(first posted 12/4/2013) I’m on a quest to find a first-year example of each of the FWD GM A bodies. I haven’t found one yet, but every time I spy that pre-facelift squared-off roofline I pause for photos. You might recall, for example, the showroom-fresh ’86 Olds Cutlass Ciera I found this spring (read about it here). Here’s the Buick version, from 1988.
I found it at my nearby Meijer, which is a slightly nicer version of Walmart that you’ll find only in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky. Maybe it’s because this Meijer is on the edge of the inner city, but it is ripe with curbside classics. I seem to find one here every month or so when I shop for groceries. I’ve already shared an ‘81 B-body Buick (here), an enormous ’75 Olds (here), and a stubby ’88 Corolla (here), all found in this very lot. I have yet to share a second-gen Accord I found here, and a mid-70s Cadillac Sedan DeVille. I guess everybody’s got to go for groceries sometime, even people who drive old cars. Which this Buick Century most certainly has become.
Though it doesn’t much look it. It’s dirty, perhaps the paint has faded on the horizontal surfaces, and there are some nicks and scratches. But I own a 16-year-newer car that looks a lot worse. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that this vinyl roof used to be a richer shade of beige, by the way, but sunlight and time left it this tepid color that almost clashes with the brown paint below.
And about that vinyl roof. Oy. I know that we were still transitioning out of the Great Brougham Epoch in 1987. GM knew there was still a market for such nonsense, and they weren’t foolish enough to ignore it. But even when these cars were new, vinyl looked ridiculous on these cars. I think vinyl works best when there’s a wide C pillar, and there just wasn’t enough sail panel behind the A body’s back doors for it to work.
Perhaps this Century’s broughaminess is why it survives. Maybe somebody’s grandmother bought it new in ’87 and drove it lightly, and when she couldn’t drive anymore handed it down to a grandchild as a first car. The hardly worn driver’s seat certainly points to light duty. And you could do worse than an A body for a first car – easy to drive, cheap to fix, and roomy enough to carry you into responsible adulthood (read: baby seats).
Here’s my dirty little secret: I would love to have one of these. Dare I dream about finding a sportier model, like this ’86 T Type, that hasn’t been chewed up? A buddy of mine bought a brand new Century just after the T Type went out of production, though he checked all the right option boxes and got a Century that accelerated very briskly and handled very crisply. Or maybe I should set my sights on the wagon. I love wagons! And I’m probably more likely to find one in good nick since those tended not to be driven in a spirited manner. Plus there’s that capacious wayback.
I keep scanning Craigslist. Ideally, I want to go Buick, if for no other reason than I like the dashboard and front-end styling better than the Olds. And I’d prefer one from the sealed-beam era, especially this front end, which I think is the best looking of all the A bodies.
I like the smoother front end styling of the Cutlass Ciera, but I gotta admit I love the full-width taillights on these Centuries, especially the 1989-96 models where it was fully illuminated.
When I was growing up, these two elderly sisters lived in the 2-family house, 2 houses up the street from me. Both of them drove Centuries like this. Alice, who lived upstairs, drove an ’89 dark gray Century. Her sister Ina, lived in the downstairs apartment and drove a slightly newer (’94-’96) beige Century. They were both in their eighties, so they didn’t drive much and kept the Centuries in pristine condition until their deaths.
When I was growing up, these things were stacked up on the streets like cordwood. They’re pretty thin on the ground now. A neighborhood friend’s family drove one of these in light green.
A Body fever is contagious around these parts, and I can see the appeal, but maybe more for the later ones with their more evolved drive trains. There are still lots of these around here, but almost all are the later versions. These early ones are visually more interesting by a long shot, with their more complex front end and other details. This one sure is a classic granny mobile.
If I find a pristine wagon, I won’t care what year and would happily take a later one. I saw a showroom-fresh one in dark blue with the woodgrain at an antique store over the summer and I am not ashamed to admit that I almost swooned.
The wagons were also spared the uncomfortable butt-tuck inflicted on the sedans where the rear quarter window was replaced by a cheater panel.
To quote the 1995 AAA Road Test Guide “The Buick Century offers buyers in 1995 the unique opportunity to buy a brand new car from the early 1980s.”
Kidding aside, these things were everywhere! Dad even had a two-tone blue/navy Cutlass Ciera as a company car for a while
Memories of my 1980s childhood!
Now that’s what I’m talking about. And what a perfect body color.
