LAST BUICK CITY LESABRES DONATED TO POSTERITY AND CHARITY FLINT, Mich. -- The last 1999 Buick built at Buick City will be presented to the Buick Gallery and Research Center of the Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Museum in Flint -- on the 95th anniversary of the first public appearance of a Flint Buick. The second-to-last Buick, an identical platinum beige LeSabre Limited, will be donated to the Easter Seals of Genesee County for its classic car raffle. The charitable organization has been giving away a classic car every year for the past nine years as the grand prize in its annual fund-raising raffle. This year, Buick is donating the car to be raffled. Proceeds from the "Thanks for the Memories Buick" raffle will be used by the Easter Seals organization to provide mobility devices for the disabled as well as providing funding for camps and other activities for disabled children and adults. The Buick City Assembly Center will cease operations July 2 (1999), ending a chapter in a 95-year history of Buick production in Flint. The last Flint-built LeSabre, which will also be the last car off the assembly line, will be presented to the Buick Gallery on Friday, July 9, 1999. The date is significant because it marks the 95th anniversary of the day the first Flint Buick appeared on the city's streets. It was being driven by engineer Walter L. Marr, whose passenger was Tom Buick, son of Buick founder David Dunbar Buick. The pair left Flint July 9, 1904 (also a Friday), on a historic round trip to Detroit that helped establish the reliability of the Buick automobile. The round trip ended in Flint on Tuesday, July 12, 1904. Based on the success of that drive, the Buick Motor Co. directors decided to begin car production. At the Buick Gallery, the last Flint-built Buick will be preserved alongside a number of other significant Buick automobiles, artifacts and memorabilia. Among those vehicles is a replica of the original Flint Buick, which is outfitted with one of only two original 1904 Buick engines known to exist. The first 1904 Buick was built in a small factory on West Kearsley Street in Flint. Production that year totaled 37 vehicles. (At least two experimental Buicks were built in Detroit between 1901 and 1903). In November 1904, the Buick company was taken over by William C. Durant, a founder of Flint's Durant-Dort Carriage Co. Durant, a great salesman and promoter, was so successful that Buick claimed it led the country in production and sales in 1908. On Buick's success, Durant founded General Motors in Flint that year. The huge north Flint Buick plant, considered GM's first plant, was built in 1905-07 and plants on that site have produced Buick automobiles ever since, except when Buick was manufacturing military hardware during World War II. The plant was converted to front-wheel-drive production and recreated as Buick City, described as a state-of-the-art assembly center, in 1984-85. Since 1907, nearly 16 million Buicks have been built in Flint. By one count, 15,811,364 Buicks will have been built in Flint by the end of Buick City production July 2. All were built at the north Flint complex, except for the 37 assembled on West Kearsley in 1904. Overall, GM has built more than 34 million Buicks). Buick has assured a continuing historical presence in Flint through its support of the Buick Gallery and Research Center, a one-story brick building near the Sloan Museum which the division helped renovate to house Buick's historical material. Buick provided a $100,000 donation and is continuing to provide financial support, to donate historical material and place historic Buick vehicles on loan there. "We're proud of Buick's Flint heritage and we intend to have an ongoing relationship with the city through the Buick Gallery," said Joseph J. Fitzsimmons, LeSabre brand manager. The Buick Gallery also has been promised support by a foundation created by the Buick Club of America, an organization of vintage Buick owners. The final cars will come fully equipped with features such as leather seats, traction control and Gran Touring package. Each car also will be signed under the hood by Buick City employees and will be delivered with a letter of authenticity verifying its historic significance. The second-to-last Buick is a natural fit for the Easter Seals raffle, said Elliott Fauster, president and chief executive officer of the Easter Seals of Genesee County. The car being raffled by Easter Seals will be the last Flint-built Buick available to the public. "This fits our raffle perfectly, because this car's vehicle identification number makes it an immediate classic," said Fauster. "What a tremendous gift to the disabled community. It will provide freedom for a lot of disabled folks. And I think it's a sign of the continuation of the long-term relationship between Buick and Flint." Tickets for the raffle are $5 each and are available through the Easter Seals of Genesee County by calling (810) 238-0475. They are also available at D & N Bank's Genesee County branches, Flint's Buicktown Chapter of the Buick Club of America and at various car shows and events this summer. An identical LeSabre, provided by Al Serra Buick in Grand Blanc, will be used to help promote the raffle. The drawing for the car will be on Sept. 14, 1999.