Of trunks and tires: The real reason every ’37 Buick came with sidemounts

Posted on Jul 9, 2024 in Featured | 4 comments

1937 Buick Series 91F

The 1937 Buick Limited owned by Lee Gurvey.


Since he purchased this 1937 Buick Limited off the lawn at Hershey in 1999, owner Lee Gurvey has driven it all over the West. “We’ve taken it to Colorado, to the Adirondacks, all over the West Coast, to Crater Lake, all over the place,” he tells us. “I could drive it from Scottsdale to Chicago and not think twice.”


You can read all about it in the April 2015 issue of Hemmings Classic Car. But with all those miles under the tires, Lee wanted to take some precautions. “Someone suggested to me that I might want to find a spare tire to put in the trunk. The Limited came standard with the dual sidemount spares, but pulling those out of the wells is a lot of work. So I thought a spare in the trunk was a good idea.”


“So I got one. Then I discovered that it doesn’t fit in the trunk! It turns out that all of the 90-series (Limited) Buicks had side-mount spares because the tire won’t fit in the trunk!” What’s more, Lee confesses, “it says as much in the owner’s manual.” Oops.

4 comments

  1. Myron Mesecke

    It could be worse. The VW Touareg has its spare deflated and a strap around it to make it small enough to fit in its place in the trunk. The problem is you have no way to make the flat small enough to fit in the same space.

    This is German engineering.

    • Danton J. A. Cardoso

      Easy, remove the valve stem core, and wrap the strap around the tire. After that, reinstall the valve stem core.

  2. Cord Pilot

    That is why it is a good reason to have an owners manual and a shop manual for your collector car.

    You should also read these books so you know how your car works and how to get the most enjoyment out of it.

    • Danton J. A. Cardoso

      I’m with you on that one… Just wish some owner’s manuals weren’t like Cliff’s Notes!!