There is, or was, and early Century Estate on ebay, with the 4.3 diesel.
Here it is……
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Buick-Century-Estate-1984-buick-century-limited-estate-wagon-rare-v-6-diesel-/221336025002?forcerrptr=true&hash=item3388a7b7aa&item=221336025002&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
Yeah, I found that one too. Not warming up to the diesel engine. Otherwise, it looks perfect — and there couldn’t have been many of them in black.
Cool, I’ve never seen a diesel A-body wagon before! If that car was local, and a thousand bucks cheaper, I’d probably buy it. It’s a shame that Olds put so much effort into developing this engine and then sold hardly any of them. I’ve only come across a few on the internet over the years, mostly Buick sedans and a few Cieras. There’s also one Cutlass Supreme V6 diesel on YouTube, but I have yet to come across a Celebrity or one of the ’85 C-body cars equipped with it. With only 85HP on tap, it probably wasn’t too happy motivating anything bigger than an A-body. I’ve never (knowingly) stumbled across any of them in person, either.
There’s a thread on gminsidenews.com showing much better pictures of what appears to be the same car. The “4.3 diesel” badge on faux-woodgrain is so awesome.
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f19/buick-diesel-mid-size-wagon-available-us-now-104399/
Wow, that’s a rare car…and so uncool that it has wrapped back around to being cool. I’d hold out for a Cutlass with the five-speed though. Yes, they exist[ed]:
http://jalopnik.com/5847171/for-10890-drive-an-olds-gutless
Bad memories for the passengers!!!
My dad had the century wagon…ugh. Riding in that with my 3 siblings was a pita. The backseat had zero legroom for my 13 year old body..long car rides were torture. I was amazed by the legroom in my friends parents smaller civic. Anyway the iron duke made it indestructible (nooo) but after a collision (nobody hurt) he replaced it with a 92 Taurus wagon. Compared to the century it felt like a luxury car.
A realization has come to mind.
Cars like this get slammed by the press for not being “updated” for a long time. Thinking about it, cars that go a long time without serious revision do gather quite the fan-club. VW Bug, anyone? GM B-body? Ford’s Panther platform? This one certainly qualifies for membership in this exclusive club. All great platforms that some scoff at and those who own them realize the gem they have.
These A-bodies are good, but not infallible. I know of a ’93 Buick whose transmission is slipping a wee bit at all of 64,000 miles. However, replacement transmissions from the salvage yard are so plentiful and cheap, like in the $150 range for one with less than 100k.
There is a very early version Buick A-body floating around town, but I’ve never seen it sitting still to capture pictures!
Have they tried changing the fluid and filter? At 64K on a 93, it might still be the factory fluid in there. I would try a good service of the trans before buying a junkyard one that could be in worse shape. The trans slip may not be the A-bodies fault, but it could be due to the transmission fluid from the First Clinton term.
That was my first inclination also. It started slipping on Thanksgiving day between 1st and 2nd; it all got flushed out the next day plus a filter change. Closing the barn door after the horse escaped? Maybe. The technician doing the flush said the fluid looked great but smelled bad. It is better now, but under more spirited throttle going uphill, it can’t quite decide that it wants to shift into second.
It is currently parked, as I have been unable to get to it. A mechanic I work with said the transmission cooler could also be leaking and taking coolant into the tranny. The coolant level was at the add mark, down from the full mark last I checked. If it’s a goner, you are right, it isn’t the cars fault.
Trans axle slipping can be caused by a worn TV cable, old fluid and filter or it can even be the lockup torque converter solenoid which will make the transmission lug like a standard when trying to go into lockup. Also two other causes for trans shift or flare are worn spark plug cables or an out of adjustment TPS sensor. Check all of these items before thinking it’s the trans axle.
I inherited a 1988 Ciera. Its only redeeming quality was that it was a comfortable car. By the time it hit 10 years old, it began falling apart. Multiple alternators (one time I was told the alternator had a “bad waveform” — this was about a week before I finally dumped the car), batteries too quickly, weird sensors frying, exhaust system completely rusted to hell, driver’s side door handle broke, blower motor went out. Blinker/flasher quit working. Brakes were always squishy and old-lady like. Stopping distance? What’s that?
And this was before the infuriating ignition problems started. Replaced the plugs and wires and still the thing had issues starting — to the point that I missed work several times because it left me stranded.
One time I got stuck in snow and tried flooring it a few times to escape. Heard a loud POP from the fuse box — it blew a fuse! To this day I have no idea what caused it.
