(first posted 6/22/2017) Welcome to the Buick Edition of our journey into shockingly low volume production cars produced between 1946 and 1995. As always, car models whose production is less than 1,000 (as reported by the automaker) are eligible for this list.
Buick is a staple of GM, and has long enjoyed terrific sales of its big cars. Conversely, some of its smaller cars have not enjoyed the same degree of popularity, many examples of which can be found here. As always this list is extensive but not necessarily comprehensive as it’s always possible one or two was inadvertently overlooked.
1950 shown
1947 to 1953 Roadmaster wagon
Production: 529 (1947); 350 (1948); 653 (1949); 420 (1950); 679 (1951); 359 (1952); 670 (1953)
So far in this series, the variations among sources has been one of the more pronounced for these Roadmaster wagons. Regardless of source, production was consistently below the magic threshold of 1,000 units being produced for a model year.
These wagons were some of the last available in the mainstream American car market to still have wooden body panels. The wood was a distinct factor in price in 1947 as the Roadmaster wagon carried a base price of $3,249 – a figure that was $1,017 more than a Roadmaster four-door sedan. By 1953, the Roadmaster wagon was the least expensive Roadmaster and is reported as having had a base price of $180 less than the Buick Super wagon – which is somewhat suspect.
As has been seen repeatedly throughout this series, wooden bodied cars never had much popularity at the time they were new.
1951 Roadmaster Riviera hardtop coupe
Production: 809
This two-door hardtop body was introduced in 1949 and was popular from the outset, available in both the Super and Roadmaster series.
Oddly, Buick reported two different model numbers for the 1951 Roadmaster Riviera hardtops. The distinction was whether or not the car had hydraulically controlled seats and windows. In the Roadmaster series, there were 12,900 produced with hydraulic seats and windows; the remaining 809, seen here, were not so equipped. Making this distinction due to hydraulically controlled seats and windows was seen throughout the Buick line for a number of years.
This has definitely been one of the subtler differences seen in how models are reported.
1952 Special
Production: 137 (sedan) and 600 (convertible)
For 1952, Buick had the base and Deluxe four-door sedan in the bottom tier Special series. Yes, it was a bit complicated. With 63,000 buyers popping the extra $46 for the Special Deluxe four-door sedan, the base sedan seems a bit redundant.
Buick was the third largest producer of convertibles in the United States for 1952, despite what sales of the Special convertible would seem to indicate. Not unlike the base Special, it seems if people were going to spring for a Buick convertible, they went with the midrange Super as the sales difference was over ten-fold with 6,900 Super convertibles finding a happy home.
1954 Skylark
Production: 836
The 1953 Skylark, a very customized Buick and the brainchild of Harley Earl, had been a $5,000 car intended for the rich and powerful. The 1954 Skylark was much less customized, was over $500 less expensive, and sold less than half as many.
Being a smidgeon more Century than Roadmaster, the Skylark model was dropped at the end of the year.
Image from www.hemmings.com
1955 Century two-door sedan
Production: 270
This is a model that was never in any catalog, but Buick happily agreed to build 270 of them, all sold to the California Highway Patrol.
For much of the 1950s, California’s Highway Patrol used nothing but two-door sedans. While the Buick Super came in a two-door sedan, its smaller displacement engine was not what the Patrol wanted. So in an effort to easily sell an additional 270 cars, Buick put the two-door sedan body on the frame commonly used between the Super and Century, and installed the larger engine from the Century along with fenders having four ventiports, which denoted the Century line.
Image from imcdb.org
Perhaps one or two didn’t sell to the Highway Patrol as Broderick Crawford used at least one in his series Highway Patrol.
Super shown
1956 Century four-door sedan; 1957 and 1958 Century two-door sedan
Production: 1 (1956); 2 each for 1957 and 1958
If it weren’t for the 1955 Century just covered, there would have been temptation to eliminate these from the list. However, as Buick demonstrated a willingness to build special cars, these get the nod.
Details on these are nonexistent. All that can be found in the Encyclopedia of American Cars (copyright 1996) is the price for each of these is labeled as “exp”. Does this mean experimental, export, or something different? Buick provided a specific model number for each of these.
1958 Limited convertible
Production: 839
The Limited was a new trim for 1958, slotted above the Roadmaster. Part of the reason for the low sales is evident by the love-it-or-hate-it decor of the car, with the convertible simply not being a tremendous seller.
Most 1958 Buick convertibles were in the Special and Century series.
1961 Special Standard eight-passenger wagon
Production: 798
The Special was not a poor seller as there were a few more Specials sold than there were the mid-range full-size Invicta and top-dog Electra.
As has periodically been the case, this is a matter of how Buick broke out their models. There was a six-passenger wagon in both base Standard and the upper Deluxe series for 1961, selling 6,000 and 12,000 copies, respectively. This was the only eight passenger wagon and it happened to come in the lower trim only; this is likely a matter of it being a bit more of a specialty item.
1966 Special Deluxe wagon
Production: 824
As per Buick reporting, there were four series of Special for 1966; the V6 base Special, the V8 base Special, the V6 Special Deluxe, and the V8 Special Deluxe.
The Special Deluxe wagon seen here is the V6 powered version. To prove yet again that cylinders sell, the Special Deluxe V8 wagon sold 7,592 copies.
Skylark GS coupe shown
1966 Skylark convertible
Production: 608
This is the V6 powered Skylark convertible; if built with a V8 under the hood, the difference in production was exactly ten-fold.
1967 Skylark V6 coupe
Production: 894
As we’ve been seeing, it all boils down to the engine as the V8 version was much more popular.
Incidentally, the Buick Special wagon sold less than our magical threshold of 1,000 at 908 units. Once again, this is the V6 model.
1971 and 1972 GS convertible
Production: 902 and 852, respectively
The waning popularity of convertibles, likely combined with rising insurance premiums, is the logical culprit for these.
Based on the Skylark, the GS for 1971 came with either a 350 cubic inch (5.7 liter) or 455 cubic inch (7.4 liter) V8 whereas the Skylarks had either a 350 or a straight-six. Convertible sales for the Skylark Custom, seen above showing the variety of body styles available in 1972, were just under 4,000 as compared to nearly 30,000 two-door hardtops.
Convertibles were dying in the market place and 1972 was the last time one could get a midsize Buick convertible.
1976 LeSabre V6
Production: 2,300 to 4,300 depending upon body style
It’s hard to talk rare Buicks without this one coming up, but the 1976 LeSabre with the 3.8 liter V6 does not qualify for the 1,000 unit rule. In all, about 10,000 were produced. Regardless, one of these hapless, mechanically overwhelmed creatures would make a delightful CC find.
