Some curbside finds fill one with an overwhelming sense of excitement at first sight, others with awe and wonder. Sometimes it’s the setting and circumstance, other times the vehicle itself, and best of all of course is a combination of both. And then sometimes the find seems almost inevitable, as in this case on the south side of Phoenix, as if it’s obvious that it would be where it was when it was. A moment of indecision and then I crossed most of the street from where I was on the other side to get some shots; after all, not every curbside find is actually curbside so it’s got that going for it.
By mid-1979 as these were finally being replaced with the shiny new thing (who knew?) these were literally everywhere in North America. Well, maybe not just as the Buick Skylark, but also its fellow badge-engineered cohorts all stemming from the prolific stallion of the GM stud farm, i.e. the Chevy Nova. You had the Skylark, your neighbor had the Buick Apollo which was the same thing but earlier in this generation, perhaps your Bridge partner had a Pontiac Ventura or the Phoenix, and your pharmacist maybe an Oldsmobile Omega. And you reserved a Nova with Avis on your vacation, hoping to win the jackpot of the rental car lottery and score the ultimate Nova with a big dollop of extra, the Cadillac Seville…
My own family had a ’77 Pontiac Ventura four door, which was pretty much this car with a different grille, no hood ornament, and futuristic at the time silver paint. Although tan over beige was certainly one of the “it” color combinations of the era, and some may say it evokes a crème brûlée, others may find it reminds them of a puddle of vomit. I’ve mellowed a hair these days and am alright with it, appreciating its period correctness in this case…at least nobody (yet?) has taken to repaint it candy apple green and thrown a set of 26’s on it.
And look, it even has Oregon plates! Paul’s been roadtripping lately, maybe he finally got a car that was built for it.
The dealer license plate frame is still on it, this fine bird apparently hails from Southwestern Motors in Coquille, Oregon, an hour’s or so hitchhike from Port Orford. I wonder what engine is in it; by 1978 you had a choice of the 231 (3.8l) Buick V6, Chevy’s 305 (5.0l) V8, Buick’s 350 (5.7l) V8, and if I’m not mistaken, even Chevy’s 350 (5.7l) V8. I guess the assembly line had all of them available anyway with all of the different badges, so what the heck, have it your way. Amazingly the base 3.8l engine even came with a 3-speed manual as standard everywhere except California and high-altitude states, but most were equipped with a 3-speed automatic as befits a Buick.
114,000 Skylarks were built for the 1978 model year, with about half of them sedans such as this one. The others were mostly two door coupes and a few thousand two door hatchbacks just for funsies, perhaps to get people used to the future year of 2024 when every single Buick for sale in the United States has a hatch, but all with four doors and a lift kit, however none with tan paint or a vinyl top. Never mind Joe DiMaggio, where have you gone, Buick?
I had to get up close and (almost) personal to be certain it actually did carry a vinyl top, such is the color match that I at first thought it might be weathered paint post-topectomy or similar, but no, it’s a vinyl top. And it also has to be the best preserved vinyl top I’ve seen in years if not decades. A little cleaner and elbow grease and it’d be showroom fresh. The light speckle of rust on the rear cowl might be a harbinger of horrors under that top, but for now it’s all good and the 109 degree (F) Phoenix sun on this day would stop any moisture from even contemplating getting close to this car.
I do wonder what happened to the C-pillar vent that the sedans without a vinyl top carry here? Was there just no air extraction if you got the vinyl top? Someone will know, hopefully they’ll share.
The bumper filler panel has long since absconded, and perhaps the owner as well; the last registration sticker dated to 2022 and there was an accumulation of debris around the tires in the gutter. Somewhere there’s a nest that’s missing its Skylark, and while hardly the most exciting thing witnessed on this day I suppose a hefty slice of 1978 is enough to get me on board. Or at least most of the way across the street.
Great cover pic. Car not so much
Really? I reckon the proportions on all versions of this bodyshell are quite lovely – visually snipping off those bumpers, natch. Ok, and perhaps luxxy Buick isn’t the first thought, but you get my idea.
Notice the Holden HZ Premier wheelcovers they pinched, btw?
Generic Motors of the era we didnt have the battering rams down under but the theme is the same, still with a bodyshell from 71.Australian Holdens have been full of GM US generics parts since day one until the last one
“The prolific stallion of the GM stud farm” = GOLD! There should be a picture of that band-aid on wheels rig under milquetoast in the dictionary 🔥
Some of those cars were horrible. I remember i was a kid, my neighbor bought a 74 Nova 4dr, dogs**t brown, no radio, spartan beanch Seat & a 6 cyl. Absolutely UGLY
The 1974 was the prior generation model, far different (and far less desirable) than these. When this generation arrived in 1975 it was hailed by many enthusiasts as a BMW fighter. CPJ
Definitely a ZZZZZZZZmobile!
Clearly a reaction against those garish triple green cars of the 70s.
I sighted a Skylark in Silverton CO last week.
These were a common car among my pals when I was in college in the late 80s. Grandma handed it down. I rode in any number of them. For their time, these were competent and reliable basic transportation.