No, I don’t miss that car. Ever. Still, I do get a kick out of seeing all the Oldsmobiles in “Fargo.”
For a 1987 car it’s got a very 1970s paint job and interior.My 79 Ford Cortina was an identical colour,vinyl roof and interior colour
My mom’s last car was a 89 Pontiac 6000 LE. She loved that car. Probably her favorite car of all she and Dad ever had. Dad had got it with about 60000 miles on it. It was so much better than the 2 previous cars they had. A 80 Citation and a 86 Taurus with a 4. Dad kept the Pontiac to about 140000 miles on it and then traded it for a 92 Cutlass Supreme. The Cutlass, though trimmed nicer was never as good a car. The 6000 always felt solid and confident. Something that had not been the case in most cars previous to it.
My Dad’s experience with his (and later mine) was not as pleasant. He bought his 1989 Pontiac 6000LE new in Hollywood Florida and kept it until 1994 when he got fed up with the car and gave it to me. The car had a nasty habit of leaving him stranded including that fateful day when he and my Mom were on their way to my Uncle’s funeral. That day he parked the car and never used it again until I picked it up six months later. He had fought with the dealer to get the car running right for the three years the car was under warranty but nothing was done to his satisfaction.
When I got the car I found that the gas gauge was not working properly and would show half a tank of gas when in fact it was empty. My father never discovered this because he would fill the tank every Sunday with Shell premium.
Another annoyance was the rubber body cladding that was crumbling when the car was just a few years old. The list of things wrong from the factory or that quickly became problem were numerous. This was GM at their worse.
these are like carrier pigeons, in the 80s the skys would darken by their numbers, these days they are few and far between
If you are into getting one of these cars get a 89-93 version as it had the best engine of them all(the 3300 V6) get one with the 4 speed auto trans(gets good MPG for the size of the car) Skip the 4 cylinder(Iron Duke for the early models and the headgasket eating 2.2l in the later ones) and skip the 3 speed
My first car was a 1982 Chevrolet Celebrity (first year A-body) that was a rusty hulk by the time I got it, but the interior space was nicely laid out, and the TH125 was indestructible though the Iron Duke had to be rebuilt at the 100,000 mile mark because the cam had worn flat and the cylinders were out of round.
My first wife had a 90s Cutlass Ciera and it had the opposite problem, indestructible V6 but four speed auto died every 75,000 miles for the 300,000 miles that her family held onto the car. It also rusted faster than any 90s vehicle had the right to.
I have fond memories of those cars but have no desire to own them again.
The featured car is actually a 1988 model. The steering wheel is the only real difference between an ’87 and ’88 model. I owned a 1987 Century Limited sedan, white with blue velour interior, non-vinyl top car (thank goodness) that was special ordered by a previous Cadillac owner that wanted a smaller car but one that was still “Broughamy”. It was loaded to the max – it even had rear seat reading lamps and Twilight Sentinel which I never saw in another Century! It had the 3.8 SFI V-6, which made the car an absolute rocketship. I often thought it may have been too much motor for that car but I truly loved it! Prior to the 1987 I had owned a 1984 Century Limited Coupe with the carbureted 3.0 litre V-6. What a nightmare that car was! It was a nice car but very troublesome. I loved that car too, which made me want another one in the early 90’s. I knew the reliability of the 3.8 engine was far superior to the 3.0 so I grabbed the 1987 when the owner decided to sell. I never had a serious issue with the ’87 and put over 200k miles on it before I sold it. It had great build quality, very solid and rode well too. I took many road trips with that car and always felt relaxed when I arrived at my destination. I think GM had a great car back then, especially for the times.
Thanks for pinning it down! I’ve corrected the story.
No problem Jim – I have a special place in my heart for these cars – I guess you can call me an A-body geek!!
Jim I am looking for a buick century limited tan interior for a movie if you can help jwiser4382@aol.com asap
I was thinking 88 too because of the soft rubber wheel, the 87’s still had the smooth hard plastic thin wheel that is deliciously American Car.
I had a 93 Century for three years in the mid 2000s. It came with the best drive train for these cars: 3.3 V6 and 4 speed auto. It was one of the most dependable cars I’ve ever owned and rode great. That 3.3 was suprisingly quick as well. Its replacement, a 95 Thunderbird with a 3.8 V6 was a much plusher car but no where near as reliable. I would love to find an early 90’s Century wagon with the 3.3 and 4 speed auto. It would make a great around town car.