1979 Skylark hatchback
Production: 608
Similar to the Pontiac Phoenix and Oldsmobile Omega, the hatchback X-body was part of an abbreviated model year and had been around since 1973.
For contrast, it’s shown with the most popular Skylark that year, the four-door sedan.
1984 Skylark T-Type
Production: 923
These were available in 1983 and 1984 only. The initial year saw over 2,500 being built, but that dropped to 923 the next year. The GM X-bodies were experiencing severe sales erosion and 1985 was the last year for the X-body Skylark.
With the T-Type being a performance oriented version of a car many found to be toxic, and both Olds and Pontiac had variations of this same theme, it doesn’t take long to figure out this wasn’t going to be a home run for GM.
1986 shown
1987 Skyhawk Limited wagon
Production: 498
At $9,841, this was the second most expensive J-body sold by GM in 1987. The most expensive was the incomparable Cadillac Cimarron.
Add to this a person could only get a four-cylinder in their Buick J-body. There was the 165 horsepower turbo-four available for the Skyhawk (and presumably for the wagons). However, if one was seeking more reliable and less touchy power, such as that found in a V6, that meant a Chevrolet Cavalier wagon was the answer. And, at $9,300 for a top of the line Cavalier RS wagon with a 2.8 liter V6, there was quite the value proposition to overcome simply for a Buick nameplate.
1987 Regal GNX
Production: 547
The English language does not contain enough adjectives to fully describe the awesomeness that is the 1987 Regal GNX.
Knowing the rear-drive Regal was going away at the end of the 1987 model year, Buick wanted to have one last hoorah. The turbocharged 3.8 liter V6 was enhanced to 300 horsepower with torque at 420 ft-lbs at 2,400 rpm. To continue keeping things interesting, Buick intentionally limited output to around 500 units; they finally ceased at 547.
The GNX was simply an enhancement of the Regal Grand National that had been around for a few years and embarrassing Corvettes every step of the way. At the time, Road & Track magazine clocked a GNX running to 60 mph in under 6 seconds with a quarter-mile speed of 105 mph. Not too shabby for a car that began life as a downsized A-body in 1978.
The GNX is arguably the ultimate Buick of all time.
1988 Electra shown
1990 Electra T-Type
Production: 478
When Buick downsized the Electra for 1985, they also introduced the Electra T-Type.
Featuring a somewhat firmer suspension and noticeably less chrome, the T-Type was a more distinguished looking Electra. Sales were modest, peaking at 5,800 for 1986, but soon dwindled to 478 by 1990. It’s somewhat of a shame, as this was likely a much more balanced and better driving Electra than the standard issue ones.
1991 Skylark LE four-door sedan, Skylark GS coupe
Production: 928 and 693, respectively
Maybe this section could be entitled “A Tale of Two Skylarks”, but this picture likely explains things better. The car on top, the LE and touted as “the ultimate in Skylark sophistication and comfort” is the one that sold 928 copies. The lower car, the base four-door sedan that shares the same body shell, sold 58 times as many. So much for being the ultimate unless barf-tastic vinyl roofs are your groove thing.
Yes, GM had an aged audience with these cars, but they weren’t a stupid bunch; $3,100 for little more than wire hubcaps and that nasty vinyl roof was a hard sell.
Which this is totally unlike the Skylark coupes as neither of these sold well. The GS coupe on top saw 693 copies but the white one didn’t set the world on fire, selling only 1,700 copies. Apart from the wheels, the red one isn’t an unattractive car.
1991 LeSabre coupe
Production: 695 base, 486 Limited
This is strictly a matter of doors. The LeSabre sedan in both Custom and Limited trim (Custom seen above) sold a combined 90,000 units. The two series of two-door sold around 1,100 combined. The two-door LeSabres, quite like the other large two-doors in the GM stable, had seen dwindling sales for a number of years. 1991 was the swan song for them.
1992 and 1993 Century Custom coupe
Production: 627 and 566, respectively
Once again, it’s a door thing. Two-door cars were declining in popularity and the Century felt those market forces. The two-door Century was euthanized after 1993.
The wagon is included to emphasize the point; wagons weren’t exactly popular during this period, either, but the Century wagon always handily outsold the coupe
1993 Skylark Limited coupe
Production: 894
This is pretty much a repeat of 1991; doors weren’t selling and of the three Skylark coupes available, none sold over 5,700 copies regardless of trim or price.
1994 Skylark Gran Sport
Production: 857 sedan; 626 coupe
While likely a good car, when the base price has a $5,000 premium over a base Skylark, with that base price equaling or exceeding that of a Regal, there are problems. Combined with clunky styling, the paltry production should not be a huge surprise.
Stay tuned there’s more to come in this series. However, let’s look back at what we have covered so far:
From GM:
Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile
From Ford:
From Chrysler:
There is no way the GNX had 300 horses. 0-60 under 6 six seconds is not the truth, as these cars were capable of 4.5 sec in acceleration runs in magazine tests. Secondly, the 1989 Turbo Trans Am was dynoed at 301 horses at the wheels, far ahead of its 250 horse rating at the crank. And some of us know the GNX Turbo V-6 was slightly more potent, although the TTA matched its 0-60 time, due to it being approx 250 pounds lighter.
What published resources can you pinpoint in which a horsepower rating of over 300 can be found – using an unaltered car?
And, for what it’s worth, a 4.5 second 0-60 time is less than 6 seconds.
“0-60 times of under 6 seconds is not the truth, because these cars were capable of 4.5 seconds.”
LOL…First time, I’ve heard someone argue with them self in the same sentence. 😀
To me, “under 6 seconds” implies somewhere around 5.8 or 5.9. If it was as fast as 4.5, they’d have said “under 5 seconds”, surely. Unless they had some reason (insurance scare?) for deliberately understating the car’s performance stats as well as the output.
Learn some grammar. When someone says 0-60 under 6 seconds, they are implying times in the high 5’s. There is a big difference between 5.8 seconds, lets say, and 4.5 seconds.
Yet the question remains: What sources can you provide, in which unaltered cars were used, that back up what you say?
In Louisville KY, in the 90’s before the county and city combined into one government, there was Jefferson County Police,and Louisville Police. Separate entities. Jefferson County Police had a GNX as an unmarked car. Bad-assed ride! Car dealership I worked for, for a short time in 1995 had one on the lot. Bought at auction. Outrageously fast and fun. Blow the doors off of anything sold at the time. Probably kick a Corvettes ass too. Sold very quickly when buyer found out what the cars former life was!
