By the 50th anniversary of the founding of the brand, the exclusive Buick Skylark convertible was released. The car was a deep modification of the Roadmaster with doors slightly “trimmed” in the upper part (which is why the waistline of the body radically changed), an enlarged cut-out of the rear wheel niches, but without a panoramic windshield. A new engine model for the Buick was installed on Skylark - a five-liter V8 with a four-chamber carburetor, a compression ratio of 8.5: 1, which developed 188 horsepower.
Acceleration to 100 km / h took about 12 seconds. The maximum speed is about 170 km / h. This model is recognized as one of the most collectible and expensive models in the entire history of Buick. Anniversary cars until the end of the 1953 season were released quite a lot, 1,690 pieces.
The car of this year is basically not the Roadmaster, but the lighter, but less prestigious Century series. In order to obscure the relationship of a prestigious convertible with its inexpensive progenitor, the designers came up with an individual tail end. Thanks to this, the car acquired an instantly recognizable look, which fully responded to its image as a model of a sports type.
The design of the body looked so that the car seemed lower than the usual convertibles. The bodywork didn’t have standard vents in the front fenders for those years in Buick. Interior decoration was made of leather. The standard version had many elements of luxury cars. The driver's workplace was distinguished by a combination of instruments from two dials instead of the three and three-spoke steering wheel.
All cars were exclusively cabriolets. Only two specimens with a hard roof are known, but they got their non-removable top after leaving the factory conveyor. Buick Skylark belonged to the “personal computer” segment that was born at that time - high-class cars designed for personal use directly by their wealthy owners, without the help of a hired driver. Among the 1955 Buick cars, the Skylark model was no longer there. This name, meaning “lark” in translation, emerged seven years later - on a new Buick machine, “compact,” a class with an improved finish. Actually, Skylark was produced in 1961, but then it was listed as no more than an option for the Special.
In 1962, the Skylark was considered a separate model, but outwardly almost did not differ from the Special. In 1964, the Skylark, previously only produced as a 2-door coupe and convertible, acquired a 4-door bodywork. In 1965, the distinction of the Special from the Skylark is basically reduced to the rear lights. In the same year, the Gran Sport option for Skylark appeared, which included a 325-horsepower 4-cc V8 engine. inch. The charged version was a success, for the first year 16,000 cars were sold. In 1973, the mid-size cars of General Motors underwent a complete redesign, which in the Buick case was accompanied by a change in the model name.
On behalf of Skylark, refused in favor of Century. In the 70s, the concern General Motors repeatedly increased the number of its compact models, it’s very simple to do: offering customers the same Chevrolet Nova car under different brands and with different exterior designs. The result of this cloning was the emergence of models such as Pontiac Ventura II, Oldsmobile Omega, Buick Apollo. In 1975, Nova and, accordingly, all its clones were redesigned. From now on, Apollo was produced only as a sedan. A similar two-door model (coupe and hatchback) called Skylark. In 1976, the name Apollo was completely abolished.
Four-door sedans also became known as the Skylark. This generation was produced until 1979. In 1980, the front-wheel-drive Chevrolet Citation replaced the Nova. Built on its Buick X-platform, it was still called the Skylark.
Unlike the Citation model, which was mainly produced with a hatchback body, the Skylark was offered both as a coupe and sedan. Skylark of this generation survived until 1985 without major changes. In 1985, the Buick model range was supplemented by another compact model - Somerset. The car was based on the new N-platform and had a characteristic for American cars of the 80s. wedge-shaped silhouette. It was assumed that this model was to replace Skylark, but the customers did not like the new name.
Therefore, already in 1986, along with the Somerset coupe, a new Skylark sedan was launched on the same platform. And in 1988, the name Somerset was completely abandoned. Buick Skylark was sold outside the United States, but under a different name: from 1975 to 1987, the car was manufactured in Iran and was known as the Buick Iran. In 1992, Skylark underwent another redesign. It was still produced as a coupe and sedan. In 1996, the model underwent a restyling, having received a new front end, its style more in line with other Buick models.
Skylark coupe production was completed in 1997, sedans - in 1998. The design of Skylark changed very often in accordance with the requirements of the time and the predilections of buyers.
