Other than the handfuls of modified Chevrolet Monzas sporting high performance goodies that you’ll find being carted to drag strips around North America, the actual numbers of these ‘second generation’ GM H-bodies still lingering on the streets are very few. In fact, this particular example I came across in a recent Kijiji browse is the first one I have seen in a long time, and only from the comfort of my living room. It would be have been nice to view it and shoot it in person, but the clean and original condition of this particular bird absolutely requires me to share.
The Skyhawk, as GM would note “the smallest Buick in 60 years”, was simply a badge-engineered version of the Monza, which itself was spun off GM’s infamous Chevrolet Vega subcompact that made waves in the automotive world in the early 1970s. While stories of the Vega are plentiful and almost always negative, I find that those of the later built GM H-bodies are a little more varied. Overall build quality was typical of the big three in the ’70s (ie: mediocre) and more often than not, these cars fell to the always persistent rust bug if not some kind of major mechanical malady and disappeared off the streets as quickly as other common ’70s offerings.
It has been many years since I have even seen a Skyhawk of this generation, though I will also note that all Skyhawks are a rare sight these days given the J-body successor introduced in 1982 ceased production over 25 years ago while it’s cousin, the Cavalier, successfully carried on for many years after. Growing up in Northern BC, a childhood friend was carted around in a light blue ’70s Skyhawk (I don’t remember it’s exact vintage) and I took a few rides in it myself, thankful for the fact that I was a youngster at the time and easily fit in the tight confines of that rear seat area. I recall it carrying a moderate amount of rust at the time (late 1980s) though more of my attention was focused on the road hockey game we would be playing on the street behind it, with the occasional tennis ball bouncing off it’s rear bumper or hatchback glass.
Today’s example is available to the highest bidder coming to you from an estate sale and it’s easy to conjure a life of dedicated shelter within a warm garage and very infrequent trips on the streets over it’s 40 years. 32,000 miles are advertised though it’s possible for this to be after one trip around the clock, or perhaps it’s actual original mileage. The overall condition of the typical-for-the-era green paint and bright white interior certainly demonstrate that it’s been in the possession of a loving owner for a very long time. The 231 CID (or 3.8L) Buick V6, mated to the optional 3 speed automatic, would give reasonable spunk to this subcompact even though output was only rated at 110 horses.
It would be interesting to know what the car ultimately sells for… will someone get themselves a real bargain on this 70s classic and dare to put it into regular service or will a collector come along to continue it’s life of limited use?
Having owned a ’76 Monza (four cylinder, five speed), I have very fond memories of those cars. Extremely good looking, handled decently, comfortable. The only negative I can remember is that they were a couple of hundred pounds heavier than the Vega, so while the Vega could be tossed around like a sports car the Monza, et. al., were definitely low buck GT cars.
No complaints about mine whatsoever. It did the job and I really enjoyed it the three years I owned it. Of course, this was back in the days when you could buy a new car, pay it off in less than three years, and then buy another new car, three model years newer. There was a time when this was considered “normal”.
Great find, Carey! Well shared. Fingers crossed this doesn’t become a daily driver (belongs in a Buick museum somewhere). I agree with Syke – these really were fantastic-looking cars.
Buick Gallery maybe?
What an amazing find! And that white interior — wow. So clean, and so period.
The wire wheel covers may look an odd choice on these but point to a key factor in it’s survival. Many if not most of these were originally chick cars that could even appeal to older ladies who liked the sporty looks and bright colors but really just needed an easy to park runabout. This car offers that in spades. The older lady will never top 2500rpm so the rough nature of the early 3.8 will not present itself. The automatic, power steering and easy torque will be much more pleasant to her than a more sporting oriented Scirrocco or Fire Arrow an enthusiast would have her pick.
This car will probably fall into the hands of a young owner who will reengine and rewheel this car into a quick death. I am glad we got to see it while it was still a fine tribute to it’s long term owner and the quality of Buick, even at the low end of the range.
I haven’t seen one of these since the ’80’s. A friend’s dad had one of the later J-body Skyhawks, but it’s nice to see an H-body in such great shape. I hope that whoever buys it keeps it as original. With that, though, a modern 3800 engine in one of these wold make it into quite a sleeper.
No one will swap a 3800 into this car when a 350 SBC will bolt right in. This car will be bought by a weekend drag race fanatic.
You’d be surprised at what someone would consider for this car.
A lot of people are bored with the same old Chevy 350 swaps.
I could maybe see a buick turbo V6 like the old Grand National. But that would be an eccentric person. The 350 would be the smarter choice for cheap reliable horsepower to run down a dragstrip.
Cool find! I wasn’t crazy about these back then, but this one would be a keeper. There may not be any better drivetrain in one of these either, than the 3.8/auto. And that color combo is da bomb!
A law school friend had an 80 Monza, and I remember how low to the ground it sat. The longtime owner must have remained pretty limber to get in and out of this for trips to church and to the market.
It’s so ’70s in there!
