(first posted 9/30/2015) Last Sunday, we looked at some rare and forgotten models from Kenosha, Wisconsin. With their perennial underdog status, American Motors was bound to have a treasure trove of unique cars in their history. Let’s move northeast this week and take a look at the cars from Flint, Michigan. Buick has always been a fairly high-volume brand from one of the world’s largest corporations. During the 1970s and 1980s, their success was built on the backs of cars like the conservative Century and level-headed LeSabre. Surely there’s nothing quirky or rare from those decades, right? Wrong. Presented for your entertainment are 10 short-lived Buicks – 5 today, 5 more on Sunday – you may have forgotten about or never even knew existed.
LeSabre Palm Beach
Production years: 1979
Total production: 4001
The downsized Buicks of 1977 were attractive cars, featuring crisp lines, a rather imposing front-end design and a somewhat rakish roofline, at least compared to the heavily-revised 1980 models that would follow. Still, these were cars that looked best perhaps in an elegant burgundy or a rich brown. But how about two-tone white and “Yellow Beige”?
“Yellow Beige” was certainly a polite way of saying “Pastel Yellow”, and the Palm Beach LeSabre was the only Buick application of a color that would have seemed far more at home on a ’57 Buick than on this limited edition based on the LeSabre Limited coupe (a Limited Edition Limited, as it were). They could not be equipped with a vinyl roof, although you had a choice between optional wire or rally wheels. The side of the grille bars and large sections of the bumpers were painted in the polarizing pastel. You’ll note that from the brochure photos featured that the standard wheels were custom wheel covers also painted in Yellow Beige, and yet the featured car has regular ol’ wire wheels. Really, Buick? Was the yellow on yellow on yellow a bit much?
The interior was just as interesting as the exterior, featuring “Palm Beach cloth” – an odd, brown material with striations through it – on “Yellow Beige” seats, with a 55/45 bench up front. An interesting pale woodgrain appliqué featured prominently throughout the interior. Under the hood, though, the LeSabre was like any other ’79 LeSabre Limited with a choice of three different engines: the Buick 231 CID V6 or, optionally, a choice of Pontiac 301 or Buick 350 (the Buick V8’s penultimate year). The Oldsmobile 350 was used in California.
There you have it: all the basic goodness of a ’79 LeSabre, with a paint job you would have to be blind in both eyes to miss!
Skyhawk Nighthawk
Production years: 1977
Total production: 1383
Buick certainly knew how to create an interesting limited edition. The Skyhawk Nighthawk had a much more subtle exterior than the Palm Beach LeSabre, and looked like an ordinary black version of the handsome Chevy Monza-based Buick Skyhawk. There was something that made this little Buick special, though. Let’s shine a light on it.
No, seriously, let’s shine a light on it. That was what made the Nighthawk special: when lit by a camera flash or – as the name would suggest – car headlights at night, the reflective striping would shine gold. Neat trick. Otherwise, the Nighthawk package was only distinguishable by some subtle logos and pinstriping, as well as gold wheels. Underneath, it was the same as other Skyhawks: a 110 hp 3.8 Buick V6 and a choice of Saginaw four-speed or Borg-Warner five-speed manual transmissions or a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic 350 automatic. Other H-Bodies offered four-cylinder and V8 engines as well as different body styles. Ah, but did they offer gold reflective tape striping?
Skyhawk Roadhawk
Production years: 1979-80
Total production: 2037
The little Skyhawk seemed an odd fit in Buick showrooms, but evidently either dealers or GM HQ wanted more fuel-efficient offerings in said dealerships and captive imports were apparently not enough. What Buick found, though, was its Skyhawk was not selling as well as the Chevy Monza and Pontiac Sunbird. Over six model years, the Monza sold over 700,000 units. Over five model years, the Sunbird sold over 400,000. The Skyhawk and the Olds Starfire mustered just 125,000 each between 1975-80. The solution? Special editions! Oldsmobile had an available V8 and the gaudy Firenza package. Buick had the Nighthawk and then, as the Skyhawk entered its twilight years, the Roadhawk. Unlike the aforementioned Nighthawk, though, the Roadhawk was revised just as much mechanically as it was aesthetically.
