It’s a two-owner car with just 62,566 original miles and it shows.
For reasons that aren’t altogether clear, the top-of-the-line GM A-bodies, the Buick Skylark, just don’t seem to get the same level of attention as their Chevrolet and Pontiac siblings, and that’s a real shame. They’re every bit as attractive (arguably more so), have the same tidy handling, and are fitted with a variety of Buick’s finest V8 powerplants. In addition, you often get a healthy dose of luxury with your V8 performance in a Buick, and if you go to a car show, the Buicks are outnumbered by five-to-one. So why not a Buick?
This handsome 1971 Buick Skylark convertible is an exceptional survivor with just one repaint in its original Verdemist Green a few years ago. It’s a two-owner car with just 62,713 original miles and it shows. The bodywork is laser-straight and has no signs of accidents or rust repair and whomever did the paint work did a great job of making it look like the factory; if I hadn’t found one tiny masking mark, I was prepared to believe it was original paint. The proportions are the same gorgeous look as all the GM A-bodies, and I find the Buick’s understated look to be far more appealing than its more extroverted cousins. The doors open and close well, although you need to give the driver’s door button a good shove with your thumb to unlatch it. I don’t think the car has ever been apart because the fit, alignment, and gaps are all about what you would have received on a new car in 1971. The chrome glitters and there’s no doubt that it’s production plating on the bumpers, which have a soft shine but aren’t like today’s modern show chrome that’s so ridiculously perfect. Emblems, glass, and lenses are equally nice and the car presents as a very high-quality survivor that you can show with pride.
The green interior is a nice match and I think I like it better than, say, white or tan simply because it’s so unusual. It’s a lot of green, yes, but the elegant look of the Buick pulls it off easily. Those are original seat covers without any split seams or apparent wear on the seating surfaces, and the foam underneath remains firm and supportive. The carpets are also original, protected by color-matched rubber mats that have probably been there since it was new and the door panels are excellent. The only major demerits inside might be an area on the steering wheel where the green finish has worn off and the puzzling cloudy lens on the clock, which sadly is not functional. We initially thought the speedometer and fuel gauge had been rebuilt, but the owner confirms that they’re original and the clock has always looked like that in the 28 years he’s owned the car. Odd. As a Buick, you do get such niceties as a tilt wheel, ice cold factory A/C, and an AM/FM stereo radio with a rear speaker that still pulls in signals loud and clear. The trunk is finished with factory spatter paint and what I believe is the original mat, but as many of you know, these plastic mats tend to trap humidity underneath and this car shows some surface scale on the trunk floor. The white power top is also original and works superbly, latching without a wrestling match and tucking neatly under a matching green boot.
This is a Skylark Deluxe, which means a 350 cubic inch Buick V8 with a 4-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust. Performance is energetic and smooth, which shouldn’t be surprising—this is a Buick, after all. It’s nicely detailed under the hood with correct Dante Red paint on the small block V8, a factory air cleaner with ‘350-4’ decal (denoting the 4-barrel carburetor), and mostly original-style hardware throughout. It’s not quite ready for show in preservation classes, but a little clean up here and there will pay big dividends if that’s your thing. It starts quickly and easily with a great V8 rumble from the dual exhaust system, but it’s far from being a noisy kid’s car. The TH350 3-speed automatic shifts crisply and with 2.73 gears in the 10-bolt rear end, it’s a fantastic highway cruiser that just loafs along at highway speeds. The suspension and brakes, like all well-maintained, low-mileage survivors, have a very polished feel and the car could easily be driven any distance without a concern. Drive this car back-to-back with almost any other A-body you find, and I think you’ll be very impressed. Finally, it wears factory Road Wheels, which were some of the most attractive rolling stock of the era and it’s fitted with recent 225/75/14 BFGoodrich T/A radials.
We call a lot of cars “nice” and this one truly fits the bill. It’s wonderful to look at, a joy to drive, and the ideal combination of performance and comfort. If you like looking like a grown-up instead of someone reliving their teenage years, perhaps this Buick will fit the bill.