The 1964 Pontiac GTO unleashed a tiger, sales wise as well as performance wise. Everyone wanted in on the action, even the relatively staid Buick division. It got a bit of a slow start, with its Skylark Gran Sport appearing in the spring of 1965 for a mid-year introduction. And even its name, Skylark Gran Sport, was rather reserved, compared to GTO, SS396 and 4-4-2. But that’s not to say the GS didn’t have its appeal or fans, especially those that had long come to appreciate the unique and powerful qualities of the Buick “nailhead” V8.
The GTO formula was well-established and predictable by this time. But in 1965 Buick went about it in a very understated manner, shown here with an elegantly dressed woman more likely to step out of a Riviera or Electra 225. To whom was Buick trying to market the Gran Sport?
Meanwhile, GTO ads were taking a decidedly different tone. Are you sure you’d really rather have a Buick? Not surprisingly, the results were overwhelmingly in favor of kicking ass with the right foot to coterie high-fashion. In 1966, Pontiac sold just shy of 100k GTOs; Buick managed to sell just 13,816 Skylark Gran Sports.
The 1966 Gran Sport started out of the gate still pretty sedate with this shot from the brochure. She’s a lot more down to earth, but wouldn’t have lasted long in the casting call for the Pontiac GTO tiger ads.
By this time, building a mid-size muscle car was a well-established formula: Drop in a big and healthy V8 out of the full-size cars into the intermediate A-Body, but no bigger than 400 cubic inches, as per the edict from the 14th floor og GM’s headquarters. The ’64 GTO busted the previous 330 inch glass ceiling, so now it was reset at 400 inches (for a few years). Just one itty-bitty problem in Buick’s case: the closest sized big-block “nailhead” V8 measured 401 cubic inches. But Buick got an exemption for one year, probably because the new V8 family to replace the nailhead was coming the very next year.
A bit of history on the Buick nailhead, and how it got that name. We have a detailed write-up on it here, but as is obvious in this cutaway, its cylinder head and valve arrangement was unlike any other American V8, or any engine that I know of. It’s a pentroof combustion chamber, not unlike almost all recent engines, but instead of four valves there’s only two, and they’re both just on one side, hanging vertically. That limits the valve size significantly, so early hotrodders took to calling the valves “nails”.
Despite that seeming handicap of small valves, Buick worked around that with aggressive cam timing and valve openings, which made the nailhead reasonably competitive—and resulted in a somewhat lumpy idle—but it was never going to breathe as well as some of the more efficient heads. It did have a rep for making gobs of torque, which made Buicks quite brisk in acceleration.
Don’t let the “Wildcat 445” sticker confuse you like it did me when I was a kid. It took me a while to realize that Buick was using torque numbers to identify its engines back then, rather than cubic inches or horsepower. Speaking of, the base GS engine was straight out of Electra, and rated at 325 (gross) hp. Performance was good, if not quite in GTO territory. Car Life got a very similar ’65 Skylark GS automatic down the 1/4 mile in 15.3 seconds @88mph and the 0-60 in 7.4 seconds. Motor Trend’s numbers were 16.6 @86 for the 1/4 mile and 7.8 seconds for the 0-60 run.
Feeling like it wasn’t keeping up perhaps, Buick offered a hotter mid-year option with 340 hp. That knocked a second of the sprint to 60, to about 6.8 seconds, with a 4-speed manual. And the 1/4 mile was came up in a decent 14.9 seconds @ 95 mph. Your ET and trap speed may vary…but the GS was beginning to flex its muscles.
1966 was the end of the road for the nailhead, which first appeared in 1953, so its fourteen-year life span was rather short, compared to the V8s in the other divisions. I suspect Buick engineers knew that it was also a combustion chamber that would be difficult to de-smog, so for 1967, a wholly new big Buick V8 family appeared.
The Gran Sport interior wasn’t exactly overtly sporty either. Well, it was really just a Skylark with some cojones under the skin, and the Skylark was geared to Buicks buyers. They wanted a bit of understated luxury in an affordable package.
That obviously went for the steering wheel too. Not exactly sporty. And the gauge cluster was all-Skylark. Even the bucket seats were optional, as was the console.