And this one still has its Gma license plates! 🙂
The definition of the average automobile, circa 1978. And my free association with this car is meh. I have a visceral dislike of the 1968-74 X-bodies (ugly, space inefficient, and uncomfortable), but the 1975-79 generation elicits a milder reaction from me, as they were better looking and, at least in Buick form, not as awful and cheap inside. The tan and beige color captures perfectly the blandness of this beast. By 1978, the Skylark and its clones were living on borrowed time, with the Fox-bodies about to overtake them as America’s favorite average beige car.
Who would order a new Buick with the bumper bolts exposed? It just screams Cheapskate!, which defeats the purpose of not getting a Nova.
I find it hard to believe the original vinyl would last 45 years, but they did offer that color.
https://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Buick/1978_Buick/1978%20Buick%20Exterior%20Colors%20Chart/image3.html
I always found it amusing when people would order a vinyl roof that’s the same color as the car. I guess this was most often seen on black or white cars, but on anything else, it just looked kind of odd. The vinyl roof added visual interest due to a contrasting color more than the texture, so it seemed a curious choice – like ordering pinstriping the same color as the car’s paint.
My Fairmont Futura was midnight blue with a split vinyl top that was also midnight blue. To me anyway, it looked very sharp. With the exterior accent group, which included silver pinstripes and bright trim that went up and over the basket handle, the look was stunning, yet more subdued than if the vinyl top had been a starkly contrasting color.
I’ve got to agree on this example though, it screams milk-toast. Or pound cake. Or maybe Crème Brûlée as was suggested in the article.
I think Ford called this color Chamois. I call it Lame! (Although period accurate 😉).
Give or take a model year or two, a beige Skylark of this generation will always remind me of chilling photographs of Tampa Bay’s Sunshine Skyway bridge disaster of 1980.
If it weren’t for the background wreckage and the bumper stickers, that looks like a photo for an advertisement.
You beat me to it Joseph; my thoughts were the same! IIRC, there were 4 men in the car, carpooling to work. The driver noticed the missing superstructure of the bridge through the fog, and just in time!
I can so see the life it led in Coquille, one of those somewhat bigger Oregon rural towns that owes its existence to a well-watered (by the Coquille River) vast green plain that became the home of vast numbers of dairy farms. And this cream-colored Skylark was bought by the wife of a retired dairy farmer, driven into town to do a bit of shopping and gossiping. And there was always room for it under a roof, which explains the pristine buttery vinyl top, although the climate is as benign there as possible, never hot nor cold.
It’s a rolling tribute to the millions of gallons of milk and tons of butter that its former owner was once responsible for bringing into the world. But it’s not going to stay fresh sitting there in the scalding sun of Phoenix.
It looks like a Driver’s Ed car, but I like it. I do hope – for the sake of that well-preserved vinyl roof – that it either gets taken indoors or out of the desert soon.
It’s no hair shirt, not what I’d choose but I would expect this to still be a decant dailt driver and the AC not difficult to maintain .
-Nate
“The definition of the average automobile, circa 1978”
My impression is that these (and their brethen from the other GM brands) were one of the best-sorted vehicles put out by GM at the time, and given the problems that Chrysler and Ford were having at the time, one of the best vehicles offered by the Big-3 in the 1975-79 timeframe. That’s not to say they were fantastic cars, but given the “average” was so low, maybe these should be judged as above-average. The 1977 “B-Bodies” and the Fox platform were a step up in some sense (but for the Fox, not perhaps in the powertrain department), but properly optioned these cars could be very nice in comparison to other domestic cars available at the time. What else from a domestic manufacturer circa 1976 would have been more appealing, especially if one had to drive in modern conditions?
Well-said JM.
In the mid/late 1970s, the 1975-79 X-cars were definitely well-sorted, above-average cars. Admittedly the baseline car population was quite low.
Consumer Reports observed in 1977 that while the Nova was their overall highest-rated domestic compact, for a relatively small amount of extra money (on the basis of actual purchase cost, that while GM’s outstanding, “best car overall”, new full-size Chevy Caprice stickered for more, the dealer’s margin on the big car was higher, so for about $300 more, the big car was a much better value),
and while the Caprice was better, and got only about 1-2mpg less, it was still a considerably larger car, for those of us who might prefer less bulk.
Also, the 2-door especially, had exceptional outward visibility.
While the newer, more fuel and space-efficient Ford Fairmont got many accolades from Car and Driver, it was cheaper-feeling car in practice. My father dubbed it “the tin can”, though his first one proved to be a decent car, so that my dad got a second one, used, in 1987.
The Fairmont biggest advantage was that a 4-cylinder, 4-speed got about 50% more mpg than our 75 Ventura. But that difference dropped to only 15% better with the next Fairmont, an 81 which came with the six cylinder and automatic, and it was noticeably less quick than the Ventura it replaced (the Ventura was 12 years old and 100k miles, which was deemed “old”, and starting to rust. Both my parents missed “the Pontiac”)
My dad’s ’78 Nova HB had a 305 (5.0l) and one night on the highway with their ass full of everything from my college apartment that I was moving, well that 305 sent a rod through the oil pan . The moment before there was a sort of flutter in the transmission followed by a rev up …and followed by the rod bang .I expected that he wouldn’t be happy when he saw me arrive at the house in a tow truck.
