John and Vickie Silva gifted the Buick to Larry and Heather Isom, making them the fourth generation to own the car.
By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
It has been 20 years since Larry and Heather Isom moved into a home on Lake Panorama’s Burchfield Cove. They both grew up in California and met as pizzeria employees in San Luis Obispo, where Larry was attending Cal Poly University. They married in 1998.
Two years later, they moved to Minnesota for Larry’s job with Life Fitness, a company that designs and builds fitness equipment. In 2005, the couple moved to Lake Panorama when Larry was hired by Power Lift in Jefferson as director of engineering.
It was during their time in Minnesota they became owners of a 1952 Buick Super. The car was purchased new in California by Heather’s great-grandparents, Joe and Rosa Silva.
Heather’s parents, John and Vickie Silva, recently moved from California to the west side of Lake Panorama. John Silva picks up the story.
“When I was a little boy, probably 7 or eight 8 old, I can remember riding in the middle of the back seat of that car, sitting up on the arm rest,” he says. “My grandfather passed away not too many years after that, in 1964. My grandmother never drove the car. It was parked in a garage on the ranch where we lived.”
In 1970, John Silva got the Buick out of the garage.
“I washed it up, pulled it around to the barn and parked it inside,” he said. “It sat in that barn another 30 years until I decided to get it out and see what it would take to get it running.”
New tires were in order, but the engine didn’t need much work.
“We started driving it some,” Silva says. “It was good for Sunday afternoon drives but not something we depended on for regular travel.”
Vickie Silva describes the car as fun.
“The ride is great; it just floats down the road,” she says. “But you need to keep in mind, it doesn’t have power steering or brakes.”
It was during a visit by Larry and Heather to the family’s ranch in central California that John Silva first mentioned the idea of gifting the Buick to them, making them the fourth generation to own the car. The couple jumped at the opportunity. The question was how to get it to the Midwest.
Fortunately, a work colleague of Larry’s was about to make the move from California to Minnesota. John Silva drove the car 45 miles from their ranch near Los Osos to San Miguel, where it was loaded onto a moving truck headed for Minnesota.
“When we first got it, we drove it quite a bit,” Larry Isom says. “We took it to car shows. We brought the car with us to Iowa when we moved in 2005. It started to leak transmission fluid. For a while, I could just add more fluid, but, eventually, that didn’t work, and we had to park it.”
The Buick Super went into storage again, this time in 2012.
“I knew this would be a major project, but I thought I would get to it,” Isom says. “Last winter, I finally decided I wasn’t ever going to have the time and got the needed repairs done.”
The Buick has 78,000 miles on its odometer. The car’s exterior surfaces are covered with specks of rust in varying shapes and sizes.
“That was caused by the salty air fog coming in from the ocean,” Heather says. “It’s interesting, and we don’t plan to do anything more than put a clear coat on it. The cloth interior is all original. The headliner is sagging and some of the rubber floor is deteriorating, but, overall, it’s in good shape.”
Heather says the family jokes about leaving the key in it because no one would know how to start it.
“You insert the key and turn it, but that’s not what starts the engine,” John Silva says. “Once the key is on, you have to push the gas pedal to start the car. It has a straight eight engine and Dynaflow automatic transmission. Once you put it into drive, you don’t feel it shifting gears. It’s just a continuous increase in speed as you step on the gas.”
This is the second year the 1952 Buick Super will be on display at the Isom Tree Farm to greet customers looking for a Christmas tree or other holiday decorations.
The tree farm is on Highway 25 north of Guthrie Center near Springbrook State Park. The address is 2292 180th Lane, Guthrie Center.
The farm was started by Larry’s parents, Roland and Laura Isom. They lived in California but planned to retire in Iowa and wanted to operate a tree farm. In 2010, Roland and Larry planted 1,200 sugar maples on the farm, which includes 13 acres, a house and large metal shed.
