(first posted 6/10/2016) Four summers ago, I was back in my good, old hometown of Flint, Michigan for my twenty-year high school reunion. I realize I name-check the Vehicle City often. If I had to do consecutive, nonstop pushups right now numbering each time I’ve written the word “Flint” in a post for Curbside Classic since becoming a contributor a couple of years ago, I probably couldn’t do it. No matter. It ain’t the prettiest town in the United States, and the flow of GM money through this area has been reduced from a river to a creek, but Flint is, and will always be, the place I consider homebase and such a big part of my identity.
During this particular reunion weekend celebration with fellow Flint Central High School alumni, so many memories came flooding back. Little treasures like the sight of this ’69 Skylark seemed to materialize from out of nowhere, and it wasn’t even during the week of one of several, annual car festivals that happen within city limits during the summer season. This example is one of just over 6,500 Skylark Custom convertibles built for the model year. All ’69 convertibles were Customs, and prices started at $3,152 (about $20,500 in 2016). Buick’s 230-hp 350 V-8 was standard on the Custom, propelling the convertible’s starting weight of roughly 3,400 pounds.
This particular Skylark seemed to be a darned-near perfect metaphor for Flint at present: looking more than a little busted and needing major work, but mostly complete with good bones and definitely, and without question, worth saving. “Flint” and “Buick” had been synonymous for almost a century. Though Buick had been founded in Detroit in 1899, it was headquartered in Flint from 1904 for over 90 years before moving back to Detroit in 1998.
It’s a tricky and complicated thing, Flint’s relationship with Buick (and with General Motors). How does one remove that part of one’s cultural identity that is inextricably tied to a corporation that defined so many aspects of the community’s collective psyche, once that company has largely shut down operations in the area? GM’s mark on Flint is like a tattoo of an ex that cannot simply be lasered off, and the remaining GM jobs are like spousal support on which the city is still somewhat dependent. No fewer than four major factories (including Flint East pictured above, née AC Spark Plug) that collectively used to employ tens of thousands of people have ceased to exist. Many smaller, peripheral businesses and jobs have also disappeared, failing when the income just wasn’t here anymore.
To be clear, I am not trying to establish causation or spark a political debate. Qualified scholars (versus mere car-enthusiast bloggers like me) have written about the downfall of the American working class, and that’s not my intent here. The war between the right and left halves of my brain is conflict enough for me on most days. It’s just that the sight of this Skylark resonated with me emotionally and got me thinking. This car, in many ways, seems to embody where the birthplace town of General Motors has been – and also the possibility of what could yet be.
It’s true that I’m blinded by emotion when it comes to Flint. It’s that lack of completely rational thought that makes me entertain occasional thoughts of moving back to a place which clearly isn’t the same as it was twenty-five years ago when I last was a citizen there. Would it be this same kind of blind love that would make someone see the potential in this ’69 Skylark – seemingly the least popular of its A-Body siblings in this particular model year – and commission or commence a frame-off restoration?
The cost of sending this Skylark to the shop for a thorough rebuild could very well end up being more than the car would ultimately be worth on the market. Such a purchase and project would have to be spurred by emotion, as many classic car purchases are. Flint is in the middle of its own partial restoration: a gargantuan project of having many of its old water pipes replaced – pipes that had been leaching lead in toxic levels into the homes of its residents. I do realize that the difference here is that while the restoration of this car might be a labor of love, the restoration of Flint’s water system and clean drinking water for its residents is an absolute necessity.
That said, this generation of Skylark has always seemed to me to have the most “feminine” styling among the GM intermediates of its day. Of course, cars, being manufactured objects, are gender-neutral, but there’s a flowy grace and bird-like daintiness in the Skylark’s curves that, to me, do not suggest automotive aggression as convincingly as the lines of a comparable Chevrolet Chevelle, Pontiac LeMans, or Oldsmobile Cutlass (in no particular order). This Skylark – she’s a lady.
And boy, does this Skylark ladybird look a little sad. It looks mostly complete, and from its outer body panels, it doesn’t look like there’s much (if any) rust, and it’s dent-free. It’s sitting on what appears to be Pontiac Rally II wheels, and the top looks in good shape. I wonder how well she runs, and I have forgotten the asking price. When I’m home in Flint, I like to patronize older, established diners and restaurants in the Flint area. I always hope to overhear conversations of long-time residents – former “shop” guys who used to work at one of the seven factories, or small groups of older, fancily-dressed ladies who never miss their weekly lunch appointment.
