www.hotcars.com Why The Buick Skylark Is A Forgotten Muscle Car

The Skylark doesn’t seem to get the attention it deserves.

There was a time when Buick was one of the biggest players in the American car market. The brand is still going strong today, but isn’t quite as prolific now as rivals Chevrolet, Ford, and perhaps even Honda and Acura. Which is a shame as Buick can still produce a good car, and always have produced good cars. One of their very best has to be the Skylark. Built in the glory days of the muscle car, it was an incredibly potent and well-respected machine and is now a fantastic classic car.

But today, the Skylark doesn’t seem to get the attention it should have. Often, it is forgotten when the likes of the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird are all spoken about much more openly. What is it about the Skylark? Well, there isn’t any reason for it to be forgotten. But perhaps it isn’t a bad thing. Think of the Skylark as an underdog, and it seems like it’s a position the car handles very well indeed. Everyone loves a good underdog. And right now, the Skylark is one of the very best underdogs that money can buy, if you can afford one of these epic classic muscle cars.

Charting The History Of The Skylark

The story of the Skylark began in the early 1950s, with the original two-door convertible launched in 1953. This model, powered by a Fireball V8 engine would last just one year with poor sales thanks to the high price of the car, which was $4843 at the time or roughly $46,600 in today’s money. The Special Skylark would follow in 1961 to 1963, and it did prove more popular than the first version of the car. But things would really start to take off with the true first generation of the Skylark in 1964.

This was the true genesis of the Skylark muscle car. Powered by a V8, a V6 or Chevrolet inline-six, the new Skylark was a hit. It was offered as a four-door sedan, a two-door convertible, sedan, hardtop and coupe. The Specials and Special Deluxes came in pillared coupe versions. A Gran Sport option was then offered in 1965, and the car proved popular thanks to the optional 300 ci V8 engine, and then the four-door hardtop had a 340 ci V8 engine with 240 hp. This was starting to become American muscle at its finest.

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The Definitive Skylark Years

It is perhaps the second and third generation of the Skylark that is remembered most fondly. The second generation that began in 1968 saw big changes. Two door models would use a shorter base than longer wheelbase models, and the Gran Sport variant received its own separate series. Gone was the V6 engine and the car was offered with either the Chevy inline-six or a plethora of V8s including the mighty 455 ci 7.46-liter version. The 1972 model year also saw the final year of the mid-size Skylark before pollution controls were later added to engines.

The third generation was perhaps the final generation before the Skylark became a bit too tame. The car underwent a major restyling, and that saw the four-door sedan version renamed the Apollo, but the two-door would stay as the Skylark. This saw the return of the V6 engine, with Buick’s own 231 ci 3.8-liter offering. This was really the final generation of Skylark that could be called a muscle car, as following versions were a little too tame and simply more like family sedans. The final generation of Skylark was made from 1992 to 1998, and we have not seen the car since.

What Made The Skylark So Good

It is perhaps the more understated nature of the Skylark that helped to make it so good. The car was also a real looker, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. The fabled GSX Stage 1 is one of the best versions of the car we have ever seen, especially in the iconic bi-tone black and yellow. The 5.7-liter engines of the third generation, which were dubbed X-Body cars, were particularly potent and Buick certainly knew a thing or two about engines. It is certainly however a car that does not deserve to be forgotten about in the way it has been.

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A Road For A New Skylark?

Given that muscle cars like the Mustang and Camaro have all had new versions produced over the years, there is a strong case to say we should get a new Skylark. And Buick is still very much going strong at the moment. It is unlikely though that we will see the Skylark name return. But in all honestly, there doesn’t need to be. The Skylark deserves to be remembered as a fabulous muscle car, and no modern remake could really live up to the expectations that everyone would now set it. The Skylark was a great, powerful, good-looking and all-round good fun muscle car.

Sources: Zero260, Hemmings, Pinterest, Flikr, Wikipedia, AutoEvolution, Mecum

Covering anything from JDM cars to classic jets. Contributed to HotCars since the Autumn of 2018. Writes features, news and list articles.