Great piece, Jason. Kudos for including the CHP ’55 Century sedan. I’ve been a big fan of those cars for a very long time. The 270 unit production run was split 50/50 between Dynaflow and three-on-the-tree equipped cars. It’s not hard to figure out which version most of the CHIPS preferred. While the hot Century nailhead V-8 developed 236 horsepower at the flywheel, an article in the April, 1955 edition of the CHP Highway Patrolman Magazine reported…
“During dynamometer tests the car developed 146 horsepower at the rear wheels and reached a wheel speed of 108 miles per hour against the four horsepower drag of the machine. At this point the test terminated abruptly when the rubber tread spun off the tires of one of the rear wheels that was being tested.”
As far as I know, only one authentic CHP Century has survived, although there are several “tribute” cars out there.
Thank you.
The survival rate is good to know yet sadly not surprising. I had a whale of a time finding pictures I was truly satisfied with and there are an abundance of the tribute cars in two-door hardtop form.
Your providing the split between automatic and manual transmission is great information.
You’re very welcome, Jason. Arch Brown wrote a comprehensive piece about them in SIA# 142 back in 1994 digitized by Dan Strohl here….
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/?p=89473
I’m such a sick fan of these cars that I actually bought one of Maisto’s cheap diecast models of them a few years ago.
Zoom, zoom…
There was an article about one of these cars in “Hot Rod Deluxe” perhaps 7 years ago. I remember it well, as I fell in love at first sight.
I may still have it somewhere, maybe I’ll look around.
For the first season of the Highway Patrol TV series, at least some of the patrol cars were genuine CHP Buicks. The “technical assistance” officially provided by the CHP included vehicles. It is said that in at least a scene or two, it is apparent that there is a paper label with the show’s generic door badge covering a real CHP badge. I haven’t spotted one yet, though.
My son has a Matchbox of what I’m sure is supposed to be one of these. I’m not certain where it is at the moment, so I can’t verify that it’s the right year and body style, but I’m pretty sure that it is. I thought it was odd that they would make a police cruiser out of a two-door Buick; I didn’t know that it was based on a real car.
CHP tried many different makes of cruisers over the years other than the expected low priced models. These included Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Chryslers among others. As pursuit cars, they often opted for the hottest car in terms of bang for the buck that they could buy. This 1962 Chrysler Newport ”Enforcer” is one of my all time faves….
Who can’t love a certified “Robbie the Robot” speedometer?
.
The 1962 Chrysler Enforcer was built for the CHP because there was no long-wheelbase Dodge in that downsized year. For 1963, the Dodge 880, a Chrysler Newport with a Dodge front clip, was the CHP’s choice, as it would be in 1964. In 1965 regular-production Dodges had the long wheelbase but not enough for the CHP; a special edition built for them is said to have had a one-inch longer wheelbase.
Re the ’55 Century 2-door sedan for the Calif Highway Patrol– it was not the Super but rather the Special line that included a regular production 2-door sedan. (The Super and Roadmaster used a different body shell that did not include a 2-door sedan.) The cops cars were Special 2-door sedan bodies with Century running gear. The front fenders were from the Century–4 portholes vs the Special’s 3.
Correct. The comparison in the article should have been betwen the Special and Century, not Super and Century. The Super had the same 238 hp engine as the Century and Roadmaster. The Special came with a 188 hp version. The Special and Century had the 121″ wb frame, with the Super and Roadmaster having 127″. There was no 2 door Super in 1955. There was also no regular production 2 door Century either. The 270 CHP 2 door “Centurys” were specially built just for them. They were basically Specials with the big engine and 4 portholes. Half had Dynaflow, half 3 sp. manual. While the slush box Dynaflow was quite slower, it actually proved quite popular as it freed up the officer to work the 2 way radio, sirens, lights, etc. After this time automatics began replacing manuals in many new patrol car purchases across the county.
A few years back I saw what was claimed to be the only original ’55 Buick CHP car remaining at the Peterson Auto museum in Los Angeles. It was a beauty!
This is a pretty good illustration of why not every car is available in every bodystyle (coupe, sedan, wagon, convertible) anymore. It was hard to get high enough production numbers to justify tooling up.
With the need to spread the “brands” across every size segment especially. This worked in the 50s but by the 80s there were 2 door/4 door/wagon bodystyles available in every single segment, none of these brands even in their heyday had this many distinctive models under a given brand umbrella, and by this point corporate market share was declining rapidly.
The low sales of the1952 Special four-door are a bit of a puzzle, since the two-door actually sold pretty well (32,684). That was the last year for the non-Deluxe four-door Special, so I wonder if the low production indicated that it was withdrawn before the model year was over due to lack of interest. The 1951 sold only 999, so it hadn’t been a big seller to begin with, and Buick might have kept it around in 1952 just in case buyers balked at the Special Deluxe four-door’s $70 price increase (equivalent to about $650 now, sayeth the CPI), only to decide it wasn’t necessary.
The Encyclopedia of American Cars shows the 1952 Special four-door sedan available in both base and Deluxe form, and the two-door sedan available only as a base model. At first glance, it seems odd that the base two-door sedan sold 32,684 copies while the base four-door sedan sold just 137.
I think the two-door sedan was supposed to be a Deluxe, though. That’s how the Standard Catalog shows it, and even the Encyclopedia shows it with a “D” after its model number. Both sources also show the two-door sedan as a Deluxe model in 1951.
So things actually broke down like this:
BASE
two-door sport coupe 2,206
four-door sedan 137
DELUXE
two-door sedan 32,684
four-door sedan 63,346
two-door hardtop (Riviera)* 21,180
two-door convertible* 600
(*The Standard Catalog identifies these as Deluxe models, while the Encyclopedia does not. The 1952 Buick brochure does not use the term “Deluxe” for any model at all, but just identifies each model by its model number.)
When you see it laid out that way, things makes a little more sense. It’s pretty clear that most buyers were going for Deluxe models, and that the base models were poor sellers. As noted above, production of the 1951 base four-door sedan was only 999, and production of the 1950 was only 1,141. Both base models were dropped after 1952.
Even against that backdrop, of course, sales of the four-door sedan were a lot lower in 1952 than they had been in 1950 or 1951, and were also a lot lower than the base sport coupe. Your theory that the base four-door sedan was dropped midway through the model year due to lack of buyer interest very well may be right.
(Incidentally, I’m not sure if there was any difference between a “sport coupe” and a “two-door sedan”. The base Special was the only Buick to use the former term. I know that Chevrolet still drew a distinction between a two-door pillared coupe and a two-door sedan at this point, but they had become very similar to one another, and the coupe was dropped after 1953. With the demise of the base Special after 1952, all two-door pillared Buicks were called “two-door sedans”.)