After my mom had cataract surgery in the mid ’80s and resumed driving dad bought a ’75 Skyhawk for her as a “tide-me-over” until they could get a new car. He never did get it running right.
There was so much more differentiation between the Monza and Pontiac Sunbird than there was between the Monza and the Buick-Olds variants that I can’t help but wonder if only Chevy and Pontiac were part of the original plan with the Skyhawk and Starfire were a response to the gas crisis.
The Chevy, Skyhawk and Starfire came first, the Sunbird came a year later.
I remember a circa ’75-ish Motor Trend that I had, with sketches of so-called next years car. According to the article, Buick was slated to have their own notchback, Town Coupe version called the San Marino. Never happened for some reason.
It could be cool to see these sketches of the proposed San Marino that was never was. Who know if GM might actually taught of it, but like Chrysler’s proposed 1962 DeSoto, they pulled the plug.
Cool car – interesting to see that someone took the time to order deluxe color keyed seat belts – in the matching lime green to the dash and exterior too!
These were not big sellers when new, so to see one almost 40 years later and in this shape is remarkable.
Yes, the interior color scheme is nice. However, i find it a little bit shy of cohesion…the door panels could use a modest green accent band to tie the whole aesthetic together.
I thought the same thing. I would also do the side trim in the backseat in green as well.
My ’73 Vega (which I bought used) had an all-green interior, belts included. Was color-keying an option? The exterior was the same color as this Skyhawk. More than once in the last ten years or so I have had dreams (real, nocturnal dreams) in which I owned a green 2nd gen Camaro. Interestingly, in the dreams I knew the reality that I didn’t actually have a Camaro but had once owned a green Vega. These dreams only started about 25 years after I sold the Vega.
This Buick sold for $2,100. That seems about fair, if only for its condition and scarcity. I liked the styling of these hatchbacks, but they were basically heavier Vegas. IMO, they disappeared from the streets at a rate closer to ’70s French cars than typical American cars of the day.
Yeah, that price seems about right, hopefully it gets tucked away in a garage somewhere and preserved.
I’m surprised, I like this thing. That interior is great and shockingly clean. Glad somebody else bought it.
Hopefully that selling price points toward someone who will keep it as a classic, rather than turn it into a drag machine. If all someone wants is a lightweight 70’s RWD coupe to fit a 350 and drag slicks to, they could spend a lot less and get the same result.
Cramped, awful-riding machines. But very good looking.
The “spiritual successors” to these cars today is the Buick Verano for the Skyhawk and the Chevrolet Cruze for the Monza and Vega.
Verano,I own one, more equates to Skylarks with Cruze being modern Novas, both 4 door only in the USA. Somehow driving a two door that isn’t an all out sportster has become antisocial over the years. Strange since family size has also gone down, which would seem to make an occasional back seat passable. This one looks hardly sat on in a 40 year old car.
With “spiritual successors”, I always go by the line of successions as to how these cars were replaced and succeeded by today’s models along with the not so significant size differences regardless of their particular body styles. For example, 1971-77 Chevrolet Vega and 1975-80 Chevrolet Monza which were replaced by the 1982-05 Chevrolet Cavalier then 2005-10 Chevrolet Cobalt which were then replaced by the 2008-current Chevrolet Cruze. 1973-77 Pontiac Astre and 1976-80 Pontiac Sunbird which were replaced by the 1982-94 Pontiac J2000/Sunbird, 1995-05 Pontiac Sunfire and then the 2004-10 Pontiac G4/G5/Pursuit. 1975-80 Oldsmobile Starfire which was then replaced by the 1982-88 Oldsmobile Firenza. 1975-80 RWD H-Body Buick Skyhawk, 1982-89 FWD J-Body Buick Skyhawk and then a long hiatus until the 2012 Buick Verano came long as an entry level Buick where according to the Chevrolet lines of successions, the Verano mirrors the Cruze very much except Chevrolet did not have any gaps in replacing the Cobalt with the Cruze. Prior to both the Cruze and the Cobalt, there were a 23 year history of various iterations of the Chevrolet Cavalier. Last but not least the 1982-88 FWD J-Body Cadillac Cimarron after a long hiatus is replaced by the 2013-current RWD Cadillac ATS which was ironically identical in size with both the otherwise different FWD Chevrolet Cruze and Buick Verano. INMHO, today’s Chevrolet Malibu and Buick Regal would reflect more as future Chevrolet Nova and Buick Apollo/Skylark because in essence these RWD X-Cars were supposed to actually be mid-sized in category rather than compacts.