Don’t get too excited, though. Buick may have embraced turbocharging around this time, rolling out turbocharged Regals, LeSabres and Centuries, but the moribund Skyhawk received no such boost (no pun intended). The only engine available was the 2-bbl 3.8 Buick V6, which had just received new cylinder heads and a new camshaft profile. Power was up to 115 hp and 190 pound-feet of torque. It was no fire-breather, and the breath it did have was exhausted the higher up you went in the rev range, but it had some decent low-end torque. Selecting the Roadhawk package was actually the only way to get the Performance Handling Package in 1979. This included larger front and rear sway bars, Goodyear BR70-13 radial tires, stiffer shocks and a quicker steering ratio.
Base sticker price for the ’79 Skyhawk was $4778, and the Roadhawk package added $675. Buick contracted Robin Products Company Inc in Farmington Hills, Michigan to outfit the silver-only Roadhawk’s exterior. Exterior addenda included various vinyl decals, new front air dam, rear spoiler and fiberglass quarter panel extensions, while the interior received oyster-colored seats with black and gray striping and embroidered hawk logos on the front buckets.
Car & Driver tested the Roadhawk and while they were no fans of the H-Body (criticizing it for poor quality control, handling and suspension travel), they found the Roadhawk fairly fun-to-drive if unrefined. The package was certainly rare and distinctive, but just imagine if the engine had been the recipient of a little more juicing.
Grand National (82)
Production years: 1982
Total production: 215
When someone says the name, “Buick Grand National”, there is a mental image summoned of a black, turbocharged coupe. But Buick’s performance flagship wasn’t always black and it wasn’t always turbocharged.
The first Grand National, launched in 1982, was a rare special edition built to celebrate Buick’s NASCAR successes. Originally, Cars and Concepts were contracted to produce their Grand National package for just 100 Regal coupes. That number got bumped up to 215, and while a few of them were equipped with the 3.8 turbocharged, carburetted V6, most of them featured Buick’s 4.1 naturally-aspirated V6. This was a larger version of the venerable 3.8, first introduced in 1980 and marketed as an alternative to V8s (it was discontinued after 1984). The 4.1 was good for 125 hp, while the 3.8 turbo produced 175 hp. The exact number of Grand National Sport Coupes, as the turbo model was called, is unknown but they can be distinguished externally by their hood bulge.
Regardless of engine, the ’82 Grand National came fully-loaded. As well it should have, considering the option package priced $3,278! It used the firmer F-41 suspension tune and wore raised white letter Goodyear tires. A t-top roof was standard along with air-conditioning, power windows, leather-wrapped steering wheel and cruise control. All ‘82s were two-tone charcoal and light silver firemist with red pinstriping, a rear spoiler and blacked-out grille; inside was a two-tone slate gray and black interior, equipped with a center console as well as some Grand National logos on the dash and on the Lear-Seigler bucket seats.
The Grand National name took a break for 1983. For 1984, the name came back and the rest is history.
LeSabre Grand National
Production years: 1986
Total production: 117
Not all Grand Nationals were black and turbocharged, as the aforementioned ’82 model proves. In fact, not all Grand Nationals were even rear-wheel-drive! Only 117 units were produced of the LeSabre Grand National, built to qualify the new ’86 LeSabre for NASCAR. You’ll note this GN looks like any regular, handsome LeSabre coupe except for one key difference: that goofy rear-side window. In fact, that was the main reason the ’86 LeSabre Grand National was built as the modified side window gave the body a streamlining advantage over a regular LeSabre side window on the track.