That is a really clean example. Unfortunately the A-body in general is pretty rare around here these days. Most of them have rusted away. Once in a while you’ll see a Century or Ciera from their final years of production, but it’s pretty rare to see a flat rear window A-body on the road. I always liked the flat rear window better than the sloped job.
I actually saw a 91 6000 S/E the other day that looked abosolutely mint. I almost drove off the road from looking at it too long as I drove by. Super rare (less than 200 in 91 II believe) and amazing to see in the area at all.
Other than the ’37 Special (my first car), I was introduced to Buick’s thru the A-body Century. I had two of them, inherited both.
The first was mom’s ’86 Estate Wagon. The full boat. Burgundy with wood, burgundy velour interior, fake wire wheel covers, V-6, 4-speed auto. After she died, dad was determined that I should take it, I was equally determined that I wanted to keep my slightly hopped up ’82 Ford Escort GT. He won. I was embarrassed to be seen in that car, which made matters worse by being the most reliable car I’d owned up to that time.
After dad’s death, I inherited his girlfriend’s ’86 base model Century four-door sedan. Four cylinder, three speed auto. This one I appreciated in its relative simplicity.
I still have a lot of respect for the A-body Centuries. Probably the best cars GM was putting out at the time. And I notice I’m looking at Buick’s again with plans for next year’s car hunt.
There is this early A-Body Cutlass Ciera two blocks away from my house. My town also has a few 1989-96 Centuries including a wagon that I have seen from time to time. I also remember seeing a beat to hell Pontiac 6000 a few months ago. All are far from being as clean as this one.
hope it uploads
I need to share this: Found in the parking garage of the Peterson Auto Museum, a custom convertible Cutlass Ciera
Because, Los Angeles
They made a few H&E Ciera and Century convertibles, they made a some Cieras for the Indy 500 parade cars.
I recently made a trip to a local pick-n-pull to grab some parts for my 2000 Accord. I happened to glance over to the GM side and decided to walk over to see what was there. To my amazement, there had to be at least 10 A-bodies ranging from the older 80’s body style to the newer 90’s style, and out of the 10 that were there 8 of them had under 100,000 miles, some in the 40’s and 50’s, with either minor damage (which probably deemed them totaled) or possibly a bad tranny or engine also deeming them totaled. It shows that the majority of the older folks that drove these put very little mileage on them. I bet most of them could easily be fixed too. Sad.
It’s likely a combination of economics and depreciation. My ’93 Century was purchased new by an older gentleman. He changed the oil every 500 to 1000 miles (its all documented) and he waxed everything on the car – including the wiper arms. He rarely drove it.
One time when driving it, around 2006, somebody smacked him on the right front. Not very bad, but the value of the car vs. the repair cost meant the insurance company wanted to total it. It had less than 40,000 miles on it. He rejected it and fixed it himself so it lived to see another day.
By no means could that explain what you saw, but I can’t help but wonder what variations there are on that story.
There, I fixed it (kind of)
Awesome!!
I like the shortened nose!
See if this works. I shortened the nose, lengthened the dash to axle ratio, stretched the back doors by several inches and deepened the D pillar.
But after consideration, it looks like a Buick Cressida.
Ugh.
geozinger:
That excessive forward overhang was mechanically
necessary in a lot of front-wheel-drive cars from
that era. The drive train had to be ahead, slightly,
of the wheels it was driving, so that forced the front
wheels a few inches aft of where they would be on
an equivalent-size rear wheel drive car. This is
what my gut instinct told me from when I started
following cars as an early teen and from reading
car magazines back then.
Nice manipulation of an early ’80s platform
to 21st century proportions though! Maybe
next you can take the lower version, chop
the roof and raise the beltline for the
disappearing window look now trending. 🙂
Great effort! Now all it needs is coach lamps again, like it had in its earlier years!
Milan luxury coupe. ahehehehe
Milan Flower Car – very popular with the funeral homes and people looking for an upscale alternative to the El Camino
UPS would love to have this as a package car – it matches their ugly brown trucks!
I remember a pencil sketch Motor Trend had in their annual Sneak Preview issue of the new, rearward-sloped front end on these, which they referred to as a “ship’s prow nose.” lol
This Century with the forward canted front and full width tail lights was my favorite. I think it was the first refresh of the ’82. I was a bit too brougham oriented to appreciate the T-Type fully at the time, but wow, that pic of one in black looks sharp! That was a real battle GM fought in the ’80s – how to go with a more modern look when the majority of the clientele was brougham. The existence of the brougham likely kept a lot of potential younger buyers away from the T. Tough battle for the product planners.