The standard transmission was a three-speed with floor shift. It should not come as a surprise that the majority of Gran Sports came with the “Super Turbine 300” two speed automatic with “Switch-Pitch” turbine impeller, which led to some calling it a 2.5 speed automatic. It worked well enough, but in 1967, it was replaced with the superb THM-400 “Super-Turbine” 3-speed automatic.
Those who paid for the console and wanting to shift the optional four speed for maximum performance had better have a designated tach-watcher in the passenger seat to call out the approaching red-line, because placing this tiny little instrument way down there on the floor was a pathetically bad joke. It’s details like this that made American muscle cars hard to take seriously by European sport sedan fans, despite their performance.
But testers at the time generally gave the GS good reviews, for its all-round capable manners and abilities, even if it wasn’t going to scare a hemi-GTX or any of the other really hot cars of 1966 in stop-light drag. It came in #4 in a six-way Car & Driver track comparison with a GTO, SS396, Olds 442, Fairlane GT/A and Comet Cyclone GT. Although the basic chassis and suspension geometry were lauded, the springs were just way too soft for serious track work and even demanding roads.
Yes, the GS was a handsome car, although that could be said for all of its re-styled ’66 GM A-Body stablemates.
The basic shape and tunnel-back roof line was shared by them all.
The biggest differences were on the ends, and the Buick’s were undoubtedly the most conservative of the bunch, consistent with its family genes.
This very well-kept ’66 even sports its original wheel covers; the only thing missing are the original red-line tires (whitewalls were also available.
Its proud owner even wanted to show off the pristine trunk. A CC first? Except there’s no tire under that spare tire cover. The trunks on these GM mid-sizers were a bit of an afterthought, inasmuch as the space was pretty shallow and chopped up.
Perhaps because of modest sales, or just to extend the line down-market, in 1967 there was also a GS 340 alongside the GS 400, which was now powered by the new (actual) 400 CID engine, with 340 hp standard. The ’67 was only subtly restyled, but the GS got a decidedly more aggressive look. And within a year or so, there would be “Stage” versions of the 400 (and eventually 455) that would turn out some very serious power indeed. But that’s a story for another day.
Related CC reading:
Vintage Review: 1965 Buick Skylark Gran Sport – Buick’s Hot New GTO-Fighter Falls A Bit Short
Charles Platt’s Memoirs of a ’67 GS400
Vintage Review: 1965 Buick Riviera GS – The Ultimate Riviera; In Looks And Performance
When it was introduced, I felt the 1968 generation of A Body was very modern, with its integrated C pillar design, especially on the Chevy and Olds. But this previous generation has stood the test of time well with really clean styling. Especially as a Buick, which wasn’t the best of the 1968 A bodies. And such a contrast with that big Oldsmobile from just 8 years earlier!
One of the many things I’ve learned at CC over the years is how variable GM Corporate’s control over its divisions were, seemingly dependent on who was in the executive suite in any given year. I personally question whether it made any sense for Buick to build and offer a muscle car. I don’t think a muscle car really fit into the mission statement of the Buick division, and building one furthered the demise of the Sloan ladder.
But that’s just me.
When I was a kid, our neighbors were a 40-something lawyer and his wife. Mrs. Bordner was probably the customer Buick wanted, but Pontiac got her with a 66 GTO with a 4 speed. It was beige, but it was a GTO.
That 6-way road test you refer to was interesting in its omission of anything built by Chrysler – which was apparently Chrysler’s choice. It is also interesting that the Fairlane and Comet came in at the back of the pack.
Interesting reading, as always. I drove a 67 Skylark convertible from 58,000 to 181,000 of its miles. All in stop-and-go traffic. Literally just cost me gas, oil, tires, spark plugs, brake master cylinder, and linings. Until a pickup finally took it out, its structure was totally squeak-, creak-, and rattle-free.
Pawel Zal’s Automobile Catalog records 204 in. overall length for the 66 Skylark coupes, vs. 206.4 for 66 GTOs. The 18.8 cu. ft. trunk of the 66 Skylark coupe (like my 67’s) was cavernous. I transported lawnmowers and lots of bulky things inside.
Quite right, about its overall length. I’ve amended the text.