Buicks differed little from 1939 to 1940 albeit for a clever reworking of the grille and front fender treatment which gave its cars a completely different appearance. The grille was much larger consisting of heavy horizontal bars while the headlights moved down into pods integral with the front fenders. New to the lineup was the Super, an intermediate model between the Special and Century which helped Buick reach an all-time record of 310,995 vehicles and fourth place in the industry.

In 1940, Buick offered five series in ascending order – Special, Super, Century, Roadmaster, and Limited. All were powered by an inline eight-cylinder engine, however, the mid-line Century shared the “Dynaflash” 141-h.p. 320-c.i.d. motor with larger Roadmaster and Limited. Today, many historians consider the Century to be America’s first performance car by using the formula of fitting the biggest engine in the smallest car. New for 1940 were “Torpedo” bodies without running boards. Oil filters were now standard on all engines, too. The Convertible Phaeton appeared for the last time in 1940. Buick built just 194 for domestic sales and another nine special order bodies for export before the style was phased out of production.