The "Commissioned by 'Gussie'" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished taking a photo of a house on West Liberty Street where my friend Bill used to live when he was very young.  Turned left on North Queen Street and headed toward the Lancaster Train Station.  Then I saw it sitting on the left in the parking lot of Michael's Motor Cars.  Didn't know what it was, but just knew I had to stop and find out. Pulled into the lot, parked my car, grabbed my camera and headed into the building.  As I entered through the garage door I was greeted by a beautiful Rolls Royce and a neat David Brown Aston Martin.  Now, these cars would be neat to photograph also, but not today.  Today I was interested in the one out front.  Jason walked up to me and introduced himself.  We talked some about the cars which sat inside.  One was from a collection of 27 vehicles that they had purchased from this area and the other was from a collection of 31 that had come from Virginia.  Pretty impressive.  Then I asked about the vehicle sitting in the parking lot.  "Oh, that's a '31 Buick," Jason said.  "Pretty neat.  We don't own that car.  We store it and lease it to people who would like to use it for maybe a party or reception.  Something like that."  Found out that the car had been made by GM's Buick division for August "Gussie" Anheuser Busch. Gussie was an American brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world and who was the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals.  Gussie had the car made so when his visitors came to visit, he would have a vehicle that could pick them up at the airport and transport them to his estate.  Something really neat that no one else would have.  The Buick is one of a kind.  And, boy was it neat.  Jason told me to take a look.  Told me to sit in it, take photos of it, but don't try to start it.  Spent the next 30 minutes admiring the Buick from just about every angle.  Can't imagine how much it must be worth, but is really is priceless.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Rolls that greeted me when I entered Michael's

1931 Buick

Sparce interior of the car

Steering wheel showing "Park", "Off", and "Hi-Bean - Low"

Passenger compartment showing the seating for guests

Passenger compartment from the rear of the car

View of the excellent wood-grain panels that cover the vehicle

Rear of the 1931 Buick