”seems that these 305 always end up like that” I told him when I arrived .It seemed like a relief to him that I sold it for $500 to a class friend who put a smaller v8 in it, the origin and engine capacity -probably a 283- of which I don’t remember.
https://www.onallcylinders.com/2019/12/06/ask-away-with-jeff-smith-a-brief-history-of-the-airflow-restricting-chevy-305/
The real air extractors on these were hidden under the trunk lid overlap at the very back of the car. The C post ones are dummies. All non-vinyl top cars, all Chevy Novas and all ’75s have them, I guess from ’76 they found the budget to hand fill whatever seam they’re hiding just well enough to cover with vinyl smoothly on BOPs.
I had a grey base 4 door Nova when i was young, can’t remember if it was a 305 or 350, i think it was a 350 2 barrel. but man did it move when you put your foot down., and handled quite well to. I used to love pulling up to BMWs and such and giving them a run for their much more money
Great find – and I’m impressed at the amount of enthusiasm you were able to muster for a tan Skylark!
Regarding what happens to the air vents when the C-pillar vents are covered by the vinyl roof, I believe that cabin air was extracted through vents in the rear body lock pillar. I think this system was used in other GM cars as well – not positive about this on the X-bodies, but that’s my best guess.
Just saw now that nlpnt just wrote above that the air extractors are under the trunk lid overlap. If that’s the case, I apologize for the incorrect guess above!
I would take that Buick over just about any other domestic car of its era. A fine car (for the ‘70s definition of “fine”) without all the styling and mechanical weirdnesses of the day.
I’m sure it shared all the fidgety pollution control and fuel mileage add-ons of the time. But the basic drivetrain and platform is solid and bulletproof, and this car represents perhaps the best iteration of well-sorted live-axle RWD Detroit iron. With that in mind, go in on a mostly solid and unmolested car like this one, and work out all the Malaise Era added kinks and circuits. You end up with solid transportation for cheap, and you will never lose it in a full parking lot, despite the beige-o-rama.
Not often realized: the redesign from the dumpy, frumpy looking 1974 X bodies to the more airy, open looking 1975s looked like GM lowered the beltline. But they didn’t. The lower body structure remained the same and the roof was at the same height but the doors and windows were carved farther into the roof. It made for a nice, modern look that cost GM a lot less than a total new platform. The new model also looked like it would be more spacious inside, but it wasn’t.
It’s not drab, Mr Klein.
Come now, when every single other thing on the road is attempting to camouflage itself amongst all the other silver armies, this is a veritable buttercup. And anyway, it’s a peach too (whatever contradiction that might appear to present).
Nice photos, especially considering conditions quite intolerable.
These were a staple at the Rent A Wreck franchise I worked at, and they were pretty decent cars. For some reason there were lots of Skylarks and Novas around, a few Ventura/Phoenix versions and very few Omegas.
I seem to recall most of the Skylarks had 350 Buicks in them, which may have been why they were in our (low) price range to buy as they were kind of hard on gas. They held up well, we got few complaints, and they were nice enough that they were at the high end of our daily rates (16.95 a day!). We had a ’76 or so Ventura with a 260 Olds in it, a bit of an oddball, and I believe it held the longevity record in the fleet.
Probably one of GMs better products of the 70’s, if not the most interesting. Nice example, I don’t remember the last time I saw one of these out in the wild.
A set of whitewalls, a good polish and replace the “bumper filler panel,” ( I always wondered what that essential piece of automotive paraphernalia was called) would fix this Curbside Classic right up.
A guy in my neighborhood has a Skylark of this generation, in about the same condition. The vinyl top is still intact, paint is good if a bit faded, and the plastic bumper fill panel is mostly gone. It doesn’t appear to be a daily driver anymore, but I do see it on the street occasionally.
A “Pontiac Phoenix”, just about this vintage was a”daily driver” in my neighborhood until about “2008”.
Was a two door, green out/gray in.
I would love a Nova 9C1 from this era!
I have some knowledge of this era car, my grandfather briefly had one, around the time we had a BMW so I could compare Hofmeister kinks.
My son’s friend recently bought a Nova from this generation in the Portland area and they are learning the joys of a carburetted 305. As expected of an Oregon car it is rust free but the front seat was worn out and replaced by Camaro seats from a salvage yard
Road wheels, always worked on this gen Skylark. Push-type door handles, appeared dated at the time, but they add elegance.
This one is a “looker”. Like the “Malibu” in the background too.
Whitewalls help too! Subject car could have used them
3 things about this color; 1 it was popular on VW Beetles . 2 CC Effect: I saw an Audi RS6 Wagon on the highway today in this very shade of beige . 3 the first of my K-5 Blazers a ’76 was beige with the exception of the roof. I Had to do something with it, so I painted it brown below the molding. Here it is pictured with my buddys ’72 K-20 on Duxbury ( Ma) beach.