Yep. There are far worse choices than one of these.
Those A bodies had a lot going for them. I put many thousands of miles on ’89 Celebrity 4cyl wagons and a ’92(?) Cierra V6.The Olds had those wretched door-mounted shoulder belts–one of Detroit’s Deadly Sins in my opinion–but it was a fine highway driver.
If I could find a drivable ’89 Celebrity wagon with the Iron Duke I’d buy it as a backup hauler. Gobs of cargo space, splendid visibility, roomy, great fuel economy (32 mpg rolling across western Oklahoma) aided by the unusually slippery aerodynamics, and effortless cruising at 70 (the 2.5 liter four’s shortcomings were in the roughness and modest power during acceleration from a stop). The Celebrity wagons had the optional police/taxi front seat and I could make a 400 miles drive without tiring my butt and back. And, to my mind at least–simple elegance in style.
Tip: a Pontiac 6000 built in Oklahoma City might be the best choice. The Ponchos had the best reliability scores of the A bodies, and the OKC plant was right at the top of all GM plants in quality.
i purchased a beat-up ’89 Celebrity Wagon with 134K on the 2.5. It was an excellent running car and actually seemed to have adequate power for what it was. I repaired a few damaged things on it & drove it 600 miles to Alabama: Aa ministry I was involved with gave it to a single mother — I hope it served her as well as it served me.
I’d love to find a clean 6000 someday, preferably an S/E (not STE). I owned every flavor of these A-cars over the years and like them all. I wish I could have kept them since they were so interesting, reliable, & easy to keep running. Neat cars.
I drove 3.3 Buick as cab. Decent car for a compact. Also had friend with Pontiac. 2.5 and slow. Plastic crumbled. Its still going. I’d take a century ltd 3.3 over the horrible baby ltd ford had then or a Taurus the car that destroyed automotive styling for over 30 years.
GM seemed to hold onto the mid 70s color palette longer than everyone else.
Colors notwithstanding, this batch of Century may be my pick of the As. Not frequently seen anymore.
This 1988 example certainly had one of the better power train combos of the era. Std tech IV with 125c trans axle. Optional 2.8 MFI with choice of 125C or improved 440 4 speed. Also optional was the 150 Hp Buick 3.8 MFI with the required 440 4 speed that gave a lot of grunt and reasonable MPG.
My dad still drives his 86 Century T Type regularly and in 27 years and 110,000 miles it has not had any major problems. The interior is in mint condition, the engine and trans are solid. It’s just starting to show a bit of rust on the lower quarter panels. On the highway it tracks straighter and requires fewer steering corrections than the Mercedes S 550 I used to own.
T-Type: ” On the highway it tracks straighter and requires fewer steering corrections than the Mercedes S 550 I used to own.”
WOW. That’s a first! An American sedan tighter
straight-ahead than a Bavarian barn burner?
I always thought American car builders were
simply not capable of anything beyond numb,
mushy steering, save in things like Corvettes,
Camaros and Mustangs.
Awesome way to start a Monday! Growing up we had an 84 Century Limited Wagon – first one sold in my hometown – light adriatic blue with the 3rd seat. In Canada we got a 2.8L Chevy V6 as an option, and the blue wagon had it. Loved riding in the 3rd seat as a kid. They traded it in for a 1986 Medium Red on grey Century Limited 3.8L. It had the digital dash (which was pretty cool at the time), rear reading lamps and opera lamp in the B pillar. I got to drive that car from the top of the block home so it was the first car I got to drive at age 14. The only things I remember that went wrong with it were a master cylinder that put it in the shop for 2 weeks, and it died on the freeway once as the transmission went into overdrive too soon. Parents were scared of thier own shadows when it came to cars and sold it when the KM got too high – 60000km at the time. Dad regretted selling it but Mommy Dearest said it had to go.
90s Centuries and Cieras are everywhere here in MASS
Last year they found the remains of a woman who drove a 1987 Century wagon into a canal in Punta Gorda, FL. She had been down there 20 years….it was sad. This post reminded me of it strangely….
http://www.abc-7.com/story/20606220/2013/01/16/possible-evidence-found-in
Jim, If you are still looking for examples of first year A-bodies, I might have a couple of unique ones, not for sale, but pictures at least.–82 buick century diesel & 82 Olds ciera diesel brougham w/ factory sport gauge cluster. I drive the buick regularly, but the ciera is a future project.
