Cohort images by cjcz92, taken in 2017.
We returned to Puerto Rico in 1987, and were finally back in US territory after 11 years in Central America. Since those were the pre-internet days, there was much catch-up to do; being a teenager, I was eager for it all. Particularly when it came to cars.
While I was preoccupied with cars, Mom was obviously thinking of old acquaintances. Returning to a place is usually a mind-challenging exercise; with lots to absorb, culturally and personally. Like picking up on your favorite series after missing a few seasons. Who were these characters from my Mom’s past that remembered me? And what’s up with all these new clothing trends? Etc. And finally: What about the cars? Lots to discover there, since Central America hadn’t really been a hub for the latest trends.
It happened on a Saturday afternoon, when Mom was to meet with some ex-coworker from the old days. No memory of what the meeting was for, but whatever the reason, it was a rather formal matter.
When we arrived at his apartment building on the outskirts of Mayaguez; we went in, exchanged a few pleasantries, and were done in short order. For old-time’s sake, he asked for us to join him for lunch at the nearby mall. Mom, who never ever refused a trip to the mall, dutifully accepted (Above, the Mayaguez Mall in the mid-80s).
We were to go in separate cars, and as we boarded our trés chic 1987 Tercel hatchback, her old colleague came out of the apartment building’s parking riding a light-blue ’78 Buick Century Aeroback. What in the world is that? Said the voice in my head, and not in a good way.
The Buick passed us and went ahead, guiding the way, while Mom trailed him. On the way, I kept staring at the Buick, befuddled by its looks. Somewhere in the car, there was a concept that should look good -the fastback- but didn’t really.
In general, when it comes to GM, arriving in ’87 was like skipping a chunk of pages from Anna Karenina, and reaching the section where society just shunned her. Now, unlike poor Anna, there wasn’t much sympathy one could find for GM. For one, it wasn’t a poor victim of circumstance. On the other, we were a long way from Tsarist Russia.
Here was the GM I remembered from my childhood. Yes, against the earlier ’60s ones, this Impala is a bit chubby; but it carries that excess with poise and confidence. Hand me the keys to any ’60s Impala, and you may have to call the cops. There’s just no guarantee I’ll give it back on my own accord.
So, there we were, on our little Tercel following this humpback-fastback Buick. Or in GM-speak; Aeroback. Just what in the world had happened during my absence? Bill Mitchell, where were you?
Don’t panic, I know Bill was still involved with these cars. And while I’ve waxed lyrical about GM’s 1960s oeuvre, the truth is that in Mitchell’s later days, GM’s styling studios were already stretched thin. There were only so many variations possible for an increasing roster of models while keeping costs in check (plus regulations, oil crisis, etc.). Diminishing returns were appearing well before his departure; and as we know, far worse was to come.
From the looks of things, I could sense the model should have been a hatchback, but for mind-boggling reasons, it wasn’t. Bean counters I suppose. Curiously, the Aeroback Buicks don’t have an official entry at CC (and this won’t be it), other than period reviews for the Turbo version. I assume most CC contributors have already suffered enough Aeroback-related-PTSD by covering the Oldsmobile versions.
Not that they were awful-looking vehicles; but they just didn’t look that great either. And for upscale offerings such as Buick and Oldsmobile; what’s left if you don’t have a trendsetting suit to wear? Or at least a nice conservative-tailored one? With the Aerobacks being neither, they sold poorly and were short-lived. GM wasn’t yet completely lost in the woods, and a revised notchback body appeared in 1980.
As I said earlier, in regards to cars I had much catch-up to do in 1987. But did I really want to? In the Puerto Rican newspapers, the New Car Ads had endless permutations of GM N-Bodies, all with beaks poorly disguising their common origin. What part of the novel had I reached? Where society shunned poor GM? Or where the train could be heard approaching in the distance?
Further reading:
CCCCC Part 9: 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon – We Don’t Want No Stinkin’ Fastbacks
Vintage Review: 1979 Buick Century Turbo Coupe – This Wild Turkey Tried To Fly
My dad bought one of these in pale blue for a 90 mile daily commute, replacing a ’68 Electra just in time for the second oil crisis. He really liked the Regal’s looks, but practicality won. With the 305 4 bbl, it was quite zippy for the time.