Unlike other special edition Buicks, the LeSabre GN’s modifications were performed alongside regular Buicks at the Buick City plant in Flint. The option package, available predominately in Georgia and Florida, cost $1,237. One red model was produced, and white models were planned before the GN was abruptly cancelled; all production models featured a gray cloth interior with a bench seat. The only powertrain was a 3.8 fuel-injected V6 with 150 hp, mated to a three-speed automatic transmission; all GNs had the firmer FE1 suspension tune. Allegedly, a turbocharged LeSabre GN was planned but finding a suitable transmission proved hard and the project was scrapped. As far as special editions go, the LeSabre GN may have tremendous rarity on its side, but everything unique it offered – odd windows aside – was available on the dashing ’87-89 LeSabre T-Type.
Those are just 5 obscure Buicks. Tune in on Sunday to find out what else makes the Top 10!
Related Reading:
COAL: 1988 Buick LeSabre T-Type – A Young Man Buys An Old Man’s Car
CC For Sale: 1979 Buick Skyhawk – Dropping A V6 In This Vega Derivative Was A Lark
Nothing intrigues me more than Special Editions.
The special cloths, the body paint, the trims, the stripes, the unique alloy wheels, the special options.
They usually represent a particualar fashion / fad / trend perfectly.
I absolutely love the Palm Beach LeSabre! I feel in love with this car the first time I saw one back in 79. Back in the day, there were so many of them on the streets of my Brooklyn NY neighborhood. Maybe they were all owned by snowbirds who went down to Florida for the winter months to escape the cold Brooklyn winters.
I still see a couple of them here in central New Jersey. In fact there’s always one or two at the local car shows. They are in beautiful condition, and look as elegant as they did back in the day.
You really need to see this car in person to appreciate it. The color combination is striking, and the interior is handsome. The car actually has a few bits from the Riviera on it, such as the tops of the interior door panels, and the body side molding.
Out of all the downsized GM B and C’s, the ’77 – ’79 LeSabre Coupe had the best styling with it’s elegant but sporty roof line, beautiful grille and headlight treatment, and classy dashboard with its large round gauges. Yes, the car looked wonderful in any of the trendy two tone paint treatments, but it really looked amazing with the Palm Beach package.
surprised that real wire wheels were offered in 79 – Buick only??
I love the Palm Beach package too – if you see one today it is either in mint condition or a total mess. On paper the Palm Beach package may seem tacky, but in person it is beautiful. When my folks ordered their ’79 Riviera there was a Palm Beach LeSabre in the showroom. My Dad commented on the fact that he would never think those colors would be nice on a large car but on the Buick it looked great. There were a few of these when I was a kid roaming around my hometown, too – probably the one we saw in the showroom that day!
I think the advertised car has the genuine wire wheels and not the covers – I wonder how many of the 4001 produced had the real wires? Maybe just the one in the picture?
You said every thing I was going to! +1!
A very attractive treatment indeed. Now if modern car manufacturers weren’t so colour-phobic…..
It is interesting to me that only one of William’s first five add luxury, if that is what you call the Palm Beach, to the regular offering. This is Buick for gosh sake. I guess this is what happens when the admen and managers personal taste run to sporty cars. I call this a management failure. It sends mixed messages to customers and shows the managers were not committed to the mission.
As a Verano owner, free note to Buick on what a good Verano special edition would be. Velour seats with inflatable lumbar. woodgrain and plastic chrome becomes real. Wood rim steering wheel. A more sensible tire size with a decent sidewall say 215/70 HR15. Better impact absorbtion and would act to lower the car visually. Color keyed wheel discs. A taller final drive ratio to enhance quiet and economy. The chrome waterfall grille becomes actual chromed steel but of the same style, so only the owner knows. Call it the Electra Edition Big Block. As the coming next generation will loose the NA 2.4 big block four in favor of a small turbo, honor the passing of the big block four. Recent ones have gotten quite good. This edition would be Buick, only more so. The way it should be.
