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Hyundai Elantra vs Mazda3Retro Review: Buick Skylark
Over five decades, the Buick Skylark was reimagined time and again, but looking back, its best forms came early on.
The Many Faces of the Skylark
1953 Buick Skylark – media.buick.com | Shop Buick Skylark on Carsforsale.com
As with many longstanding nameplates, one’s mental image of the Buick Skylark largely depends on your age. For older Millennials like me, the Skylark was a non-descript, often gray sedan. For the Boomer muscle car, the Skylark that comes to mind is the second-generation version, perhaps of the Gran Sport or even GSX varieties. The Buick Skylark indeed had many incarnations over its 40-plus-year run, from elegant luxury-level convertible to beefed up muscle car to run-of-the-mill sedan. To be sure, some incarnations have been more inspired than others, but it’s that second generation that perhaps carried the name best.
Here’s our look at the Buick Skylark; the highs and lows, the V8s, four-bangers, the Custom and the Gran Sport.
Roadmaster Beginnings
he Buick Skylark began as a special edition trim level of the Buick Roadmaster. The Skylark’s expressed purpose was celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary. Designed by the renowned Harley Earl, the 1953 Buick Roadmaster Skylark is at once prototypical of the era and transcendent of it. The largely hand-built two-door convertible featured curvaceous lines, plenty of chrome, and an expressive front grille. Its mill was Buick’s first V8, a 5.8L Nailhead.
The first Skylark would only last through 1954 before being discontinued. However, the nameplate would see reintroduction in 1961, again as a special trim level. The Buick Special Skylark came on a longer body that came in two styles: a 2-door coupe and a 4-door station wagon. This version would last until 1963 when the Skylark finally received its own distinct model, starting in 1964.
Gran Sport Muscle
The first-generation Buick Skylark came in a variety of body styles, including hardtop and sedan versions, but closest to its original form was the graceful 2-door convertible. The 1965 Gran Sport was the first nudge toward a performance-oriented version that could compete with the burgeoning muscle car segment. It carried a 6.6L V8 making 325 horsepower and dual exhaust.
It wasn’t until the second generation of the Buick Skylark that the car was firmly positioned amidst the muscle car fray. Though the base Skylark came with an unremarkable 4.1L inline-six, there were also three different V8s available including a 5.7L, the 6.6L, and a 7.5L. The first of those, the 5.7L would be the standard engine on the Skylark Custom while the latter two would appear in the Gran Sport. The wheelbase had been lengthened and divided in two, a 112-inch version for the 2-door and 116-inches for the 4-door.
In 1970, the Skylark was bumped down to the entry-level vehicle for Buick. Despite this, it was also the peak year for the Gran Sport. This year, the GS455 came with a 455 cu.-in. (7.5L) V8 and a four-barrel carburetor producing 360 horsepower and 510 lb.-ft. of torque. The same motor would also come with the GSX package which came exclusively in white or yellow with full length black striping and was right at home alongside the likes of the Camaro, GTO, and Mustang.
By 1972, emissions standards arrived and with them a diminution of output for the Skylark. The now base 5.7L V8 was detuned to a paltry 155 horsepower with the 2-barrel carb and just 175 horsepower with the four-barrel.
Lingering On
This was far from the end for the Skylark, but never again would it come close to resembling either the graceful convertible of the early ‘50s or the sportiness of the second generation.
The third generation, from 1973-79, Skylark was transferred to the smaller X-body platform and came with a 3.8L V6 as the standard engine. A hatchback body was added, and the sedan version of the car was renamed the Buick Apollo. The fourth generation arrived in 1980. Still on the X-body, the Skylark was a quintessentially dull and uninspired ‘80s sedan.
The fifth generation, 1985 through 1991, did little to change this despite the move to a new N-body platform. In fact, the 2-door version was moved to the Somerset Regal, making the Skylark even less intriguing. The engine options didn’t help, either, with only 2.3L and 2.5L inline-fours or 3.0L and 3.3L V6s available.
The sixth-generation Skylark would be its last, running from 1992 through 1998. It’s perhaps best remembered for its atrocious wedge-shaped front end, seemingly designed with the sole intention of causing Harley Earl to roll over in his grave. Thankfully, a 1996 facelift did away with the wedge design, leaving the Skylark’s final incarnation as basic as sedans of the era got. In 1998, the bulk of the Skylark’s production was dedicated to rental fleet sales. About as ignominious an end as it gets in the auto industry.
1953 Buick Skylark – media.buick.com | Shop Buick Skylark on Carsforsale.com
But it’s not the unremarkable sedans of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, for which the Skylark is best remembered. Rather it’s the truly classic designs of the 50s and 60s that should come to mind, when high design and true performance were as honored in automotive boardrooms as they were on the highways and byways of America.
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