The back would look better if the lower six inches of the trunk were vertical, like a Citation, instead of sloped, but I would probably have banged my head on it. It does make you wonder if Cadillac delayed them from using their Seville’s severe notchback until they went to the bustleback. Corporations keep secrets, too.
Growing up, a friend of mine had this exact same car, in burnt orange. It had no options, except for A/C (which was non-functional). With no air, vinyl seats, that greenhouse back lite and rear windows that didn’t roll down, the back seat was a miserable place to be in the summer.
Luckily the car didn’t last long – it soon rusted away into nothing.
Another miss by The General, I’ve not seen these even in junkyards in years .
-Nate
On my many visits to the island for work, the closest I came to Mayaguez was Aguadilla, Moca, and Isabella. Beautiful part of the island. I regret never having been able to visit Arecibo however, and see the dish from Goldeneye.
These Aeroback cars were on the Deadly Sins list I think.
For some reason I remember as a kid liking the style of these. I mentioned that to my father at one point, and he snapped back “Oh, those cars are dogs – they’re horrible!” Well, that ended my admiration of the aerobacks.
Really though, I still think the design is pretty good looking, and a lot of modern sedans now have their own version of the aeroback styling, so it doesn’t look quite as odd as it once did. But overall, GM really dropped the ball with this one.
Even though I am a Buick fanatic, I never cared much for these Buick and Oldsmobile “slantback” models. They just look so odd. My aunt bought a 1980 Century sedan in 1986 after her 74 Lesabre was totaled, and she absolutely loved the Century. She called it her “little” Buick. She had that car for 14 years, and it never had any major problems with it. I thought it was a beautiful car compared to the 78/79 models. My aunt was well into her 90’s by the time she stopped driving, and sadly she gave the Buick to her late husband’s nephew because he had lost his job and needed a dependable inexpensive car. I don’t know what happened to it after that, but it probably didn’t survive much longer.
Here’s something else you don’t see anymore – a Sears parking lot full of cars.
My local Sears parking lot is loaded.
Of course, it’s now a medical building!
There aren’t many Sears parking lots left, full or otherwise. The last I read there are only 11 Sears stores remaining in the US; all of the Sears automotive centers have closed. For the younger folks reading this, having Sears go out of business once seemed as likely as Amazon going out of business today. They were the world’s largest retailer for many years.
Supposedly one is still open not far from me in Braintree MA. I have to go see it, the curiosity is killing me.
Think the one in my hometown is some type of “social service, medical facility too.
I forgot to add that the image is from the Mayaguez Mall, taken in the mid-80s. Where did I find it? A recent article with the news that Sears was closing down in Mayaguez.
Kind observers might say “perhaps the Aeroback looked better on paper than it turned out in the metal”.
But that’s kind of reaching; it probably looked bad on all media.
Most likely, someone at GM said, hey… we did it with the Fleetline in the late ’40s and the early ’50s; take a normal sedan and streamline the back. Let’s do that. What could possibly go wrong?
That ad… It’s 1978, and Sloan’s ladder still being somewhat intact, Buick is supposed to be the second fanciest brand in the GM lineup. Yet they’re still charging extra for power steering and power brakes (and obviously, automatic transmission), but I would bet $1.50 that 95+% of Centuries left the production line with all three of those options. I find that disingenuous at best.
If I’m shopping for a new-for-’78 A-body, I’m going straight to the Chevy dealer. The Malibu 2-door (and its Pontiac brother) look much better than the Buick (and Oldsmobile) Aerobacks, the engines and transmissions are mostly the same, as is the options list, and the prices are lower. And if I think a Malibu isn’t fancy-looking enough, the Monte Carlo is also on the lot, and probably priced within a few bucks of the Century or Cutlass.
I do have to hand Buick/GM credit for after getting the V6 back, turbocharging it by 1978, and continuing to refine it and giving us the Grand National GNX. In my opinion, the only bright spot for GM in the ’80s. A V6 Buick that was faster than a Corvette.
One of those designs that seems to be color dependent. Whoever came up with the idea of two-toning this design should have been fired. Otherwise, these aren’t BAD looking cars, but in my opinion it was a shame they weren’t a real hatchback. I usually prefer this as an Oldsmobile, somehow the Buicks shown here look like the cheapest version of this body.