As for the Special convertible, its sales were much lower in 1952 than in the surrounding years. Which raises another point: U.S. auto sales were artificially depressed in 1952 due to Korean War restrictions. That may have contributed to the low sales of these two Special body styles to some degree. The Roadmaster wagon, a repeat offender on this list, also had one of its lowest sales years in 1952.
Ahh, yes, that model breakdown makes a good deal more sense! (I don’t have the Standard Catalog of Buick, so I wasn’t able to check that.) I had assumed the Riviera and convertible would be effectively Deluxe models whether they were so identified or not, since those were considered the most glamorous body styles.
The wartime restrictions are why I’m wondering if the plain four-door was actually dropped midyear. Given the materials shortages and production allocation, there was no point to building the price-leader model if dealers weren’t ordering it even as a “one at this price” newspaper special — it would just be tying up the lines and throwing money away.
“(Incidentally, I’m not sure if there was any difference between a “sport coupe” and a “two-door sedan”. The base Special was the only Buick to use the former term. I know that Chevrolet still drew a distinction between a two-door pillared coupe and a two-door sedan at this point, but they had become very similar to one another, and the coupe was dropped after 1953. With the demise of the base Special after 1952, all two-door pillared Buicks were called “two-door sedans”.)”
Upon further research, I believe the “sport coupe” and “two-door sedan” looked similar but were slightly different, along the lines of the two Chevrolet body styles alluded to above. The two had different Fisher body style codes, and apparently had slightly different rooflines; they seem to have had noticeably different styling in the rear window area in particular.
This may explain why sales of the ’52 base sport coupe, while not exactly impressive, were so much higher than that of the base four-door sedan. The base four-door sedan was exactly the same thing as the Deluxe four-door sedan, just with a lower level of trim. This may have caused it to get de-emphasized in the wake of Korean War restrictions, possibly even dropped with the model year in progress, as theorized upthread. The base sport coupe, by contrast, wasn’t just a poorly trimmed version of the Deluxe two-door sedan. It was a different body style. A similar one, and not a very popular one, but a different one, and one that the auto industry had historically regarded as distinct. That may have given the base sport coupe more of a reason to exist in the eyes of Buick management than the base four-door sedan.
At least for the short term; 1952 was the last year for the base-trim Special, and when it disappeared from the Buick lineup, the sport coupe disappeared with it.
This clears up a question I had after seeing a 1951 Special Deluxe last weekend. When I think “Special DeLuxe” I think Chevrolet, not Buick. I did not know that the Special was broken down into regular and DeLuxe.
And breaking a series down by whether it has certain power accessories – just strange.
Several manufacturers used Special, Deluxe, and Special Deluxe as model designations. I know Plymouth used all three on post-war models for a few years.
The series breakout was for the GM Hydro-Letric equipped cars. This was denoted by an X at the end of the style number, and was even noted on the body and style plate on the firewall. This system was used on Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac. It appeared on some pre-war cars, and some sources say it appeared on 1946 – 1954 cars, but I can’t find any hard evidence of it on any 1946 and 1947 cars.
From what I can tell, Hydro-Letric was all or nothing from 1948-1952. There might be an exception regarding convertibles that had a power operated top only, but generally you either had a style that came with it, or didn’t. It became an option on some cars in 1953 and 1954. GM moved to electric windows and seats in 1955, with much wider availability.
The rational for Hydro-Letric was that 6 volt motors were too large and lacked the torque necessary to operate in car doors and such. However, Hydro-Letric apparently overlapped the 12 volt era by three years.
Hydro-Letric, as an option, was very expensive. At $131, it was about 5% of the base price of the top-line 1953 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight.
In the convertible, the system included the following:
1. Central hydraulic pump, electrically driven.
2. Fluid reservoir.
3. Single-acting hydraulic cylinders for the windows and seat.
4. Double-acting hydraulic cylinders for the convertible top.
5. Steel tubing plus flexible rubber hoses to tie it all together.
6. Electrical switches for the doors and windows.
7. Control valve for the convertible top.
The system was apparently reasonably troublesome, leaks being the primary issue.
Yes, the hydraulic windows in the 47 Lincoln owned by my friend’s dad were an endless item of fascination for me in my early teens. Pressing the button with the car in the garage led to the window silently gliding down into the door. Pressing the “up” button triggered a distant “whirrr” from a hydraulic pump and the window moved back up to closed.
These hydraulic power systems were never common, of course, and both expensive and leak-prone, as you note. Packard, Chrysler and Lincoln used similar systems but this was the first I had ever heard of cars so equipped being put into a separate model series or sub series. You learn the most fascinating (and useless) stuff here. 🙂
I assume the point of the exercise, so far as classifying it separately went, was to allow the Hydro-Lectric system’s presence to be identified in the VIN, which, given the elaborateness of the system, makes a good deal of sense — more sense, to be honest, than identifying trim series that are just a matter of different seat fabrics, brightwork, and minor equipment items.
I must admit I’ve been mostly skimming these articles Jason. Yeah, yeah, a wagon, a convertible, something with a small engine.
Skylark T-type, that’s interesting.
Then, the GNX! I remember well the build up and magazine articles when they were coming out, I didn’t know they built so few.
I even suggested to my Dad he should buy one, because they would be worth a lot someday. Obviously he did not take my investment advice. Anyway, I don’t think I was quite right on that, Dad would have done better buying real estate than a GNX..
Nice start to the day, thanks.
I also didn’t realize that so few GNXs were built — they must have been the most hyped 547 cars in Buick’s history.
And also I suspect that of the 547 GNXs originally built, about 1,500 of them survive today.
^^^^^^^^^ THIS LINE RIGHT HERE ^^^^^^^^^
Priceless.
It seems to be very common for people to throw the black mesh wheels on Grand Nationals and present their car as a GNX until they’re called out for it “oh yeah, yeah, I meant it was a Grand National, the GNX is just quicker to say. Same thing basically”.
GNX got my attention as well, found a 1987 R/T review/road test. 0-60 in 6 seconds.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/road-tests/a25623/first-look-flashback-1987-buick-gnx/
This C/D GNX review claims 0-60 in 4.6 seconds. But C/D and GM ringers did seem to go hand in hand.
Actually, it is on how you launch it. No boost or loaded and ready with 10 lbs of boost. And i believe the GNX that R/T and Motor Trend tested had a faulty PROM chip.