My memory of this gen H-body was from summer 1980 when I worked in a pizzeria in the Philly ‘burbs. The boss was about 22 and had a black Monza Spyder, with a flaming
chickenspider on the hood. It was kind of amusing, as his big brother had an actual TransAm – the ratio of the car size was similar to the ratio of their physical sizes, as the brother rather taller, larger, and rougher. (Their dad was in construction, which gave some suspicions about how a 22 yr old could afford a pizzeria in a nice shoping center.)Ha ha……that’s from Winnipeg! When I saw the picture, I figured it had to be the same one, but took a closer look at the plate, and sure enough, it is. I was browsing the local Kijiji classic car section, and that came up a day or two ago around these parts. I believe that the seller stated in the ad that they’d be opening the offers up online, if they didn’t get offered something that they thought was reasonable. I’ve never actually seen it in person, but from the pictures, it looks like it’s in really good shape.
The mudflaps are awful. But I still love it.
The upside to stuff like mudflaps, wire wheel covers, whitewall tires, and aftermarket side moldings is it indicates someone was trying to preserve the car the best they could but still drive it. I’d rather see that kind of stuff than a set of cheap mag wheels with the wrong offset (aluminum slots come to mind for the mid-seventies) and ill-fitting, no-name wide tires.
I thought these looked like a four eyed frog when they were new. Forty years later I still do. Especially in this color.
About once a year or so I have seen Monzas on Craigslist but always cars that were quite ragged on. Monza Town Coupes and all Sunbirds have pretty much disappeared. Even now, their 80s J-car equivalents are nearly all gone.
I had a 72 Vega and at one time I would have liked to have traded it for one of these hatchbacks or it’s divisional “sisters” with a V6….but a Capri V6 seemed more c attractive, and still does.
Taillights almost look like they were borrowed from a Chevy Camaro of the same era.
They were, IIRC.
Close, but not actually the same taillights. Monzas has the lighted segment from innermost edge then 3/4 outeards, the remainder is a reflector. On the camaros, the whole red area is lighted up, with the reflector covering the whole red area as a mesh, with light poking through the holes in the mesh.
I suspect the shape isnt 100% the same either.
See attached.
Versus:
The person who bought it at that estate sale for $2100 is trying to flip it on eBay right now. The high bid as I write this is $4100 so he’s almost doubled his money but wants more, as it hasn’t met reserve.
I noticed a couple of odd things in the photos that lead me to wonder if there is any reason to question the low original mileage claim. One is that it looks like someone peeled off the ID tag on the door and then tried to reattach it. The other is that all the lettering is worn off the heater controls.
Still have my ’77 sitting in my parents’ garage, waiting to be resurrected. To date I’ve collected just about all the parts needed to make a tasteful, almost stock-looking restomod out of it.
The main problem with buying this (or any Skyhawk, really) is that the parts for it are nearly non-existent. If you need any sort of trim or esoteric piece, you’re pretty much screwed, because the parts that do exist out there are probably broken, rusty or in not very good shape. I think that the Skyhawk becomes more of a curiosity in this day and age, more for being a bit like seeing a fly trapped in amber…..you know it existed, but you’re not quite sure how it got there, exactly. The styling of the car still looks good, today.
My parents had bought a 1980 Sunbird in late 1991, and it was long already a beater by then. Cool car because of its sporty, compact nature, but the engine had seen better days and the body was fairly dented. When the block had cracked, we sent it to the crusher. Most of the Skyhawks, Monzas, Sunbirds et at saw the crusher simply because the repairs cost way more than the cars were worth, value-wise. You’d think that over the years, more of them would have survived because of the sheer amount of them that were produced, but when the repairs cost more than the car is worth, it becomes sheer economics…..if you’re going to dump a bunch of money into a car, constantly, you might as well buy something new, with a warranty.
It’s too bad that GM (and the automakers of the day) had such poor quality control.
These cars where very cool looking as hatchbacks, but the notchback versions of the Monza and the Sunbird when equipped with the Landau roofs where hideous looking,
Agreed, the Monza Town Coupe or whatever it was called was pretty atrocious. Looked nothing like the Monza hatch, either. Should have been a separate model entirely–maybe it would have made more sense to have the Monza and Starfire with the hatch bodies, and the Sunbird and Skyhawk as notchbacks? Though hideous, obviously they went over well in the Era of the Brougham.
Love this! The green, the originality, plus that fantastic shape which owes much to the Ferrari Daytona. If it were mine I might have to remove the mud flaps, and I’d want to swap the wire caps for a better set of wheels or wheel covers. Still something originally available on the car, I’m just rather opposed to wire wheel covers on a car like this…
But keep the original pieces in storage, and then keep it (otherwise) original!
The wire wheels are incorrect for the car…there are two pairs, on with a Chevrolet Center and one with a Cadillac.
I am the present owner of the car. I wish I’d become aware of the original auction as it wound up at a used car dealer that we bought it from and we paid a chunk more for it.
The car has just over 30,000 miles and I’m convinced they are original. The passenger front fender has had a repaint, but I’m convinced the rest of the car has original paint (I’m a senior judge with the Buick Club of America)
We haven’t put many miles on it as I want to maintain it as an original low mileage car. We may take it to the BCA National Meet in Oklahoma next year. It’s a fun little car. The odd-fire V6 feels rough as they all do and doesn’t have anything resembling power, but that’s OK.