Patinated Patrician

The story played out like something you’d thrill to watch on the silver screen. Rather than a lost ark of legend, a motoring treasure was locked away in a building that had, decades earlier, been home to a Chevrolet dealership. The cars and parts gathering dust in that attic may have been simply old inventory — part of the furniture, so to speak — to their owner, but for the local automotive enthusiasts who had the joy of discovering and purchasing them, they represented so much more. The Buick Touring car on these pages has led a movie-script-worthy existence, and it’s back cruising the same roads it drove on when it was new.

The story is set in New York’s scenic Catskills region, where, in 1922, Walter Gaebel purchased this Model 22-35. The soft-top five-seater, riding on a 109-inch wheelbase, was the second bestselling car to roll