That brings up a great point: when the Grand National and GNX ended, fuel injection was really starting to reach its maximum potential with the OBD and EEC computers, giving rise to the awareness and popularity of chipping one’s car. In the hands of the Grand National and GNX and turbocharging (in which–in factory tune–was already tuned well by engineers that had embraced what computers could do for a car’s performance), this was deadly. People really started to realize what computer tuning could do. With all due respect to the carbed setup, IMHO, fuel injection is just that much more precise in its metering, especially when mass air flow systems took off.
There used to be a farm that I knew of that still had just about every car that they ever owned. They’d just park em out back when they were done running them. Sitting next to the remains of a couple of 1920’s LaSalle’s was a 1958 Buick Limited convertible, white with red interior. It was sitting on its belly as the tires had long ago sunk into the ground and the top rotted off, trashing the interior. I knew how rare it was at the time, but it needed more than I could give it. It’s all gone now, the cars and the farm. In the mid 80’s four Mcmansions were built on the site.
“There’s still only one Electra T-Type.”
No, seriously, we only built 1 this year. We can’t give the damn things away.
“The car so exclusive, none will be built!”
They were really good cars overall – I owned a 1988 version for 16 years and put 160K miles on it. I saw it still driving a couple of years ago, probably with close to 250K miles on the original drivetrain.
I’ll have to write it up for my COAL series.
I really liked that era of “big” Buicks. We had an 89 LeSabre that ran forever as well.
The one that really intrigues me here is the ’87 Skyhawk wagon. I’ve never thought about the rarity of Skyhawk wagons before, but come to think of it, they were probably always pretty rare.
The typical J-car wagon buyer was likely too frugal to opt for a Buick, the typical Skyhawk buyer probably had no use for a wagon, and most people with common sense would have (like you wrote) opted for the V-6 Cavalier wagon instead. The perfect recipe for a Rare CC. I’ll have to keep my eyes out for one of these, now!
Or spent more money and bought a Century wagon. That is probably why there were never loads of Skyhawks being sold. Most folks ether bought a Cavalier or Sunbird or ponied up more money and bought a Century. There were always deals to be had on Century and Cutlass Ciera which is why they sold a butt ton of them
A 92 or 93 Century Custom Coupe would be a dream find for a daily driver. I know how ridiculous that probably sounds, but to my eyes it’s a beautiful design, sized just right, with a pretty bullet proof drivetrain. I’d rock one in a heartbeat, but alas it’s not a search I feel tremendously compelled to undertake. Should one cross my path however…
The FWD A body coupes should have had this roof from start. GM was thinking ‘lets not make that Aeroback mistake again’.
I was expecting to see the 1986 LeSabre Grand National, produced with the rear quarter windows blanked except for a vertical rectangle for aerodynamics. I remember seeing this ad for it in Car & Driver. The site lesabret-type.com lists specifications and says either 112 or 117 were produced, making it more rare, but less exciting with a stock 3.8, than the GNX.
I was really disappointed to see that this particular car wasn’t on the list. I’ve known about this Grand National for years, often thought it would make a great addition to my fantasy garage (I love oddball rare cars like this).
Everyone of the Buicks listed above built after 1980 were a sales success compared to this one. The next lowest produced car sold almost 4x as many.
Gentlemen, it all depends upon how Buick classified them.
For instance, the other day when the Olds companion piece to this ran, Will Stopford ran a CC on a ’91 Olds 442, stating that few had been made (it was less than 1000). It wasn’t included in my piece that ran two hours later and I was rather surprised nobody noticed what appeared to be an inconsistency.
So why was it not included? The 442 was an option package on that Olds, which was otherwise a base model, as seen in the window sticker.
Since the LeSabre T-Type wasn’t listed as a specific model by Buick in the sources I used, it leads me to believe it was an option package on a LeSabre. And please believe me when I say doing these articles is jumping down enough of a rat hole without jumping down the deeper rat hole of option packages! 🙂
Good point, if it was just an option package then it shouldn’t count. I’m sure there is no end to limited run option packages across the industry.
I had presumed that like the Regal GN, this would have been a separate model. This, along with the Monte Carlo Aerocoupe and Grand Prix 2+2 were cool derivatives in the mid-1980s.
Yeah there’s always going to be weirdly optioned cars.
An older gentleman I worked with claimed that in the late 70s he was used car shopping and came across an early 70s full size Ford that looked completely deluxe on the outside (hidden headlights, padded top, lots of chrome, etc.) but was poverty spec on the inside (crank windows, solid bench seat, vinyl seat, no AC, etc.)
Principaldan, was likely a ’70 LTD. The name was moved down a peg to mid level. Essentially, a plain Galaxie with hidden headlights.
Friend’s dad had one like that new in fall ’69. Was example of “name debasement”.
Reatta Brougham.
My copy of the Encyclopedia of American cars actually shows production of the Reatta convertible in 1991 as 305. Production of the coupe was 1,214.
The Encyclopedia also has the Riviera convertible below 1,000 for two of the three years it was made: 1983 (1,750), 1984 (500), 1985 (400).
Honorable mention goes to the last stand of the slantback, the 1980 Century coupe, at 1,074.
Does the 1984 Buick Century Olympia count? I couldn’t find production numbers for these cars but don’t believe there were more than a 1000 made. A few were sold by LA dealers and a friend bought one and kept it for years.
It all depends upon how Buick breaks it out. I had not heard of these but had heard of the LeSabre T-Type mentioned a few comments up.
If Buick didn’t define them as a specific model with its own breakouts then I haven’t been either.
The Olympic car is a seasonal trim package, not a model, as Jason specified in another post. I can understand his reason, since there’d be thousands of “1 of 1” option package cars listed!
Like a 1987 LeSabre T Type, with sunroof, brown, with etc,etc, etc….
It was not a seasonal trim car. Buick was the official car of the 1984 Olympics. While all 1983-1984 Buicks had a sticker on one of the windows stating Buick was an official partner of the 1984 Olympics.
The Century was offered as Olympic special edition with special paint options, interior options and badging(Olympic rings on the fenders and on the seat headrests and a special Olympic hood ornament) This was to commemorate the 1984 Olympics which were in LA. This was a limited edition (I hear 1000-2000 were made but don’t quote me on this as I don’t have a break out of it)
Plus a portion of the sale of each of the Olympic special edition Century went to the USA Olympic Committee to assist athletes.
Never realized the Buick Skylark was available as a hatchback after the switch from the Apollo name.
I was also surprised that Skylarks in the late 60s still had a V6 engine, as I thought both Buick and Oldsmobile “dumped” the V6 by 1965.