In fact, that’s what this Skylark really reminds me of: a fancy, mature-aged Flint-lady. Her white top is like a bonnet on her curly, coiffed beehive hairdo. She remembers the high times of shopping downtown on South Saginaw Street, and of top-floor dining at the University Club at the recently-imploded Genesee Towers skyscraper. When I look at pictures of this car, I’m filled with profound longing: hoping for its restoration as well as that for my hometown, and just for the ability to go home someday. Both projects are going to take some major elbow grease, but that’s what my townsfolk have always been known for.
All photographs taken by the author in East Flint, Michigan, in August 2012.
Related reading on the ’69 Skylark from Tom Klockau: Curbside Classic: 1969 Buick Skylark Custom – No, It’s Not A Chevelle….
Omg, I love that song. And I got the reference just from the title when it appeared in my feed reader.
Love that you compared this generation to a lady. Exactly right! It’s “a” body siblings were the “Billy Bad A$$es” But their sister does have curves, Even as a “mature” lady, I think she’s hot! (to be fair, I’m older than her, LOL!) On representing Filnt (Trivia note: Largest US city pronounced with a single syllable!) I’m from Pittsburgh, and our products were basic and unemotional, unlike automobiles, no one really gets all hyped about steel rails or electrical generators! But we did have H.J. Heinz (technically still do,but since “going” private anything goes…) But your hometown of Flint MI, being the home of Buick (and thus,GM) is the birthplace of a company that provided all of the world an innumerable array of things that evokes emotions (Pro and Con, Me being a Buick lover, I’ll say mostly Pro.!) That you still have love for your hometown gives me hope for it, and us!
You mentioned steel and ketchup, but you left out glass (and paint)!
My late father – a longtime PPG employee – would haunt my dreams if I failed to mention the company that once put food in my mouth, and continues to do so for my mother.
Sorry, Didn’t mean to leave out Pittsburgh’s great (and probably oldest industry) Glass, or paint – I’ve also could have brought up aluminum-(ALCOA), But, as usual personal experience kicks in. My family largely were employed by Westinghouse (or a related company) and U.S.S. I brought up Heinz as it’s probably the most famous Pittsburgh brand today. (Think,Atlanta and Coca-Cola) I’m betting 90% of the population doesn’t know that PPG is Pittsburgh Plate Glass, Or that PNC (The 5th largest bank in the US) Was once Pittsburgh National Bank. These “Rust Belt” cities built this modern world, and we can’t even say “Pittsburgh National”, but “PNC” – Augh!
While I was born here in Oregon (barely) my entire family is from Pittsburgh. Yes I know what PPG stands for, many of my relatives spent their careers at Heinz, and my uncle worked at Glenshaw Glass. Go Steelers!!!
And what’s WEIRD is seeing the PNC name at sports facilities in Cleveland…Cincinnati…Charlotte. After all, that’s PITTSBURGH National Bank, right?
Wife and I just closed our PNC accounts…fees have gotten out of control over the past year.
How ’bout US Air, guys? All the promised jobs that never materialized, then moving the hub out of Pittsburgh, and now…just simply gone. Part of American now. Sad but not unexpected end for what used to be “Allegheny Scarelines.”
But we still have one of the coolest airports in the nation.
CBS, for whom I work, is actually Westinghouse. When they bought the network and assets 20 years ago, the decision was made to become a “pure media” company, and Westinghouse gave way to CBS. They still own and license the Westinghouse trademarks.
As bad as Flint’s water is, I’ve read that several Western PA communities have higher levels of lead.
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2016/02/04/report-18-cities-in-pennsylvania-with-higher-lead-exposure-than-flint/
Maybe Michigan can take some encouragement from what’s going on here in the ‘Burgh. We’ve been written off time and again since the 60s, even with two renaissances that’ve transformed Downtown.
But now Renaissance 3 is underway, and this time, people are actually moving here after a 60-year exodus. If it can happen here, I have to believe it can happen in Flint, too.
My friend goes to one of the conventions that is held in Pittsburgh every summer. He loves going over there & he’s so familiar w/the area that he’s even thought of retiring there!
When PNC Park (Home of the Pirates) opened, a local joke I heard was that they’ll have TV monitors above the urinals……So you can….wait…..for…it…..Pee and See! …….runs for cover!
The arena in Raleigh, NC that is home to both the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team and NC State University’s college basketball team is also called PNC arena. Pretty sure no one knows what the “P” stands for (I didn’t).
CC effect going well lately theres a white one of these locally I saw it this arvo while out exercising my Hillman, other than a couple of prewar Packards I pass regularly that was the only classic about today.
