The 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible from the movie “Rainman.” All photos from www.auctionsamerica.com

Cars cast in a movie role generally go unnoticed unless they have a specific relationship to the leading character or plot of the story being told. For example, Steve McQueen’s “Bullet” Mustang, the evil ’58 Plymouth in Stephen King’s “Christine,” the Dolorean time machine from “Back to the Future” and even the lovable Beetle Herbie from “The Love Bug“.

Once a part of the famed Bob Pond collection.

One of those cars that was cast into a movie role that became popular because of it’s connection with the title character came from the 1988 Barry Levinson Academy Award recipient movie “Rainman” starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, a 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible.

While there was reportedly three different 1949 Buicks used in the shooting of the film, the one that is associated with the film by oral tradition and an assortment of historical documentation, is coming up for sale on Saturday, August 2, 2014.The Auctions America collector car auction scheduled for July 31 – August 2, 2014, will be presenting this Buick Roadmaster convertible and several other Hollywood collector cars.According to the press release, “The Buick runs well, the undercarriage shows signs of use and road wear. It is equipped with a Dynaflow transmission, power brakes, power windows, heater and an AM radio with windshield header antenna.”

The car was one of the many cars in the famous Bob Pond car collection. Pond’s collection was once called “a collection of motorized history.” The collection once held a 1908 Ford Speedster, a Mercedes 300SL Roadster and a Muntz Jet. In addition to this Buick Roadmaster, the collection also had other famous cars like the gold Excalibur built by George Barris and the legendary Texas Bullshit Scraper – a 1900 Overland covered wagon manue spreader.

Pond died in 2007 and the collection has passed along through the family and was purchased by a single car collector that has only been revealed as “Michael.” The new owner of the car collection has been selling a few of the specialty cars off at various auctions, which is great news to car collectors looking for specialty cars like this Buick.  Interested parties can find out more about the car and the auction by visiting the Auction America site at www.auctionsamerica.com