Not surprising the RWD X-body hatchbacks fizzled out. Unchanged styling from the trunk coupes at a substantially higher price (coupe was cheapest and hatch most expensive, the sedan fell in between) meant the gain in useful space was limited and that giant hatch must’ve rattled like mad.
All of the RWD X-bodies were available as hatchbacks all the way through to 1979, but they were poor sellers after the first year or two. With the 1979 model year truncated to change over to the new FWDs (which were introduced as early 1980 models in the spring of 1979), all three B-O-P versions were produced in small enough numbers to be featured in this series.
IIRC, Oldsmobile switched to Chevy straight sixes around 1966, but Buick kept making the V6s until around 1972.
Buick sold their V6 to Jeep, around ’67 [ish], then bought it back from AMC in ’74, in time for 1975 models. No Buick v6 cars from 1968-74.
I stand corrected. According to the Encyclopedia of American Cars, Buick used the V6 from 1964 to 67. Oldsmobile used it in 1964 and 1965 only.
One of these days I’ll finish the pictures for the COAL on my Grand National. There really weren’t vast differences between the GNX and Grand National: Fender flares, an improved turbo, ACTUAL GAUGES, and a revised rear suspension. Weirdly, out of the three performance G-bodies, Monte Carlo SS, Olds 442, and Grand National, the Grand National sold the fewest despite being far more capable and certainly cleanly styled than its sisters. The last year saw a spike in sales as GM had announced its discontinuation and production of ’87 models continued into ’88 and production moved to Pontiac.
There were 47 Riviera Turbo Convertibles made for 1984 I think and 49 for 1985. These had the Grand National engine but before 1986 they didn’t have an intercooler so made about 200 hp compared with the 1986 intercooled engine which made 300.
GM intentionally underrated the Grand National engine at 245 to avoid marketing stepping on the toes of the Corvette. C/D review of the Grand National in 1986 calculated horsepower at something around 300 and it had a 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds.
> Weirdly, out of the three performance G-bodies, Monte Carlo SS, Olds 442, and Grand National, the Grand National sold the fewest despite being far more capable and certainly cleanly styled than its sisters.
Let’s not forget the Grand Prix 2+2! It apparently sold slightly over 1,000 copies, despite what is probably the least cleanly styled of the G-body quartet, as well as what may be the smallest trunk opening ever.
The cars shown for the “1993 Skylark Limited coupe” paragraph are the older, pre-1992 generation. Don’t know if anyone noticed, yet.
Yes, it was pointed out to me a while ago. It’s my bad. Being away from proper equipment at the moment, I’ll change it out later today.
Thanks.
Great article, Jason. What I love about reading CC articles, is that I come here to both be enlightened about new cars that I didn’t know about, as well as for reinforcement of my favorite cars. The GNX has long been one of my favorites (probably top 5, ever!), but I had no idea about the 1954 Skylark. What a beautiful car! It definetely has Harley Earl’s styling. My initial take on it, from the top, rear 3/4 view, is that it’s positioned somewhere between a Corvette/ T-Bird and traditional luxury…..the Chrysler 300 came pretty close to it, a year later.
Perhaps the reason why it got the axe was because the Corvette was already having a difficult enough time selling, and it wasn’t a two seater like the Corvette or T-Bird. I don’t quite recall another car having as much two door, four seat over the top sportiness with luxury trappings except for when the early 60’s T-Birds came around. I think that it was just a bit too much, a bit too ahead of its time……the extravagant rocket styled fins would have fit in better probably in 1957, and the overall concept would have worked much better after the T-Bird switched to four seats.
Had this Skylark idea succeeded (it would have needed a few more years to catch on), I think that they would have significantly influenced and/ or changed the personal luxury car market. For a 1954 car to look like that was a bold and daring move at that time……I still say the same thing about the Corvette in 1953. The only criticism that I have of the styling is that the fender openings are just a tad too extreme, but it would have fit in well a few years later, especially with Virgil Exner’s wild ideas. But even that criticism seems to help prove that it was onto wild and extravagant styling that the buying populace was just not quite ready for at that point.
Also, I Googled the performance of the car. The engine was a 322 Nailhead, with 200 hp and 309 ft. lbs of torque. 0-60 was about 12 seconds, whereas a T-Bird was about 9 and a half or so, but the Skylark would have been a much heavier car. It still seems to point towards the four seat T-Bird being the closest eventual market competitor.
“Perhaps the reason why [GNX] got the axe was because the Corvette was already having a difficult enough time…”
The RWD G bodies were on borrowed time and past sell by date. They couldn’t dedicate a whole plant to just build GN’s. Other G bodies were dropped already. Only if the G was redesigned, like the ’83 T Bird could they have continued, but the W body was their next model.
Buick also was switching to more conservative models, to the ‘elder car’ image that some still ridicule. IMO, they should have kept Buick as ‘Euro’ and Olds as ‘wire wheels’.
The turbo V6 went into the ’89 Trans Am Indy Pace Car, so wasn’t “wasted”.
Ooops, you meant 50’s Skylark, duh!
But, I have seen many car fans claim that the reason the GN/GNX was dropped was that “Chevy was jealous”.
This sentiment is so often parroted with enthusiasts of off the beaton path cars it’s ridiculous. Anyone into Ford’s that aren’t Mustangs will claim their car was somehow neutered by Ford so as to not outshine Mustangs – you get that big time with Fox and MN12 Thunderbird enthusiasts especially. This is basically the contrail, flat earth, didn’t land on the moon, alien conspiracy trope of the automotive world.
Except, as we’ve discussed before, when the junior model actually has a greater performance potential than the senior – Porsche’s rear-engined 911 vs the mid/rear Boxster.
Agreed, XR7Matt. And I’ve seen it LOTS with the Fox/ MN12 ‘Bird, as you mention (I think that there’s some guy on YouTube that made a video about his theory of some conspiracy). But the much more probable reality of that situation is that the Thunderbird, historically (sans for the limited supercharged version of the Birds in the 50’s), really always pretty much was a luxurious, prestigious car that had respectable performance. In 1958, the Thunderbird had no Mustang to compete with, yet it went less sporty. It was about maximizing its appeal, and included in that was making it smooth and quiet along with its power. Even the 1988 Turbo T-Bird with its power levels, was detuned (especially the automatic version) to provide reliable power. Owners of ’89 to ’95 Super Coupes found out the hard way with head gaskets (and using low grade fuel instead of premium) that with power, comes more maintenance.