Roland retired in 2017 and moved to the farm full-time, joining Laura who had already made the move. Roland passed away just short of one year after his retirement. Larry and Heather later purchased the farm from his mother, who still lives in the house.
One part of Roland Isom’s retirement plan was to make maple syrup from the sugar maples on the farm, and he was able to do that for about five years. The Isom family continues that annual tradition.
Eight years ago, the Isoms planted their first Christmas trees.
“It was always part of the plan to grow our own Christmas trees,” Heather says. “Christmas is an important holiday in our family.”
The Isoms had what they call a “soft” opening in 2024 with some trees ready for purchase.
“This year, the field has lots of big trees for customers who want to choose and cut their own,” Heather says. “We provide the saws and sleds to bring the trees out of the field. We have a shaker to remove dead needles, and netting to wrap around the tree. And we’ll help tie the tree to the top of their car if they want.”
Trees available in the field include Scotch Pine, spruce and three varieties of fir with prices starting at $50.
Also available this year will be Balsam and Fraser pine trees, which don’t grow in Iowa. These range in height from 9 to 12 feet with the price dependent on type and height.
“We’ll have lots of greenery this year, including fresh green wreaths, porch and table pots, grave blankets, sleds, skis, wagons and more,” Heather says. “And we are always happy to customize.”
Customers can plan on free cocoa and coffee and the chance to make s’mores by the fire.
The farm will be open three weekends for Christmas shopping, Nov. 28-30, Dec. 6-7 and Dec. 13-14. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
“We’ll be encouraging family photos, too,” Heather says. “There will be a Christmas tree tied to the top of the 1952 Buick Super, which makes a great backdrop for photos. A lot of Christmas tree farms have an old truck on display. This Buick is our old truck.”
The 1952 Buick Super featured lots of chrome on both back and front bumpers plus decorative chrome pieces on the rear fender fins and side doors. The AAA Automobile Club of Southern California sticker on the rear bumper looks like it could have been added recently.
The interior of the Buick now owned by Heather and Larry Isom is in good shape and offers plenty of space for six people. Pictured in the back seat, right to left, Heather Isom, her daughter, Danica Isom; and her mother, Vickie Silva.
Joe and Rosa Silva were the first owners of the 1952 Buick Super that now is owned by the fourth generation, Heather and Larry Isom. The baby boy in the photo is Heather’s father, John Silva, being held by his grandmother, Rosa. The little girl is John’s sister, Cathy, held by the children’s grandfather, Joe.
The white hardtop on the 1952 Buick looks like it was splattered with brown paint. Instead, it is rust splotches, caused by the moist, salty fog that moved in off the Pacific Ocean for decades while the car was in a nearby barn.
The chrome instrument panel in the middle of the Buick’s dash is enormous. It features a radio, two ash trays, controls for the heater, defroster and lights, a cigarette lighter, and two ventilation controls.
The heavy chrome bumper on the front of the car features the words Buick Eight, a reference to the car’s straight eight engine. The round metal medallion shows the original car owners, Joe and Rosa Silva, were members of the AAA Automobile Club of Southern California.
The Buick Super is a roomy car. Shown in the front seat are Larry Isom; his son, Clint; and his father-in-law, John Silva. Vickie Silva can be seen in the back seat.
The 1952 Buick has a large steering wheel with the speedometer front and center. Two other gauges are mounted on each side. The car has 78,000 miles on the odometer.
There is a chrome “Super” script mounted on each of the Buick’s rear fenders, which set the 1952 model apart from earlier Buicks. The brown specks on the chrome and the green car body are rust, caused by the salt water fog coming off the Pacific Ocean. The Isoms plan to apply a clear coat over the car body to preserve the unique rust spots.
The Isoms’ Buick will be on display for three weekends at the Isom Tree Farm on Highway 25 north of Guthrie Center. Customers looking for fresh Christmas trees will be able to choose and cut their own from the farm field. Also available will be already cut Balsam and Fraser pine trees. A Christmas tree will be tied to the top of the Buick Super to provide a backdrop for family photos.