Joseph, Your feelings about your past in Flint come through strongly here. It is not irrational to think about moving back, the pull of the past is the pull of who we were as we grew up and became who we are now.
It must be strange to see your home town Flint in the news so often today. It seems more and more communities today are discovering “issues” with their water delivery systems and related or supporting infrastructure. It’s happening here in NJ. Discovering these infrastructure issues started with collapsing bridges and grew from there.
I too anthropomorphize cars – I think many of us car-lovers do. Sometimes I also think of cars as symbols not unlike our home towns. They change, get old, get used up. But if one works hard (and pays quite a bit on or for that maintenance) their lives can be extended, or perhaps even renewed.
(If only we could do that for our loved ones.)
This country needs to start maintaining itself, just like we all need to keep up the maintenance of our cars. Otherwise we all end up with jalopies.
And yes, Buicks are mostly gracious ladies to me as well. Except those short stubby new ones. What are they called, the “Encore”.
That’s not a Buick.
Yet the Encore is what Buick needs if it wants to survive.
Buick, as you want to remember it, is long gone. And will probably never come back.
Yet the Encore is what Buick needs if it wants to survive.
I thought it was China?
Don’t apologise for your love of Flint. I’ve got the same problem, only in my case it’s Johnstown, PA. Another long-gone industrial city, fallen on hard times starting with the third major flood in 1977 and never came back. About the only industry it has left is an annual motorcycle rally Thunder in the Valley (in two weeks) which brings a good crowd in.
For the second year in a row, I’m not going. The town has fallen so badly that it hurts to go back since I remember what used to be.
I have the documentary of the 1889 Johnstown flood. What pisses me off is those rich pricks at the country club knew the dam was failing, and did nothing about it. I will admit, given the technology of the time, I’m not sure it was repairable.
Even before I got down to the part where the idea that these Skylarks were very feminine looking, I got to thinking that one of the reasons why I’m not crazy about these Skylarks (the 68 and 69) is that they always have looked too short for that side sculpting to be fully resolved. Basically, they are the automotive equivalent of Kim Kardashian….but if she was a few inches shorter in height.
I actually like the 70 to 72 restyle and even the 73 to 77 formal and non-formal Colonnade coupes. These, though? Sorry, no. And these 68-69 Skylarks MUST have inspired the stylists of the 92-97 Skylarks.
Very eloquently said. I have never been to Flint, but I have been to other cities that have suffered from the same kind of industrial shrinkage, and it ain’t pretty.
These Buicks are fascinating cars to look at and to contemplate. Such unique lines, angles, curves and coves. I have decided that the 4 door hardtop was the only body that this generation ever looked really right on. While I normally love convertibles, I have to agree with Howard – something is just not completely resolved here.
The other problem with these is that back bumper. Was there ever a more complex junction of curves where a bumper met up with a body? These must have been tricky enough to get lined up properly, and one little tap was enough to create the hopeless, lifelong misalignments that afflict nearly every one of these I ever saw that was over 3 years old.
The ’68 brochure pushed the optional fender skirts, while the ’69 brochure did not. I think the skirts do a lot to resolve the styling.
The ’68 with skirts………….
Like the “no skirts” look myself.
And, yes, those rear bumpers were always pretty hopeless from an appearance standpoint. They always seemed badly misaligned even when these cars were fairly new. It’s almost surprising that the manufacturing side wasn’t able to put a stop to it before it was approved for production.
I think I can see some slight alignment issues in the ’69 brochure!
You hit the nail on the head, JP – it is that back bumper (which usually looks misaligned perhaps 90% of the time) that kills it.
I do like the coupes and convertibles in complete profile, though – the “Electra-lite” looks pop through, especially with fender skirts. That said, the ’69 Chevelle will probably be my favorite A-body of this vintage, for life.
Joe, this is a wonderful, bittersweet write-up. My parents, grandparents (including great and great, great), aunts, uncles and cousins were long-time Buick customers and to me these cars always felt like “family.” Though I grew up in Louisiana, I actually knew about Flint, Michigan, since that was where Buicks were made. For GM buyers of a certain era, the hometowns of the brands were important, and at least in my family, Buick and Olds were perceived as being better built because they came from Flint and Lansing, respectively. Something about being built with small city pride I guess–maybe a myth, but a powerful personalization for mass produced goods.
Those Buicks, like Flint in better days, is long gone. But nothing can erase how good they once were, and how much satisfaction they delivered for so many people.
Thank you so much, GN. Lansing was very much “Oldsmobile” as Flint had been “Buick”.