As far as the Grand National/ GNX, watching the Black Air documentary really put things in perspective. What sealed the fate of those cars was the combination of the RWD platform coming to an end, as well as Buick realizing what their niche was and re-establishing itself in GM as more luxury than performance. I highly doubt that Buick made any money off of those cars (especially the GNX) and lost a good deal of money. Any money loss for a company is going to be the death knell, regardless of anything else (great reviews in car mags, positive buzz, etc). Plus, Buick was right, if their bottom line was any indication–the T Type cars that continued on didn’t sell that well.
I vaguely remember reading in Automotive News at the time that Buick Execs were eager to cancel the GN, and move on to the W body Regal.
Remember, most automaker execs are not “car guys” who want to go to a race track. Many are into cruising on the highway, luxury gizmos and soft ride.
Ahhh, Paul, thank you for this great site, and the great community of writers you give us. Since I was born IN a ’56 Buick, they’ve always been of great interest to me.
I had an 86 Electra T-type. I really liked the ride and handling, which was different than the standard Park Avenue. The Electra, the Electra T-type and the Park Avenue were all the same body, just different trim levels, but Buick considered them separate models.
At the end of the 80’s (possibly 89 and 90) there was a Park Avenue Ultra model which I think should have been a limited production model as it was expensive. The 1991 model year was for Buick an all new body for the Electra/Park_Avenue, and the Electra was dropped as a model name. Buick also dropped the European style (T-Type) models as Oldsmobile was the designated Euro-style sedan maker.
Same here, except mine was a 1988.
It’s going to be hard to convince anybody that hasn’t driven one of these to understand how different the T-Type (and even moreso the Olds 98 Touring Edition) drove in comparison to a standard Lesabre or Park Avenue.
The tires were lower profile. The suspension was much firmer with bigger springs, sway bars and sport-tuned struts (all four corners, with independent suspension in the rear). The leather-trimmed steering wheel actually required effort to turn and gave decent feedback. The (Teves II antilock) brakes were not over-assisted (so the pedal felt firmer and more controllable vs. the vacuum-boosted brakes in the other trim levels). The lower axle ratio gave better off-the-line performance.
I cross-shopped my 1988 Electra T-Type to the Olds Touring Sedans, and also drove a few regular Olds 98s and Park Avenues as well. You wouldn’t know that they were all based upon the same car by how differently they drove.
Funny story: when I first bought my T-Type (which was owned by senior citizens and sold to me by their kids), I found that the RH sway bar link was missing. Completely gone. The car was only five years old at the time with 65K miles on the clock and was in pristine condition, so there was no way that it had broken or fallen off.
My best guess is that the original owners brought it back to the dealer complaining about the firm ride, so the technician simply removed that one link! And honestly, I couldn’t really tell the difference once I reinstalled it.
Some great musings on how the T Types felt. I’ve never personally driven one. And you bring up some great points, namely how the same car with sportier tuning, will feel very different, and the result would be that it would have been much more difficult to get the average Buick buyer (especially families who have drove Buicks for generations) to drive a comparatively less civilized car, no matter how well it handled or accelerated. I love the T Type LeSabre in particular (especially with the flip up hood), but the T Type was a doomed market, because the Buick diehards wanted the prestige and ride/ comfortability of the Buick name, but rarely the sporting intentions of something like the Pontiac name.
The T-Type market was very limited, but since it was basically an upgraded trim level the cost of offering them was not high. However, when Oldsmobile was to go all European style, they were doomed.
‘The distinction was whether or not the car had hydraulically controlled seats and windows…’ as a model vs. trim package.
Sort of how Honda has models like “EX-L with Navigation”
It looks like the Skylark LE and GS failed for mirror-image reasons (in addition to poor value); the people to whom the LE appealed would rather have spent the extra two grand on a bigger car, while the GS’ market was more effectively wooed by any number of (mostly import) sporty coupes that were more convincing.
Where is the info on the mythical ’76 V6 LeSabre? OldCarBrochoures doesn’t say anything about one, lists 350 V8 as standard motor, 455 as only option…
Wikipedia
There was one on eBay back in 2010. It looks like it wasn’t mentioned in brochures but if you search for parts it carried VIN code C.
The V6 was added after the beginning of the model year I think, or at least the brochures were printed before the V6 was added.
Was a spring ’76 additional option, and commercials bragged about the 20 mpg highway rating.
It’s amazing how substantial the GNX looks among all these other Buicks of the same period that come off as so tinny. I know that’s not what the topic is about but seeing it pop up when scrolling through a bunch of N bodies certainly is jarring!
The Skylark GS is one I never knew existed, and the Lesabre V6 I cannot imagine how bad that was. My Dad had a V6 76 442 and he thought that was dangerously slow and rough, that in a big B body? Yikes!
“Details on these are nonexistent. All that can be found in the Encyclopedia of American Cars (copyright 1996) is the price for each of these is labeled as “exp”. Does this mean experimental, export, or something different? Buick provided a specific model number for each of these.”
I have an edition of the Encyclopedia that runs up through 2006, which identifies these models as “export”.
Comments on some of these:
1954 Skylark: This car’s Oldsmobile equivalent, the Fiesta, made the list in ’53, then didn’t return for ’54.
1958 Limited convertible: It’s worth noting that the Limited series, which was dropped after just this one year, carried a base price that was significantly higher than any other Buick. All three body styles had a base price of over $5000, a figure no subsequent Buick would reach until 1971. With the recession hitting, 1958 turned out to be a terrible time to introduce a car like this. Sales were poor across the board, and convertibles are usually the slowest-selling body style, so out all of that together, and here we are. Two other middle-priced makes that we’ve looked at previously, Mercury and Dodge, also had unpopular 1958 or 1959 convertible variants on their lists.
1961 Special three-seat wagon: I have to wonder if this was a late addition. Sales were much higher in 1962, even though sales of the conventional two-seat wagons were about the same as they had been in 1961.
1971-72 GS convertibles: We’ve seen a number of convertibles from the late ’60s and early ’70s on these lists, when declining convertible sales caused some variants to drop below 1,000.
1979 Skylark hatchback: The Pontiac and Oldsmobile equivalents of this car also made those brands’ lists, for the same reasons. As with its cousins, Buick only sold the hatchback in one trim level, so the total quoted in the article is the entirety of ’79 Skylark hatchback production.
1987 Skyhark Limited wagon: The Limited was the more expensive of two trim levels offered in 1987 (a wagon was also offered in the lower trim level, the Custom, and its sales, while hardly great, were well above 1,000). The Skyhawk continued for two more years after this, and continued to come as a wagon, but the entire Limited trim level was dropped after ’87.