I happened to be at the Buick dealer today getting my car’s 22500 mile service. I got to see the catalog for the new for 2016 Buick special. The Enclave Tuscan edition features mocha bronze paint and bronze colored each alternate spoke on the 20 inch wheels and bronze colored alternate spokes on the chrome grill. There is also a bronze frame around the front seatback kiddie screens and a rear skylight to the rear of the panoramic sunroof. Sounds a little like the Palm Beach. Sorry William if spilled the beans on one of your next 5 Buick specials.
i imagine these were aimed at golfers, in loud golf pants.
Very interesting information, especially discovering the really low production numbers, though I doubt the rarity does much for collectibility in these cases.
The Palm Beach LeSabre makes sense to me. Though the color and trim are wild, it was the 1970s. Also, in the South, I remember seeing a fair number of 70s B-bodies in the lighter non-metallic colors, including pastel yellow. At least the Palm Beach package reinforced Buick’s positioning as a stylish and luxurious car.
The Skyhawk packages, on the other hand, are a head-scratcher to me. The car was always an odd fit in the Buick line-up, so to me the solution would have been to make it more Buick-like instead of making a gaudy sports package. The packages Buick developed were blatant rip-offs of the Monza Spyder and the Sunbird Formula, and did little to differentiate the Skyhawk from its GM siblings. I think a more appropriate Skyhawk package would have been a luxury version–nicer seats, special trim, unique wheels, unique colors–hmmm, sounds a bit like Palm Beach…
The same would hold true for the Regals as well. More luxury would have been a good call, but NASCAR-inspired sport packages? GM was turning upside down at this point. Pontiac introduced the Grand Prix Brougham, while Buick went to the race track. Truly brand values run amok.
The Grand Nationals were a product of the last period in which the divisions retained their traditional autonomy. After Roger Smith’s big organizational shakeup, Buick was essentially ordered to get out of that field, although the tie-in had really done Buick sales a lot of good in the early and mid-80s.
There are a lot of trade-offs with heavy-handed brand management. On the plus side, you can limit the different brands’ risk of tripping over one another, but you can also end up blocking an individual brand’s ability to evolve or adapt. That kind of top-down control would likely have led to the demise of Pontiac in the ’50s, for example. All it would have taken would have been one group VP saying, “No, Chevrolet is the entry-level youth brand, so leave the sporty stuff to them.”
With the switch to unit bodies and fwd in the eighties, it was going to be harder to make the divisional offerings different enough to appeal to a broad range of customers. This is where special editions can make a difference. Instead at GM you had T type Buicks going up against Pontiac STEs while actual customers of Buick were buying broughamed up limiteds. This is a failure of Buick management. Loyd Ruess and Ed Mertz might have had gasoline in their veins, but hardly left Buick with a model line to match it’s mission.
I agree on the dangers of heavy handed brand management from corporate, and I think the loss of divisional independence was one of the issues that severely damaged GM.
As for Buick though, I’m not sure their sales success of the late ’70s and early ’80s can really be tied to the NASCAR tie-ins and limited volume sport variants. I think that Buick was effective in transferring their traditional values to smaller cars, and that was the source of their sales success during this period.
I think that the real opportunity for Buick would have been to develop sophisticated, subtle sports machines, like the GS from the 1960s. Iron fist in a velvet glove seems appropriate for Buick, and the rising popularity of imports with Buick’s target audience during this period showed that there was indeed a market for tasteful, discreet sporty luxury. The “granny in a miniskirt” approach with wild graphics just seemed too far out of character, though Buick was correct in seeing the need to keep its image fresh and relevant.
True, there was a definite mismatch in brand identity in the 80’s for GM. Take a look at the Century. You could order a Limited with the “T” Package, which was exactly how my ’87 was ordered by the original owner. It was cool to be both sporty and luxurious but it did lend to some identity crisis for the brands. I had a thick leather wrapped steering wheel in my hand with brushed aluminum applique on the dash, yet my seats were the thick, cushy velour Limited pillow style 45/45 with a console and floor shifter. You can’t get any more sport/Broughamy than that!