Interesting article. The Skylark is wearing Pontiac Rally IIs, as was the last Skylark of this vintage that was featured on this site. I worked in Flint for three years, from 1990 – 1993. It was at the GM facility at Hemphill and Saginaw; at the time it was a BOP design house. I was doing CAD at the time; it was for the 1994 Riviera. Looking at the G Earth images, I see new vehicles now parked in the lot that I used to use. You’ll note that most new vehicles are red, white, gray, or black; I’d guess 90% or better. I’m in manufacturing now and visit assembly plants all over the world, and it appears to me to be a global trend. To see a new vehicle of color is not very common. Back to the Flint days, there was a bar across Saginaw that I would visit once or twice a week. It catered to a biker crowd, the GC Avengers IIRC. I would drop in, (wearing blazer, khakis, bd and repp tie) drop a quarter and select “Born to be Wild”, and buy everyone a dollar longneck. Great fun.
Was it the Tech Center where you worked, by any chance? If so, we might have been there at the same time in the fall of ’91 when I was working a co-op job with AC Rochester before moving to Flint East in the spring. I loved that I worked on the former site of Fisher One, though I was sad the actual factory was gone.
As is so often the case with you, a very poignant piece. I’m far removed from the travails of the Rust Belt, but Oregon’s many rural small towns have experienced a similar decline due to the profound changes in timber industry. They are almost all struggling, some doing a bit better from the influx of recreation. But it’s sad to see all the relics of the old mills in every town, and imagine what bustling places they once were.
Thank you, Paul. I’ve never been to Oregon, but I was in Eureka-Arcata, California (very close to the border) fifteen years ago. The logging still seemed to be going on, but according my friends who had moved there temporarily, some who went there to protest logging couldn’t get jobs doing anything else and ended up stranded there. It was an interesting catch-22.
I just remember how clean the air smelled, and the eucalyptus trees.
Great metaphor. Monogamy is good for a lady but not good for a city. My hometown Ponca suffered the same fate when its lifelong mate Conoco ran away with Houston. Conoco had been an excellent provider, with high wages and lots of cultural contributions, making Ponca the prettiest lady in Oklahoma. When he deserted, Ponca pretty much faded away and died.
Nearby Enid hadn’t made the same mistake. When Champlin died, Enid had several other sugar daddies (wheat, cattle, air force base), and now it’s thriving again.
This car is almost fifty years old, and has, from what I can tell, apparently a newish top. So someone does love it, even though it is missing the trunk lock and some of the body parts are a little worn. Perhaps in the metal it looked more worn. I appreciate the patina and would rather have, as I’m guessing most of this site’s readers would, an old car I can enjoy versus something so restored I would never want to drive it.
It’s a real shame the Cascada didn’t turn out to be more like this: this car is stylish and has a real back seat instead of looking like a truncated overturned washtub with no room for rear passengers, which is the point of a four seat convertible. I know the Good Old Days are not coming back and weren’t all that good but we could borrow a little from the past? Like back seat room?
Pittsburgh does have a leading industry, which is the mortgage refinance industry. I do not know why this is but all my work comes from/through Pittsburgh and its suburbs. PCN, Professional Closing Network (not PNC Bank) and Mortgage Connect are both in Pittsburgh. So I have a soft spot in my heart for Pittsburgh because they have sent me LOTS of money over the last few years.
I always liked the ’68-’69 Buick Skylark coupes and convertibles; they may not be aggressively styled, but there is a certain beauty evident that still calls to me nearly 50 years later.
The A-body GMs were so different in these two model years; the homogenization of styling beginning with the ’70 refresh was not such a good thing, in my opinion.
I have always seen the Skylark as classy and elegant also. Great song by the way! Last time I heard it was on an AM soul station in the Bay Area (CA) that has since gone the way of the Buick factory in Flint.
I also like the New Birth cover of “Skylark”. It’s just a great song.
Love your articles, JD.
Flint will rise again!
Indeed! Thanks, Tonito!
I remember when Skylarks in this style were EVERYWHERE!
I’ve always rather liked them. A convertible would be even better!
Joseph…excellent piece! And if my math is correct, you graduated from high school in 1992, just like me! Cheers…
Thank you, Ryan! And you are correct, Sir. I can’t believe our HS 25 year anniversaries are coming up.
Hi, everyone – thanks for taking the time to read this and for your kind words. I’ve been away from CC today as I’ve been on “staycation” with friends visiting from out of town. I also love Pittsburgh and how that great city was able to reinvent itself. It is my hope that Flint will be able to do the same, whether within my lifetime or not. I’d love to see it with my own eyes.