1991-94 Skylark models: The LE sedan and GS coupe, each the top trim level for its respective body style, were first introduced in 1990. While not great sellers in ’90, they managed to stay above 1,000 that year, but both dropped below that level for ’91. 1992 saw a major reorganization of the Skylark’s model lineup, to go along with the restyle which hit that year. The lineup was collapsed from three trim levels to two, with the top trim level of both the coupe and sedan now carrying the GS name. The thinning out of models kept both GS variants above 1,000 in 1992 and 1993, but by ’94 both were back in the under 1,000 club. (After 1994, Buick apparently stopped reporting production for individual body style/trim level combinations, preventing any further GS models from making the list.) Meanwhile, a new, more expensive Limited trim level was added for 1993. The coupe version was below 1,000 that year – coupe sales across the U.S. auto industry were in severe decline at this point – then the coupe was dropped for ’94.
1992-93 Century Custom coupe: From 1990 onward, the Custom was the only Century trim level to come as a coupe, so these figures represent the entirety of Century coupe production in those years. Unlike most of the entries on these lists, this wasn’t a situation where the coupe came in multiple trim levels, and one specific trim level fell below 1,000. This was it.
Regarding the Limited: Buick renamed the whole lineup for 1959, with the Limited becoming the Electra 225, the Roadmaster the base Electra (no 225 and shorter), the Invicta is Century, and the Lesabre is the Special. The Super was more or less a basic Roadmaster.
If you go by Buick’s body style codes, the Special became the LeSabre, the Century become the Invicta, the Roadmaster became the base Electra, and the Limited became the Electra 225. The Super had no 1959 equivalent; the body style codes it used in 1958 were eliminated.
If you go by market position, though, looking at each model’s base price, model mix, and relative sales level, I’d say that the Super was pretty clearly replaced by the base Electra, the Roadmaster was more-or-less replaced by the Electra 225, and the Limited had no 1959 equivalent.
Base prices for the 1959 Electra, Century and Roadmaster were all slightly higher than the 1958 Special, Century and Super had been. Base prices for the 1959 base Electra were actually lower than the 1959 Roadmaster had been. There was nothing in the 1959 Buick lineup that was remotely close to the 1958 Limited in base price. As noted in my previous post, no subsequent Buick model would have a base price at that level again until the early 1970s.
Note that the Limited had been by far the slowest-selling Buick model in 1958, and it represented a market segment that Buick hadn’t been in anytime recently before 1958. So it makes sense that was the market segment which Buick vacated.
This much is clear: there was a significant change in philosophy at the top end of Buick’s lineup. Not only did Buick abandon the price level represented by the 1958 Limited, they also cut the top 1959 model (the Electra 225) to a price that was significantly below the 1958 Roadmaster. This was presumably done in response to the recession. By contrast, the rest of Buick’s lineup, below the Electra 225, did not see this kind of price-cutting for 1959.
That Skylark GS coupe is one seriously attractive machine!
To my eyes, at least.
I’m curious about the 72 Sun Coupe in the Skykark brochure picture. Did it have a roll-back fabric top or a removable roof panel? Can’t quite tell from the picture but interesting either way. Any insight out there CCers?
Regarding the N body Skylark GS, seems like they were trying to get Grand Am buyers. When actually car was a hit with elderly folks who liked the “Buick at a low price”.
Was there any contemporary road test of the ’76 LeSabre with the V6? It must have been a total slug, even for the malaise era!
Hello – this is a great site and so helpful. Many thanks. I wonder if you have access to production numbers for the 1987 Lesabre four door with the T option package. After much searching, all I can find is, “It was available, but it wasn’t popular.” I’d love to know how “unpopular” it really was if those numbers are available to someone smarter than I am. Many thanks!
A few more rare Buicks for your list. The ’70 to ’72 GSX (678, 124 and 44 respectively). 1981 Regal Indy Pace Car (125), 1982 Grand National Regal (215), 1983 Riviera XX Indy Pace Car (502), and the 1986 LeSabre Grand National (117).
Buick built some very nice looking cars over the years! I would love a ’91 LeSabre coupe with the semi fastback roof. That was shared with the Oldsmobile, but they are both quite rare. I’ve only seen one for sale over the years on CraigsList.
There are always way too few “loaded, sport trim” American cars relative to the “stripped, column-shifted, Hertz trim” ones.
There couldn’t have been too many Century GS models sold in the mid 80s.
Having been around Buick’s since 1982 when my uncle ordered a beautiful Electra sedan in Park Avenue trim in light beige with a dark brown top and matching dark brown velour seats. That car was magnificent. Then my brother and his wife purchased a 1985 Park Ave sedan in silver with gray leather. My parents like that so much that they traded the 1979 Cadillac Sedan De Ville on a light brown 1985 Park Ave. Then in 1988, I began my auto sales career at a dealership with Buck and Cadillac. It’s been my passion for those two brands ever since, but in today’s market of boxes (SUV/CUV’s), I feel abandoned and I’m losing my passion for those same two brands.
It was fun to look through this article and see some of the fantastic cars Buick has had over the years. I’d take any one of them, but believe it or not, one of my all time favorites would be that black 1994 Skylark GS. In that year my wife and I purchased our first new Buick and it was a 1994 Skylark Custom sedan in white. I really wanted the black or white GS sedan, but just couldn’t afford one at that time. That was one of many Buick’s we have owned in my 40 years of driving.
My late brother searched the VIN on his FPV Ford Falcon in Ford Australia’s data base just out of interest, His car turned out to be 1 of 1 but what was added or left out he either didnt find out or took the answer with him, the car no longer exists anyway.
“Buick Special Deluxe.”
“Comes four ways. Goes one.”
Buick really cheaping out by not giving the transmission a reverse gear…
My father owned an ’86 and an ’89 Electra sedan- both with padded roof, white walls, and wire wheels. I’m sure it never occurred to him to buy the T-Type. It should have occurred to GM back then to make the only Electra available a less chromed, alloy-wheeled, black wall only model since this is precisely what they did in 1996 with the redesigned Park Avenue. 10 long years later.
The 1990 Buick Electra is overall one of the loveliest of the later Buicks but for one detail. The way the trailing corner of the bonnet stops abruptly at the base of the A-pillar is unsettling. The small flare of the chrome trim above the indicator (front corner of the car) is also a bit off. But still, I really like these cars which (I mighe be wrong) looked like solid, quality comfortable saloons for people who don´t want to show off too much. Are they not now quite pricey as classic cars? The closest we got to this was the Volvo 960 but it´s Swedish and lacks the N American tufted velour-and-fake-wood vibe that Buick has.