of it, and married it to the older chassis so that it now has four-wheel independent suspension. The transmission is an aluminum, T-10, Borg-Warner four-speed. The car was finished just in time for the South Bend Buick meet, and Ken managed to put all of 10 miles on it before the show. He says it is like driving a new passenger car today. We thank Ken Mitson for bringing this work of art to the meet.
Construction Photos
Photos by George Prentice
Photos of the finished car by Gary Smith
Great pictures!
HEY GUYS
The Buick Wildcat coverage is superb. When the original was featured in the automotive press, I was impresses by the ‘neo’ touch of the cutaway front fender contour, the positioning of the traditional BUICK portholes on the horizontal surfaces and the overall proportions of the car.
I was scrollilng down and caught the BITTER article. I had an acquaintance who had an Opel dealership in Heiligenhaus. I was visiting him after one of my many trips to Eindhoven, Holland to design stuff for Philips Electronics, and he had the Bitter car in his dealership. He asked if I’d like to take a ride in it and of course I agreed. We went to lunch, and even though both of us smoked at the time, he was very insistent that I shouldn’t even think about it. The car was beautiful. And, well, that’s my memory of being up, in and ‘close’ to this custom Opel.
SYD MEAD
I worked for Ned Nickels for 4 1/2 years in the mid-seventies and I am pretty sure that he was responsible for the Wildcat under Harley Earl. I saw some pencil drawings that he had done of the car. He had been Chief Designer for Buick in the fifties up until the 1959 model when Bernie Smith took over.
Ned was a very nice person, he came from a small town in Wisconsin where he worked the night shift in a paper mill after high school. He made car sketches during slow periods. When someone told him GM was seeking artists he sent them in and was invited to Detroit. He was hired and worked at design until his retirement. He had no formal education after high school and was very loyal to Harley Earl.
Great job, what an undertaking. From the pictures it looks very well executed.
Dick Ruzzin
Seeing the story of the “1954 Buick Wildcat II Recreation” is like seeing an old friend. I have fond memories of the development of this model. When Ned Nickles, Buick Chief Designer, had completed the original full sized rendering, I was designated to build the wooden clay armature for the development of the full size clay model. The armature was a bit unusual as the cut away front fender presented something new.
When the armature was completed by our Wood shop and delivered to the Buick Studio, Nick called me upstairs to his studio. He was very pleased with my final product and said his door to the Buick Studio would be open ay time I wanted to visit. Please remember that all divisional studios were strictly secret and “off limits” to anybody except the very few that had direct business with the studio.
About a year later, I was promoted to the staff of Bob Lauer, Director of Engineering and visited the Buick Studio many times during my daily trips through the studios. Ned Nickles was one outstanding person and we had a lasting professional friendship. The Buick Wildcat II remains as one of all time favorite vehicles.
Ken Pickering
I must say, it has been a long, long, long time since I saw a car that made my pulse speed up like it used to do… way back when at the auto shows. The WIldcat II recreation is everything the old excitement USED to be about! One word: WOW!!!!!
A car guy with some vision, creative skills… and taste! A beautiful execution when new… and another beautiful execution now. Really impressive work here. Magnificent.
I always loved the way the Wildcat II tail lights illuminate. We’re talking some real design attention to detail with a flair!
But one thing that has puzzled me for a lot of years. When I remember seeing the original Wildcat II in the 1950s, it seems to me that it had a clear windshield. However, more recent pics of the original seem to show a tinted windshield (which actually looks better to me) but I wonder when, if, or where this change took place? Or am I imagining this?
And now to further confuse things, I see the recreation appears to have a clear windshield again. Can anyone clear up (no pun intended) this history of the Wildcat II windshields for me?
Thanks for the superb coverage and photos!
I heard about this car as a kid, but never saw hide nor hair.. Finally get to see it in great pics and great construction pics. Maybe they should have produced a few thousand of them.. put on a roof for wet weather.. My grandfather loved Buicks. Would take me to the dealership in Royal Oak, and chat with the boss. I’d get to sit in a new Riviera and play with all the buttons. Always wanted one. I drove cross country in a friends beat up Riviera, great comfort! Thanks for the ‘vette alternative.
I was lucky enough to watch Ken Mitson and Marvin Compton put this masterpiece together. I was amazed that they were able to create this without using any of the sophisticated clay models and engineering platform tools that GM uses. Using only small green foam blocks from a craft store they were able to meticulously glue and shape them into one of Harley Earl’s great Motorama show cars. This is truly a work of art that required infinite perseverance and talent to get the job done. Congratulations Ken and Marvin.