To take it a step further, Buick allowed you to order blacked out trim which mine didn’t have, but I had Eagle GT blackwall tires on aluminum rims! Interesting option availability if you ask me!
The Nighthawk reminds me a great deal of a trim package for the Mk2 Capri, the name of which currently escapes me. I don’t know that the gold trim on that one was reflective, though, which is an interesting touch, but one that has me wondering whether it would run afoul of any of the more obscure federal safety regulations. (I’m sure there are regs for reflectors, although I can’t say I’ve ever been motivated to review them.)
Are you thinking of the 1975 Capri S, which featured JPS style pin stripes? About 2000 built
I think that John Player Special style originated with Lotus, on the Europa?
There was the JPS version with the gold pin stripes, which was called LeCat Black, IIRC.
Here’s an ad
EDIT: I see someone else remembered the car, too.
Great article. Never knew about the Lesabre Palm Beach Edition.
One thing to note, the ’86 Lesabre, like all H-bodies, had the initially troublesome four-speed automatic. There were no three-speeds.
Love the Palm Beach and recall seeing one when new. Fun. I wish car makers would do some two tone stuff again just to have a little fun.
I remember seeing the occasional Palm Beach LeSabre back in the day. The color combo seemed oddly retro then, but it was not unattractive.
The Nighthawk was the only other one I can remember seeing. Other than the Grand National, I don’t even remember the others.
Those are the only 2 I remember that Buick offered in this time period as well. Always liked the no chrome blackout European look that was popular in the ’70’s and ’80’s. I had a bright yellow Special Edition ’73 Sport Bug with all black trim, black bumpers with yellow tape stripe in the middle along with sport stripe. Factory sport steel wheels with Pirelli Cinturato CN36 tires. The velour interior with Recaro like seats and sport steering wheel completed the touch. I added a wood kit and Hurst shifter with aluminum T handle and required black and gold sisal (coca) mats. After I hopped up the engine, that car surprised quite a few malaise era performance cars.
I like yellow cars but the Palm Beach is just a bit too much yellow….something about the bumpers.
Other posters here make good points about the Skyhawk special editions. Buick would have been better served to make them more Buick-like, rather than “clones” of the Monza. Speaking of which, perhaps it would have made more sense to give Buick a Monza Town Coupe type of body style instead of giving it to Pontiac? I guess someone in management thought an even smaller Regal-type coupe was a very bad idea?
I’ve seen 4 or 5 of the LeSabre 2 doors in 20 years, half the time in white the other half usually silver….though once, perhaps, in black. They seem so sad as a “alternative” body style compared to say, a Impala/Caprice 2 door of the same vintage.
The horsepower figures quoted, even for the “performance enhanced” models, seem laughable compared to today’s bread and butter econoboxes.
Ate Up With Motor: The Capri II had a “Black Cat” model that was black with gold striping and wheels, and yes the striping was light reflective. At some point, that model was joint by a similar model in white (though I somehow doubt it was called a White Cat). When the Capri II was superceded IN THE U.S. (Europe continued with a Capri III) by the Fox-based Capri, that model also got black and white “Cat” models.
I don’t know about laws on reflective tape use but as a truck driver I know the government is more inclined towards anything that makes a vehicle more visible…..up to a point
The Black Cat is the one I was thinking of — not the John Player Special. Thanks!
Howard Kerr: I really don’t know how to categorize the US made (Fox body) Capri, Capri III? It had nothing to do with the Euro one.
The special editions were the Black Magic and the White Lightning packages. I owned a 1980 USDM Capri RS Turbo in black with the mint green highlight stripes. By the time the White Lightning one came out, I was less than enthralled with my then-current ride. But the White Lightning package did intrigue me.