Of all the ’68-’69 intermediates, not only from GM, but from Ford and Chrysler, as well, the Skylark is the one I like the least. Even in hot GS form, that big swoop down the side does not say ‘muscle’. It really does come across as feminine, and I dare say that nary a Skylark of this vintage ever graced a dragstrip. For starters, I don’t know how slicks would fit into the rear wheel-wells.
Of course, Buick made up for it in 1970 with the smoking, tape-stripe festooned 455 GSX Stage 1. But this earlier version was definitely more in line with being a doctor’s vehicle. And, honestly, there was really nothing wrong with Buick staying within their market demographic. I would imagine these ’68-’69 Skylarks sold well enough. It’s just unlikely that those looking at other intermediates were doing much cross-shopping with them.
That’s still a great looking car, nothing about it makes me worry. It’s future should be bright seeing it has survived this long.
You’re too polite avoiding identifying the causes of Flint’s current situation. Why is your viewpoint worth less than any other? It’s not as if the world suddenly gave up driving cars, or the car couldn’t be adapted to changing circumstances…so says the Melbourne resident watching Ford and GM both leave town. Toyota to follow shortly.
The personal context you provide makes enjoyable reading. Thanks.
Thanks, Jim! I just usually try to stay away from discussing causation outside of with close friends. It’s all so nuanced, and the causes of Flint’s current situation are myriad. It does mean something to me that readers and contributors in the CC community care at all about Flint. It’s uplifting.
While my favorite Skylarks are the ’65-’67 models, it’s great to see a survivor like this one still on the road. I also hope Flint bounces back. I toured the Buick plant there in 1981 with the senior shop class from my high school, riding a school bus from Sarnia, Ontario, and it was an interesting day. I also had some good times tooling around in my dad’s ’77 Century. Great car, and I still miss it. With a few suspension tweaks, it cornered and handled better than a big car should have. Ask me how I know ;).
I liked the “61-63 Skylarks best.
Love the Skylarks of this generation–the sweeping character line, the partially skirted rear wheels, the pointed tail and interesting (if hard to align!) bumper…it all works for me. One of my favorite A-body variants actually. This one should have a bright future ahead of her, especially with no (visible) rust.
And your writing about your hometown is poignant as well. You never know; perhaps better days are in store also. Like Paul, I’m pretty far removed from the Rust Belt. But my current city, Richmond, VA, might offer something of a parallel. Back in the 90’s, Richmond was by all accounts a pretty lousy place to be. Declining industries as tobacco consolidated and downsized, crime was rampant (one of the highest murder rates in the country), infrastructure was failing, and government was ineffective. Now? What a turnaround. Crime way down, vacant industrial buildings all over the city are being repurposed into trendy lofts, shops, and restaurants, blighted parts of town are starting to recover, and they’ve made it a very appealing place to live that is attracting new residents (like my wife and I). The city we moved from, Durham, NC, had many similar characteristics and a similar unsavory reputation in the 90’s but was also on quite the upward trajectory. I don’t know what the “secret sauce” was in either place, exactly, nor were the problems quite so fundamental, but maybe there are lessons to be had and maybe revitalization can be around the corner if the right moves are made.
For a 1969 vintage Skylark it looks in surprisingly good condition, but restoring it would probably be a costly endeavor. I never could get really excited about the ’68-69 Skylarks, the “S” curve on the side of the body reminds me too much of the 1958 Buick “bulgemobiles” with all their attendant chrome.
I don’t know how I missed this first time around, but I’m glad to see it, and some love for the “stepchild” 1968-9s. This one is missing the chrome on the rockers and wheel openings.
I assume you’ve seen the Michael Moore film Roger and Me, with its emphasis on Flint?
A wonderful writing, Joseph Dennis! The world is not a perfect place in any respect, but I hope that Flint sees a renaissance as I write this ten years after the original publication. I can’t and won’t watch Michael Moore’s film, but that being said, he had good reason to make it certainly. My Dad was a Buick guy from the get go, but I always thought they had the least attractive GM styling (although not the case when I think of the then-contemporary LeSabre and Electra, which I thought were some of the most dignified of the full-sized GM cars of the late ’60s). Dad had a ’68 Special Deluxe four door….I didn’t like that car particularly. I hated the “fat hips” rear, emphasized by the downward scallops in the sides, and the horizontal bumper-mounted taillamps. That and my Aunt’s bronze 1973 Ford Gran Torino Luxury Decor option were just styling I did not like. I think I generally prefer angular, masculine styling, like a ’60s Continental, or one of my Grandfather’s 1960s Cadillacs. It’s great to read how you periodically return to your hometown….no one should give up on the “old girl”.