It’s the summer and vintage cars are showing up in healthy numbers at the CC Cohort; out in regular outings, or at car shows. Of the many, this ’72 Buick GS Sport Coupe is among the ones that caught most my eye, found by Hyperpack at Peter’s Creek Church, in South Park, PA. Of the ’68-’72 GM A-bodies, the Buick ones were not as common as those from the Bowtie or Olds, and in GS form, even less so. Aside from the maker’s convertibles, the GS was Buick’s least numerous for ’72, with 7,723 built. So this is one nice –and rare– find.
We’ve covered this generation of GS before, most prominently in this older post HERE. As can be seen, starting in the ’70 model year, these mid-size models lost the rather flamboyant “sweep spear” side styling that strived too hard to differentiate them from the rest of the A-body family. So, they ran their ’70-’72 period in more understated (let’s say classy) form.
Being low in production numbers means these are desirable Buicks, and if you aspire for the hottest, you’re talking the GS with the Stage 1 package carrying the company’s 455CID V-8 and 4-barrel setup. However, I suspect this vinyl roofed one carries the GS’s standard 350CID V8. Originally with 190HP, but who knows in what state of tune it may be right now?
Let’s move on to other Cohort finds, though also of the car show variety –this first-gen Ford Bronco is clearly on its way to some gathering, and was captured by Mike Hayes in motion in Monroeville, PA.
Moving up north, a gathering of muscle, old and new, captured by nifticus392 in Canada. We got a bunch of recent Challengers in that driveway, then upfront a ’68-’69 Charger in matte finish, and a ’64 Oldsmobile Starfire in an oddly attractive pale yellow finish. So, is this a gathering of some sort with some old timers hanging out too? Or one eclectic collection?
Of this group, the Olds is that one rare survivor now. Oldsmobile’s top trim in their 88 line, and in hardtop, its forceful profile is rather distinctive now.
Crossing the ocean, here’s an American that has found a new home in the UK. Posted by L. Seddon, this ’62 Rambler American Custom wagon was originally bought at Cline Motors Inc., in North Carolina. This Custom 4-door is one of 8,998 built that year, and the maker’s entry-level American line, their priciest wagon model of that year.
Here’s one I have little familiarity with, a Dodge Power Wagon 100. Part of the maker’s light-duty truck line that appeared in ’57 and that went on to have a long life, though enjoying a series of updates throughout.
This is an early one; however, I can’t quite tell its exact age (Dodge experts, chime in). Starting in ’57, these could be had in standard RWD or with newly available 4WD drivetrains. The latter, which I would think is certainly the setup of this find by Eric Clem.
Now, for the Hot Wheels setup, found by nifticus392. And that’s not an extroverted Nova creation, but an Acadian, the reason I’m picking it for this post. You know, GM’s Canada only brand, based on Chevy models and which ran from ’62 to ’71.
And could this be the wildest Acadian in existence?
Another in-motion classic captured by Mike Hayes, the unmistakable Nash Metropolitan. Out for some Sunday driving? Or on its way to a gathering?
We started with a ’72 A-body, and we’ll close with one. A Cutlass Supreme convertible, nonetheless, caught by Mike Hayes, from the generation that sent the Cutlass nameplate soaring. For ’72, Olds built close to 300K of these A-bodies, about 11K of those being Supreme droptops.
And with the sun shining on this Cutlass, we’ll finish this post. Let’s see what other finds come with the summer.
You missed one, behind that baby Bronco is a Panther and not just any Panther but a Mercury Marauder. It does have aftermarket wheels but the big “cliff” badge in the middle of the grill and front lighting are a dead give away.
Bought a ’72 Skylark 4 dr with 38k miles in that exact orange & white combo (weird for an old-lady sedan) that had been traded into Brooks Buick in 1979. It was a great family car that we drove from MD to Montana to MN and back in 1980 with our 3 yr old toddler, who frequently stained its’ bone-white cloth seats on a number of occasions with various emissions. One that stands out is when she threw the plastic lined baby bottle and it exploded on the door panel and all over the seat. Not the best choice of interiors for kids but the car itself was bulletproof and comfortable.