100% agree with you on the two-tone…it just has no place to belong on the panels.
Never thought about a preference between the Olds vs Buick because I disliked them both, but I tend to agree. The clean corners of the Olds (ie no wrap around front or rear lighting) work much better on this design than the Buick corner treatment.
I remember at the time these being called “Aeroback” and thinking that if the aero effect is on the rear you’re doing it backwards!
I too have always been puzzled by these. My thoughts are that they were somehow trying to capture the big euro fastback trend. Leyland Princess, Citroen CX, Lancia Gamma, etc. someone at GM thought “this is the cool new look”, and somehow it really gets lost in translation.
If you think that a single example of the Aeroback looks odd, imagine an assembly line full of them! I installed rear seat belts in many that originated from Fremont. If only it had been a hatchback. Then GM would have beat all those “humpbacked” Touring models to the market.The five door hatchback is now the norm as a cross over SUV.
“The five door hatchback is now the norm as a crossover or SUV”,
Buick is about to release the Envista which is what you describe. I think it will do better than the Aeroback did.
From Wikipedia
Buick Century Production Figures:
Coupe Sedan Wagon Turbo Coupe Yearly Total
23,252 30,894 33,600 N/A 87,746 1978
5,626 17,045 31,513 1,653 55,837 1979
N/A 129,740 17,615 1,074 148,429 1980
N/A 127,119 17,148 N/A 144,267 1981
28,878 304,798 99,876 2,727 436,279 Total
The ’80-1 notchback sold just a little better than the Aeros.
My brother/sister in law had the “Olds Cutlass”, sister car. Two tone gold/yellow. Drove kind a nice. Quiet “overall”, good stereo.
“A/C” was good but the bench , front seat rather got in the way.
I did like the “flipper windows” in back. Could just leave them open in hot weather, ((while parked)).
The “fixed, rear door windows sucked though.
I think they had the car 4-5 years.
Had a garage for the last 8 months/year, they owned the car.
As a kid, I liked these a lot, because they were so different. Credit for a mainstream car, to have such unique styling. In the vein of the Chrysler Airflow, or ’80 Cadillac Seville. They may have been unpopular, but I thought their unusual design, was quite memorable for that era. I particularly liked the 2-door.
Several years ago, I prepared a ‘What If’ Photoshop, of how I interpreted a better-styled Aeroback. This version would have a Nova-like hatchback. Thought I’d regurgitate it again, here. I could have made Bill Mitchell millions. lol
I’ve never understood why this body wasn’t given to Chevy and Pontiac rather than Olds and Buick. Or made an option for all the divisions. Or left on the studio floor.
It looks to me like they ran out of money around the back of the rear door and just folded the body shut. Could be the team that designed this ugly piece of dung was also responsible for the Aztek.
It always bemused me how GM could hit a home run with their 1977 downsized full sized cars and then bunt with the downsized 1978 intermediates.
First off, kudos to GM for trying like heck to get out of the brougham-age. True, two years later these exact vehicles succumbed to formal rear pillars that were, btw, also oddly shaped, but at least GM tried.
That said, I believe that GM design was trying to break away from the dead end formal look for their intermediates and felt that they had a nice compromise with this design. It is like the Mullet – business in the front, party in the rear. Both cars had relatively formal front ends, yet didn’t have the stand up grille traumas they inflicted upon buyers the previous five years. There was perhaps a feeling that the light squared purposeful auto designs that were waiting in 1980 showrooms, would let them get a jump on that look.
They jumped, but missed. There is commonality up to the C pillars with these cars and the upcoming C body intermediates that replaced them. Right up to that aeroback, the cars have a modern light look common only four years later. This was also the year Ford revealed their Fox body cars and you can see some design similarities between the GM and Ford products.
The Aerobacks never looked good. There was a point where GM was showing these Aerobacks with the rear fenders squared off, ending in a small fin – did you know that? So, it seemed that along the design stage, the Aeroback lost its fins and ended up with what the rear treatment we saw nearly fifty years ago.
Below is another take on the drawings of the Aeroback.
I liked them then, in both the Olds and Buick versions, and still like them now, for being out of the mold, but absolutely they should have been hatchbacks to better justify the design. A friend bought an ’80 Century and it did look good too, in the more conventional vein that the public clearly preferred.