Here’s a good explanation of the model packages:
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/gtp-cool-wall-ford-capri-2-8.288126/page-2#post-8822106
The Palm Beach LeSabre and the Skyhawks are totally my jam. The only one of the five featured cars I’ve never seen in person is the Nighthawk. The Palm Beach looks like some kind of delicious cake with yellow beige frosting. Yum!
Whenever I see the little sporty package Buicks I always think of the proverbial little old lady who walks into the showroom looking for a car, not knowing what they want, and the salesman ends up selling them one of these. They end up with a rare car and don’t even know it! There was an older lady in my hometown that had a Roadhawk that she drove for years. I always thought it was so cool to see her in that car. She probably went in for a Skylark and came out with a Skyhawk!
The Palm Beach LeSabre is gorgeous! The others don’t really interest me much. At least mfgs back then were willing to try new things, cars today have become so boring and grey.
Let’s add also the 1976 Century Special to the list. Buick dusted off the Special monicker for the Century for the 1976 model year as a subseries.
Edit: Another honorable mention, the 1975 Apollo who inherited a “sportier” version of the 2-door coupe who revived the Skylark name…who’ll completely replace the Apollo for 1976. http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Buick/1975_Buick/1975_Buick_Brochure/1975%20Buick-11.html
http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Buick/1975_Buick/1975_Buick_Brochure/1975%20Buick-13.html
I’d also like to see the 70-71 GS-X in the 2nd half of this post.
Forget those clichéd allusions to mountains, coasts, boulevards, or Italian cities; how about a Newark or Fresno Edition?
The Buick Bakersfield. It rolls off the tongue rather nicely.
You know the LeSebre coupe is very attractive. It is a shame that the Deville coupe of that era could not have been made more attractive.
You may be thinking of the ’92 Coupe DeVille that Brendan posted the other day.
Most people rather like the ’77-’79 era Coupe DeVille …..
Yes I meant the 85-93 Deville coupe that was posted the other day.
For some reason, I’ve never been a fan of the Buick cars of this generation. My least favourite was the Skyhawk. I found it hideous to look at when I was a boy, and I still find it hideous to look at today.
I too recall seeing the Palm Beach LeSabre. It didn’t seem as garish at the time as it might appear now. Chromy two-tone cars were quite popular in the late ’70s. This fit in nicely, the bumper and grill treatment being the most “out-there.”
Assuming the intended demographic was the retired set, they hit their target well. Folks about 65 to 75 years of age would have been in their 40s and 50s in the mid-late 1950s when chromy two-tone and even tri-tone Buicks were popular. The 1950s were looked on quite nostalgically in the 1970s, 1950s themed TV shows were popular, school dances had ’50s themes and girls would wear poodle skirts.
My grandfather was 76 in 1979, drove a two-tone deep red ’78 Caprice and favored white dress shoes, a white belt and seersucker suits for dress-up events. His mode of dress would have fit in even better with the Palm Beach LeSabre!
When you think about what car customizers do, this seems like a factory custom. I tended to run conservative at the time, and may not have bought this, but I rather like it now…….
That’s one of my favorite pictures in this post. I love the “bird” seats! I just would not be able to stomach the strange window treatment, though. It absolutely ruins the lines of a very attractive car. What were they thinking? Then they did it again on the 1986 LeSabre special edition.
All very interesting.
The LeSabre Palm Beach Edition looks perfect for the core senior citizen population of Florida.
I love the prosthetic rear end on the Skyhawk Roadhawk, makes it look less droopy. And those seats with the embossed hawk are very catchy.
I’ll be honest, the LeSabre Grand National slipped my mind.
I find myself greatly drawn to the Roadhawk…
This is a good list, remember most of these at local Buick dealers and Auto Shows.
BTW: Buick wasn’t always the ‘senior driver’ brand. Buick had a good image before 1988, until “ordered” to be ‘traditional’ by Roger S. Thus the ‘Buicks are driven slow’ jokes for the past 25 years. Sure, they sold to many elders, but they are still trying to update their image, “That’s a Buick?”
