hyperpak posted these shots of a pristine ’82 (or so) Buick Skylark parked at Spitz Auto Parts in Huntington, PA with this comment: “Awaiting crushing or parting out?” At first I thought maybe it was a customer’s car, but there’s no plates on it and obviously it’s been there since before that snowfall. Could this little gem of an X-car really be awaiting the crusher or being dismembered?
This hits close to home, as I once had a 1980 Skylark as a company car, and although it wasn’t perfect, it was surprisingly good. And it had very few maladies; almost none that I can remember. And scooted right along with the V6 and thanks to the optional suspension and wider wheels and fatter blackwall tires, it could really zig and zag.
Look at that interior! The steering wheel reminds me of its biggest vice: it’s curious tendency to exhibit a unique kind of torque steer, thanks to the way the steering rack on these early ones was mounted along with the soft subframe mounts. On a brisk freeway onramp takeoff, the front subframe and suspension felt like it was crabbing off to one side; a quite odd sensation. It was harmless, but weird. It got fixed in 1982, when the X-cars got the revised front end and steering shared with the new FWD A-Bodies, which of course shared so much with the X.
There were four essentially identically-specced white Skylarks in the fleet; I just picked the briskest of the bunch. Yes, there was a fair amount of variance on how these Chevy 2.8 V6s ran in these, presumably due to GM’s superb quality control. The one I took had decidedly more oomph than the others. It was a rocket compared to the Peugeot 404 I had been driving.
I may have been an outlier in my X-Car experience, but it does go to show I’m not the GM-hater I’ve often been made out to be back in the Deadly Sins days. I’m still convinced that Buick put these together a bit better than Chevy did with the Citation, although they were presumably still prone to the premature rear wheel lockup, although oddly, mine didn’t exhibit that. Odd; maybe GM sent me a ringer?
Although some might feel otherwise, I really don’t want to believe this time capsule could be headed to a horrible death.
Related GM reading:
COAL: 1980 Buick Skylark – My Six Months of Anguish With a GM Deadly Sin – J.Brophy
Hopefully it won’t be crushed…from the photos it looks to be in very very good condition…it deserves to be saved, I’d drive it!
Except for the other (newer) cars in the photos, these pictures could pass for pre-1990s. The car sure appears well looked after!
I know our standards for quickness were pretty low during those years, but it’s nice to hear your first-hand recollections, Paul. I don’t think of you as _needlessly_ tough on GM, and it’s always nice to hear from you here at CC.
This sure brings back good memories. Had an 82 in almost the exact color combination when I got married in 1989. I recall the transmissions were problematic on these & mine was no exception. Once that was repaired, it provided many trouble free miles including long trips. On one if those the water pump failed while parked at a relative’s home. The replacement didn’t include the pulley, so my aunt was not real pleased when I explained why I had to put the new pulley in the oven since we didn’t have access to a press. Great to see one of these still around.
I had a 1981 2 door black with red interior and black vinyl top + V6 sharp car
Spitz is in Irwin Pa
Ken D
MtLebanon Pa
Yes, Paul’s lead should say North Huntingdon, not Huntingdon. Those are 2 different places, about 100 miles, and mountain ranges apart.
Second time this week I see a Volare/Aspen photobombing the shot.
As for this Buick, looks like someone got it all painted up nice, only for the car to then suffer a major failure of some kind. Maybe it’s just awaiting a long lead time part to be reawakened. Otherwise, it’s driven its last mile.
The Car seemed to be an all all-original survivor with seemingly original paint, interior etc. No Plates and the last inspection sticker dating to 2016 with an expiration of 2017. My guess is it needs major mechanical work, frame rust or it was possibly a donation car Spitz picked up at a wholesale auction.
Who knows the fate of things that arrive at Spitz?
Yes that Volare’ is my 1979 Volare’ Duster – Daily Driver since 1996.
Maybe it won’t be parted out because it’s the last one. I haven’t seen an early 80’s Skylark in decades.
I don’t know if anybody cares, but I got to drive one of these once: a 1983 model in medium blue, with cushy blue velour seats. It was owned by my “little old lady” neighbor who let me park my ’58 Cadillac in her driveway (for $30/mo.)
Her ’83 replaced a ’67 Buick Special (or Skylark?) sedan that was painted a beautiful blue/green color. Even though her car was garaged, it was terribly beat up, probably because Mrs. “X” never took care of it and hit a lot of things (including my Caddy once, but no damage!) It wasn’t long before her relatively new ’83 starting looking worn and beaten as well.
One day Mrs. X asked me to check out her car because it wasn’t shifting right. I checked the transmission dipstick and it was completely dry! I filled it with trans fluid and drove it around the block and it seemed OK. A few days later, she called to say the car wasn’t moving at all! It was towed to a gas station, was never repaired, and I presume sent to the crusher. That was her last car.
To this day I feel bad about it, because I suspect Mrs. X thought maybe I “broke” her car by servicing it, since she had no idea what I was doing. Shortly after that, I moved out of the neighborhood, and Mrs. X died a year or two later. I think these ’80s Buick Skylarks were like the Olds Omegas, which were notorious for really bad quality control.
Photo is of a car like hers, but hers was in much worse condition.
We used to get quite a few of these through Dad’s used car lot in the Late 80-Mid 90’s when I was a kid. I remember some of them haveing a carburetor. Not sure when GM went to the TB EFI on these fours and sixes.
The 4 cylinder got TBI in 1982. The V6 stayed a carburetor throughout the run (the end of which was 1985), except if you lived in California. 1985 California V6s got MPFI.
What a fantastic looking car. Please, I hope it’s not getting crushed. Even if it needed some more major mechanical work, that’s easy enough to do or have done. But if it’s all rotted out underneath, that’s a whole different story. But if I had the room, I’d love to own that little gem.
i just bought a ’70 Mustang that needs resto but is a driver/cruise night car-
better than ANY 1980’s crap.
The mention of the steering wheel reminds me of a pet-peeve of one of the first generation GM FWD cars, but I don’t recall if it was the X-body or the A-body.
Whichever one it was, the problem was the steering wheel was located a few inches to the right rather than directly in front of the driver. In just the few moments I sat in a new one, it drove me crazy and was easily a deal-breaker. I mean, if the GM engineers couldn’t get such a basic thing as the steering column oriented properly, what else didn’t they get right? It was a huge red flag that they either weren’t very good or simply didn’t care.
And, then, in one of the recent generations of the Silverado, the exact same thing was present.
This car appears to be in very good condition; I’m wondering if perhaps it has engine or transaxle problems and whoever owned it doesn’t feel it’s worth repairing. At its age-42 years-I doubt if many parts for it are available.
These cars in Buick, and less frequently Olds, form seemed to last in the SF Bay Area long after the once-common Citations and never-common Pontiac X cars were gone. I suspect the Buick and Olds as slightly “upmarket” brands had been common as company cars and people bought them for personal use when the company lease ended. Back when that was still a thing in Silicon Valley. Several dads at the preschool that our kids attended in Mountain View dropped their kids off in these; the moms (yes, that seemed to be the gender role in the mid-90’s) picked them up in newer minivans. By then the only remaining company car seemed to be the Taurus, typically Hewlett Packard’s standard issue.
This is a 1985 Buick Skylark. Grille, tail lights, and interior indicate it’s an 85.