Buick sold off the tooling for its aluminum 215 V8 after dropping it here, and Rover kept building that engine until 2006.
Lead trim: Skylark 225 cu in Buick V6 (155 hp at 4400 rpm, 1964) · up to 260 hp
Buick Skylark1964–1967
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Buick Skylark yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactBuick sold off the tooling for its aluminum 215 V8 after dropping it here, and Rover kept building that engine until 2006.
Beginning with the 1964 model year the Skylark trim level had enough sales to merit its own separate line, and with the lower-priced Special moved to a new 115 in wheelbase intermediate-size A-body chassis shared with the Oldsmobile F-85, Pontiac Tempest and new Chevrolet Chevelle (length 203.5 in). The standard 215 cu in aluminum V8 was discontinued (its tooling eventually sold to Rover, who built it as the Rover V8 until 2006) and replaced by a new 225 cubic-inch (3.7 L) all-cast-iron V6 with a Rochester one-barrel carburetor generating 155 hp at 4400 rpm, an enlarged version of the 198 V6. The basic V8 option was a 300 cubic-inch with cast-iron block and aluminum heads and a Rochester two-barrel generating 210 hp at 4600 rpm, with a high-performance version at 11:1 compression and a four-barrel generating 250 hp; a long-throw Hurst shifter was available for the four-speed. In 1965 the Gran Sport option debuted (see the separate Gran Sport entries). The 1966 two-door Skylark was available with the optional 340-cubic-inch "Wildcat 375" engine producing 260 hp and 365 lb-ft with a four-barrel Carter carb, the four-door sedan rejoined the lineup for 1967, and the four-door hardtop sedan came with a 340-cubic-inch V8 with a Rochester two-barrel producing 220 hp at 4400 rpm; 1967 Skylarks included the federally mandated safety equipment.
Collectors Spotted in the Buick Skylark Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Buick Skylark yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
5 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skylark 225 cu in Buick V6 (155 hp at 4400 rpm, 1964) | 1964–1964 | 3.7 L V6 | 155 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Skylark 300 cu in Buick V8 2-barrel (210 hp at 4600 rpm, 1964) | 1964–1964 | 4.9 L V8 | 210 hp | 310 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Skylark 300 cu in Buick V8 4-barrel high-performance (250 hp, 11:1, 1964) | 1964–1964 | 4.9 L V8 | 250 hp | 355 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Skylark 340 cu in V8 2-barrel (220 hp at 4400 rpm, 1967 four-door hardtop) | 1967–1967 | 5.6 L V8 | 220 hp | 340 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
| Skylark Wildcat 375 340 cu in V8 (260 hp, 365 lb-ft, 1966) | 1966–1966 | 5.6 L V8 | 260 hp | 365 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
An estimate, for the Skylark 225 cu in Buick V6 (155 hp at 4400 rpm, 1964) trim: fuel on its EPA figure and a dated national price, upkeep on a per-mile average for the kind of car it is.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The 1992 Skylark's wedge shape and pointed grille weren't new — Buick previewed them on the 1990 Bolero concept, and that grille itself was a callback to 1930s Buick Specials.
The N-body coupe was badged "Somerset" at launch — Buick had already used that name once before, as a trim package on the Regal.
1985 was the end of the line for the X-body Skylark's two-door coupe — Buick dropped it for a sedan-only lineup as the body style moved to the new Somerset Regal.
This Skylark broke a 62-year streak — the first four-cylinder Buick since the original Buick Four was dropped back in 1918.
Buick had to buy back its own V6 tooling from American Motors, which got it via the Kaiser Jeep deal, to build the 1975 Skylark.
The GSX's 455 V8 made 510 lb-ft of torque — more than any American performance car until the Dodge Viper finally beat it, 33 years later.
At 510 lb-ft, this GS 455's big-block held the American muscle-car torque record for over three decades — until a 2003 Dodge Viper took the crown.
Buick sold its discontinued V6 tooling to Kaiser Industries, where it went on to power Jeep trucks instead of Skylarks.
The GS 350 was the baby of Buick's muscle-car GS line, but it outlasted the bigger GS 400 and GS 455 — running until V8 Gran Sport production ended entirely in 1975.
The GS California wasn't a nationwide car — in its 1967 debut year, Buick sold it in California only and never advertised it anywhere else.
Buick split its 1967 Gran Sport in two: the big-block GS 400 came in multiple body styles, but the cheaper 340-cubic-inch GS 340 was sold only as a two-door hardtop — no other way to get one.
The '400' in GS 400 undersold it — the real engine was a 401 cubic inch V8, trimmed to fit GM's internal cap on how big an intermediate's engine could sound.
Buick's Gran Sport ran a 401-cubic-inch V8 — but sales brochures listed it as 400 cubic inches, dodging a GM corporate rule that capped intermediate cars at exactly that limit.
Buick sold off the tooling for its aluminum 215 V8 after dropping it here, and Rover kept building that engine until 2006.
The 198 V6 that debuted here was the first American V6 built in volume production, cast in iron off the aluminum 215 V8's design.
Buick sold only 836 of these Skylarks in 1954, undercut by buyers who saw it as a step down from the Roadmaster it borrowed from.
The 1953 Skylark cost over a thousand dollars more than the Roadmaster convertible it was built from, for a car sharing most of the same tub.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
It briefly served as senior sibling to Marquette, a GM companion brand cancelled after just one year.
Nissan hired former BMW engineers to help develop the 510's suspension, which is why period reviewers frequently compared its handling to the BMW 1600/2002.
A Trabant 601 won its class at the 1970 Monte Carlo Rally, with a second 601 right behind it in second.
The 600 was a stopgap: the P50's body over the 601's mechanicals, and for a while its estate was built alongside the new 601 saloon.
The G80 Sport brought a 370 PS twin-turbo 3.3 V6, a mesh grille and copper-tinted chrome with copper stitching to match.
The Vigor was sold only with a five-cylinder engine, an unusual configuration Honda used to fit a longer engine transversely under a short hood.
The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.