We spied it at the Cleveland Auto Extravaganza near Brisbane earlier this year. It is, without doubt, the best example we have seen. It was a bold restoration. Roadmaster was model built by Buick – a General Motors brand – between 1936 and 1958. Buick revived the name in 1991, but to classic enthusiasts, the Roadmaster is a 1950s icon for the brand.

Buick used the name to celebrate engineering and design improvements in the 1936 model over its predecessor, the Buick Series 80. This was not the only name changes with Buick dumping the mundane numerical names in favour of more aspirational names for its cars. The Series 40 range became the Special, Series 60 became Buick Century and the Series 90 gave way to the Buick Limited and the Series 80 became Roadmaster.

Roadmaster's were built on Buick's longest wheelbase and shared its architecture with GM sibling Oldsmobile. After World War 2 the Roadmaster took on a special role as Buick premium model with top of the line equipment. It was rolled out as a sedan coupe, convertible and station wagon between 1936 and 1948. The more familiar Riviera – a hard top coupe – joined the model line up as well as a hard top sedan in 1955. Our featured car is a stunning example of the 1955 convertible. The colour combination seems an unlikely match, a bright red interior with an equally bright blue exterior over white.

The car has a number of styling highlights. Those familiar with the twin spinner Ford from this same era will no doubt see the likeness with the twin domes on the front of the Buick. Like most cars of this era the chrome was laid on with a trowel, particularly around the tail lights and the grille area. A chrome flash gives the car's side-on appearance real character and separates the vivid blue from the white. Like many contemporaries the 1955 model has fins, but in this case they are not overdone. GM's Harley Earl penned the design and it follows his favourite, low, flat configuration. The 1955 Roadmaster was powered by a 322 cubic inch V8, brought out by Buick in 1953 linked to a Dynaflow transmission.

It was well appointed with power steering, power brakes, leather seats, classy trim, electric clock and even windshield washers. Note the four portholes in the front mudguard. Some 64,864 Roadmasters were built in 1955.