I was fortunate to meet Ken in 2010 while I was in Arizona selling my then recently completed Club de Mer recreation. At that time Ken showed me under construction photos of his Wildcat.
I must say after seeing the finished car ,Ken knocked it out of the park!!
Joe Bortz has told me several times that the Wildcat II is one of his absolute favorites .
The first new family car I remember was our 1953 Buick Riviera Special, dark over medium blue (Imperial over Reef?). From then on, I was a Buick fan. Over the decades, I’ve gained an appreciation of just about all things Buick. So when I see someone like Ken who has spent so much of his time, energy and money on (re)creating a tribute to such a unique automobile, he deserves all the accolades given to him. It’s an absolutely outstanding effort resulting in a more than memorable car.
Wow, Mr. Mitson – an absolutely jaw dropping car. Very well done, sir! I’m familiar with the original, as it has been displayed in the Sloan Museum in Flint for years. Your car takes the original a step further to the ultimate expression of what it SHOULD be – a drivable, high powered Buick sports car! Somewhere, Ned Nickles and Harley Earl are smiling.
Fabulous to have comments by Syd Mean, Dick Ruzzin and Ken Pickering, all friends of mine. And to have their memories of Ned Nickles, who was indeed a superb designer with both the original Corvair and Buick Riviera to his name.
But…I do hope that this Wildcat II has a plaque on it somewhere that identifies its builder…
Wow what craftsmanship. Dream cars do come to life—lots of time and talent applied with patience—eight years!
Check out the Hartville Ohio car builder, Jim Palosi. With nothing but a rendering and sheet aluminum to work with he is building the one off 1948 Panozster.
You have built an amazing recreation of the Wildcat II. What do you say to building a replica of the Wildcat I and the Wildcat III? 🙂
David Temple, author of “Motorama: GM’s Legendary Show & Concept Cars” and “GM’s Motorama: The Glamorous Show Cars of a Cultural Phenomenon”
The Wildcat has always been one of my favorite show cars. My father always drove Buicks, and having grown up up in the 50’s and 60’s I can see a lot of influence from our ’53 and ’57 models. Ken – Can you build another one?
My father and mother met modeling in Detroit in 1951. They were 2 of the top models back then and both Detroiters. Most of the photos that are original promos from 1954 feature my father, Jack Hoffmann who was also a USMC officer at the time and Detroit area golf pro. My mother had worked for Campbell-Ewald advertising agency and they quickly realized they had a star in their midst. My father is in the black and white that you have featured above, another photo from the same shoot appears in the book ‘Cars Detroit Never Built’ and others and he is on the cover of ‘Detroit Dream Cars’, a color photo of him looking through binoculars sitting near a Buick Wildcat II. My mother was fortunate to have modeled 2 other concept cars, the 1954 Dodge Granada and the ’54 Oldsmobile Cutlass. I am in the early stages of a book about them! My father passed in 2009, my mother in 1971 at 40, of breast cancer. Web sights like yours help to keep them alive! Thanks!
When I say “most of the photos”, I meant photos that you will find of the Buick Wildcat II…
Thank you for representing this extraordinary car. This website is very rich in pictures. I use them to build this car with Lego bricks. Thanks again for the wonderful pictures.
Greetings from Beni
This is the sexiest thing I have ever seen! I Love (LOVE) this car. The first time I saw the Wildcat II, all I wanted to do was own one, but since it’s one of a kind, and unobtainable, It is one of those dreams you simply live with. I applaud you for doing such a tremendous job on creating this beautiful magical car. It’s interior is simply sublime! The chrome finish, the Interior which contrasts and compliments the body work, the reproduction of every detail, it is for a better word… Stunning! I’m in-love with your car, and I truly hope you get such joy out of it everyday, and when you do drive it, know you drive for all of us who are not lucky enough to own such an incredible thing of beauty.
I have a photograph of the original Buick Wildcat 2. I can not remember where I got it but it is of the car on a country road under some trees with the sun filtering through. I had it framed years ago as to me it is nearly orgasmic in every way. The wife keeps asking me if she can “put it somewhere”. Of course not.
I do not know who did the work putting this research/information together, but thank you.
I am now 71 and feel as if I have uncovered a wonderful secret,
The photo, only about 10×12 inches will now most certainly have a place in my den.
I work at Ken’s company in Wasco, Illinois. When he completed the Wildcat II, he brought it to the shop on the way to it’s first public showing. The Nailhead engine sounds great.
Wildcat II had no windshield wipers at that time.
Ken is having a hardtop made for it too
Wow, love her more than my woman!
What a tribute to American automotive beauty. And a fantastic car.
Can you make me one or any for sale.