All nice selections. Really like the Buick GS and if a Stage 1 would take that over a Chevelle any day. Recently saw an auction where a #1 condition went for more than 100K. The 1963 Starfire is a favorite of mine. That is what Dad was considering as we had owned Oldsmobile’s in the past, including a Starfire conv. But I pushed for a 1963 T-Bird instead. Over the last decade I have grown fond of factory soft butter yellow colors and they are seldom seen now. But please ditch the black-walls and mag wheels as they are so out of context with the car. Who can’t love a Metropolitan as they are so damn cute. A neighbor had one, where we were living I have no idea, but I have a precision 1:24 diecast, turquoise & white, in my collection. Last is the 1972 Cutlass Supreme convertible. Back in the day I never got my 1969 Cougar XR-7 convertible, one recently sold on BAT, for close to 90K, I stopped hoping after 50K. The next convertible I longed for was a new 1970 Cutlass Supreme convertible. Did not want a 442, and it seems most sellers try to make a stock Supreme into a 442 clone. Great selection of some of my favorites.
While I like all of the 1970-72 GM intermediates (with the Cutlass being at the top, of course), I’m a bit torn on the Skylark. Yeah, it’s technically better than the 1968-69 version that had the big side ‘swoop’ and funky, convex bent rear bumper, but it also lost its distinctive looks by being way too close to the other GM cars.
With that said, my favorites are actually any of the 1972 cars, purely due to the engines being more driveable than the earlier, high-compression, premium leaded fuel cars. Certainly not as fast, but much more at ease for the vast majority of daily-driving nearly all owners would be doing.
I agree, I’d take the 70-72 Skylark over the 68-69 by a mile but I’d never actually buy a Skylark GS or otherwise. Cutlass/442, yes, T-37/Lemans/GTO, yes, or Chevelle also yes. And speaking of the Chevelle that’s pretty much how these Skylarks looked. Obviously there’s a resemblance in all these A bodies but the Buick body and Chevy body is more similar to each other than the rest, the quarter glass shape especially.
I mostly agree on the “detuned” engines. 72 lost the compression and critically switched to the net ratings that made the horsepower loss look worse than it actually was, but largely predated the real strangling effects of the malaise era to come
That’s a great point about the Buick looking way closer to the Chevy than the more attractive Pontiac or Oldsmobile products. Of course, GM was already headed in that direction with the nearly identical Buick Apollo, Olds Omega, and Pontiac Ventura to the Chevy Nova. At least Buick cleaned up the 1973 Regal to be the best colonnade.
And, yeah, with the switch to unleaded gas, it would be a whole lot easier to keep the 1972 cars going. I don’t recall the last year leaded fuels were available, but they were definitely phased-out.
While I like the car in the lede photo, my pick of this lot would be the last one, the ’72 Olds 442.
This is one of the few cars I would own in brown, and the one pictured below would most definitely have a place in my fantasy garage…
A nice collection of cars! The Charger is a 69, the 68 had round lights (no reflector).
I’m enjoying many Oldsmobiles at the moment – the 2025 Olds National Meet is this week in Bowling Green, KY. If you’re in the area, stop by the Holiday Inn!
Nice collection here! My favorites are the Buick GS, Cutlass convertible and the Starfire, which is actually a ’64 model.
Yes, it’s a ’64. It’s fixed now.
That Dodge Power Wagon is actually a Power Wagon Town Wagon. The Town Wagon was Dodge’s counterpart to a Chevy Suburban, but it came in only 2 doors and was built from 1954 to 1966. When it got the 4×4 drivetrain, it became a Power Wagon Town Wagon. Unless its a Town Wagon Power Wagon. Either way, that is a really rare sight!