I’ve seen plenty of beige regular ’77-79 LeSabres even in the northeast, all driven by the “traditional Buick buyer”.
The Roadhawk with its’ single headlights and wide, deck-embiggening spoiler looks like with a bit of toning-down it could’ve been the facelift to take the H-body into the ’80s (maybe if the two-door J-cars had been scotched?)
Not surprised they kept the 3.8 turbo out of the Roadhawk; they were selling the turbo Century and Regal on performance and probably didn’t want them showed up by the same engine in a smaller. lighter car.
LeSabre GN should’ve been a regular model, but in a sedan (other than a few NASCAR homologation units); likewise surprising to find the LeS T-type was coupe only. It was well into the sports-sedan ’80s, and domestic performance coupe buyers just didn’t want to accept FWD.
Enjoyed the article! Not sure if it was considered a special edition, but I would have liked to have seen the Century Turbo Coupe included in this grouping; this one with the carbureted turbo motor, the fore runner for the GN and a great name for Ford to use on their own turbo’d Thunderbird that came along much later on.
Awesome read! I realize that these were all show, no go…but the sportier Buicks like this at least set the stage for a bit of fun and excitement. Sure, under the hood they were weak chested but Id far and away rather have a cool looking car and have to work it up so that its performance matches the looks, as opposed to the same bland 4 door garbage offered now. Theres one that I believe has a turbo 4 banger and manual trans offered. Im sure its fun to drive but you just cant scrub off that lumpy sedan ugliness.
My gramma had one of those Monza based Skyhawks way back in the day. It wasn’t a special edition, just a red sporty coupe with the V6. Got handed off to my uncle at some point and overall it was a well regarded little car.
Count me a fan of most of these cars. I’m not so crazy about yellow cars, so the LeSabre doesn’t do a whole lot for me. OTOH, I have very fond memories of a high school girlfriend whose folks gave her a Nighthawk for her 16th birthday present. We had a lot of fun in that car. We were both a lot more nimble back then…
Those early 80’s Grand Nationals were really sharp cars; the later “Darth Vader” versions have their charms, naturally. I’d almost forgotten about the FWD LeSabre Grand National. I’ve never seen on in the flesh.
I’m still keeping a used Monza/Skyhawk left tail light and a used Regal/Grand National (RWD) grille… 🙂 A red still running euro Capri 2 I saw today on the road… What a refreshing moment… A month ago I also saw a (tailored) Capri II V8… Here are the shots…
>>>
Love the Palm Beach! Of course I had a three way Naples yellow 77 Coupe de Ville. Really, besides the color I really like the roof design. Real wires were also available on the 25th. Anniversery Riviera. The XXV model which looked killer in black and silver.
had know idea that the Grand National had a 1982 start. It is like the first Trans Am and the first Z/28. 215 made makes it hens teeth today.
We needed the ’85 Electra T-Type AND the ’85-87 C-body Electra coupes in this feature as well!
They almost made the cut, trust me.
While I, for my own obscure reasons, like the Palm Beach edition, it looks like a daquiri
hangover.
I vaguely remember the Palm Beach, but I didn’t know it got the nicer door panels and big armrest from the 77-78 Riviera, which along with the Palm Beach were the only B bodies to use them; they were normally reserved for the longer C body cars. That’s a larger mod than these special editions usually get.
I also remember the LeSabre GN being advertised alongside the Regal GN, but I’ve never seen one in real life.
At least they tried to make the Roadhawk live up to its name a turbo V6 would have completed that package.
Love the colours on the Palm Beach. It makes me think of a banana split, but of course Buick could never call it that!
I love the look of the Palm Beach. Where can I get one? Would love driving that car around today among a sea the monochrome world of white, grays, and blacks.
That interior is nothing compared to my Dodge which was also a Special Edition.