In the mid 1930s, a General Motors Styling researcher, Ralph Pew, found a description of the ancestral arms of the Scottish Buick family - then spelled Buik - in an 1851 edition of Burke's Heraldry in the Detroit Public Library. Here is how the tri-shield was developed. It further observed that 'among car marketers, GM's Buick gained an astounding 53 percent in positive image with its tri-shield symbol.' A study of the impact of corporate symbols, it found that consumers' opinions can be helped - or even hurt - by their logos. The value of the Buick logo was noted in the early 1990s in a study commissioned by a corporate identity firm, the Schechter Group. It wasnвЂ™t until 1934 that GMвЂ™s German Opel and English Vauxhall divisions, which served much bigger markets than Australia.Д«uick Motor Division's famous 'tri-shield' emblem, basically three shields inside a circle, can be traced directly to the ancestral coat of arms of the automaker's Scottish founder - David Dunbar Buick. In the 1920вЂ™s nearly half of GMвЂ™s overseas assembly facilities were located in Australasia. Such was GMвЂ™s belief in AustraliaвЂ™s future that five vehicle assembly plants were built. That contract was GMвЂ™s first international motor manufacturing commitment and Holden quickly became the largest body maker outside of North America. As such Buick was the major contributor to GMвЂ™s financial success for the first 15 years, both in the USA and Australia.ДЇew people are aware that Australia was GMвЂ™s largest export market for many years or that in 1923 Holden Motor Body Builders was contracted to be GMвЂ™s supplier of bodies in Australia. BuickвЂ™s reputation in retrospect, was held in the same regard as Mercedes Benz is now.Д«uick was General MotorsвЂ™ top selling car and later became the market leader of the more prestigious quality segment.

Not only was Buick the foundation product on which General Motors was established, it also underpinned GMвЂ™s development in this country.

Buicks place in Australian automotive history.ДЇor nearly 40 years from about 1910 until after World War II Buick was the most prestigious, aspirational mass produced car sold on the Australian market.

Vintage 1950 buick car shield logo