Buick Model 10 Touring Runabout
This small white Buick put an overhead-valve four-cylinder engine into a light, affordable runabout before paved highways were common.
08 Buick Model 10 Roadster (7766355830).jpg · Greg Gjerdingen · CC BY 2.0
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Buick offered the Model 10 in 1908 as a three-passenger runabout priced at $900. Its pale paint helped inspire the nickname “White Streak,” but its engineering mattered more than the color: overhead valves, pumped oil and water circulation, and a sturdy shaft drive were thoughtful features for an inexpensive early car. Later collectors sometimes call the body a Touring Runabout, yet Buick's own 1908 catalog listing says three-passenger runabout; the four-passenger Touring belongs to the 1909 line.
Look a little closer.
Buick's light gray-white paint and lively performance earned the Model 10 the nickname “White Streak.”
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Why the body name needs a footnote
The New York Public Library's record of Buick's 1908 Model 10 price list identifies a three-passenger runabout at $900. “Touring Runabout” is a later collector and sale-description label. Keeping the period wording prevents this car from being confused with the four-passenger Touring added for 1909.
Source: New York Public Library · 1908 Buick Model 10 price-list catalog record ↗Advanced pieces beneath a simple body
Car and Driver's examination of the GM Heritage Center car notes a gear-driven oil pump, a water pump, longitudinal leaf springs and a cast-iron differential housing. The preserved car has a later 12-volt starter, so that convenience should not be mistaken for 1908 equipment; Model 10s originally started by hand crank.
Source: Car and Driver · 1908 Buick Model 10 and 1909 Ford Model T ↗Three pedals, but not a modern instrument cluster
Car and Driver describes three clearly labeled pedals for the brake, slow forward and reverse. The wheel, pedals and visible levers were the driver's main working controls; this was not a modern dashboard organized around speedometer and tachometer dials. Joyride's close control photograph is a later 1910 Model 10 tonneau and is labeled as related family evidence rather than proof of the exact 1908 runabout layout.
Source: Car and Driver · 1908 Buick Model 10 and 1909 Ford Model T ↗Where these facts come from
- New York Public Library · 1908 Buick Model 10 price-list catalog record
- Car and Driver · 1908 Buick Model 10 and 1909 Ford Model T
- Classic Driver · 1908 Buick Model 10 Touring Runabout sale record
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.