If anyone’s interested, I looked at a 1988 Buick Century Special sedan in navy blue yesterday that was truly a barn find. This is not an advertisement, I am a passionate Buick Century enthusiast, but unfortunately I already have a wagon. 49k with barely a speck of rust. Plush blue velour interior, and one elderly owner who cared for it so well she cut pieces of carpet to go over the original mats. Great original shiny paint and chrome. On Cheesefactory Rd in South Burlington, VT. $2500 Would really love to see a collector get it rather than a teenager delivering pizzas.
I’ve always had a fondness for late generation A bodies. When I was 11 and Buick redesigned the front end of these I thought wow. Never before I’ve seen headlights so small, but it was a very attractive refresh, in fact, so good, it looked like it was meant to have that front end treatment from the very beginning. Slightly aggressive and streamlined, and very classy. That, together with its dramatically sloped dashboard and its distinctive full width rear taillights, it was a very handsome midsized package. I’ve always held a weakness to the 86-88 Century’s! Find one with low miles, and you could have a dependable car for 10 years. But ehh, go for the 6 bangers, the 4’s are rough, slow and noisy.
I know this is an old thread, but as you were looking for first year examples, here’s my ’84 Pontiac 6000 wagon. As you know the wagons joined the A-Car family for 1984. Mine is a plain 6000, with the 2.8L V6. I always liked the 6000s and had a couple of sedans years ago but I love wagons. I rescued this one that had been sitting a couple of years. I’ve owned it for about three years now, but it’s not a daily driver.
Thats one nice looking first year wagon!!!!!
Another memory I have of the A-bodys was YOU COULD SEE OUT OF THEM!
Like actually see all 4 corners of the vehicle pretty easily from the driver’s seat. The only people who needed a backup camera with these were your 4 ft 8 in Grandmother with health issues that made it hard for her to turn her head.
“YOU COULD SEE OUT OF THEM”
So true!! Today, the greenhouse on most sedans are teardrop shaped. Seeing out the sides and back without electronic assistance is difficult.
Maybe that’s another reason for the growth in SUVs.
Never have truer words been spoken. A couple of friends still have these type of cars and when asked to drive it is almost surreal how easy you can see out of them in all directions! The rear and side vision out of many vehicles today is atrocious!
Another good friend owns a clean 1991 Olds Delta 88 that I also got to drive and it was so refreshing! Free open front seat room! Awesome visibility! Smooth effortless power with an engine that is pleasing to the ears! Transmissions shifts that are barely felt! Plenty of room inside. Lightweight with a large trunk opening. It’s sad that today’s sedans have basically left most of these plusses behind.
Something I’ve never understood about these A-bodies. Weren’t they on the same platform as the X-car? Weren’t these basically a rebodied X-car with more overhang and bigger V6s? Same wheelbase and all? So how come these seem to get all the love, and last and last while the X-cars are excoriated?
Cause a large percentage of the issues with the X were resolved by the A’s. GM fixed the most egregious quality problems as years rolled by.
Unfortunately one thing they never did was to add a proportioning valve for the brakes. My mother and my grandmother (owning different years and different trim levels of Celebrity) managed to get them to do a 180 on icy pavement due to those terrible brakes. The fronts did all the work.
The 1982 Celebrity I owned went through front brake pads about every 30,000 to 40,000 miles but the rear drums would last over 100,000 miles because they weren’t doing any work.
I like this oldsmobile
These were indeed everywhere in the 80s. I had experience with no fewer than 3 – all metallic gray! My 9th and 10th grade carpool buddy’s Dad had one. I remember many a cold morning being grateful to climb into that warm velour back seat. My future mother in law had one when I met my wife. So spent some time behind the wheel of that one. I believe it was the 2.5 Four cyl. I remember it being droning, floaty, and the power steering was over boosted beyond belief. But it was comfy! My college roommate also had one that had seen better days. It wandered all over the road to the extent that we got pulled over on suspicion of DUI on a late night burger run and we had to explain that no officer, it’s just a hooptie! Great memories of these. Where have they all gone?
The c pillar from then is thinner than todays a pillar on any car. Sad how much visibility has been comprimised in the name of safety….comprimising safety. Captain obvious signing out.
On a side note the styliing of the buick a body has aged pretty well. It looks way cooler now than when it was new lol.