(Update: I blew it again. Turns out there was a Century Special coupe available in the US in ’75 and ’76)
Whenever I think we’ve finally plumbed the depths of the unique aspects of the Canadian market, something new shows up at the Cohort. In this case, it’s a 1976 Buick Special, shot by canadiancatgreen. I did not know they were still making Buick Specials in 1976 north of the border, but given the fact that they were still making Bel Air coupes in 1977, I should not be surprised.
Yes, it says “Special”, and it’s obviously a low-trim…special.
That was just an awful rear end design, wasn’t it? You look at the previous years, and the tail light treatment was substantially better. It looks as though by this time, Buick was disinterested in trying anymore since they had the new downsized versions ready to go.
As to this Special – it looks like it has lasted a good long time up north in Canada. Considering the challenging weather, it is admirable. Must have been garaged for a more than a couple decades. The color is a nice change from today’s invisible gray/silver embarrassments.
Maybe they were making a lame attempt to mimic the Cadillac rear end.
It does look awkward and disjointed. The Olds version looked somewhat cleaner, IMO.
But, I almost always prefer an Olds to a Buick.
The forward angled bladed taillights are reminiscent of the 67 Eldorado only much less striking, the horizontal lights in the old positions was a weird look. The 78 Regal somewhat carried on this look but the side lights were side markers only. Ford stylists seemed to copy it for the LTD II
I remember thinking the exact same thing about the LTD II borrowing liberally from this look.
They are strikingly similar, and I don’t like it any better on the Ford.
I saw a recent interview with Wayne Cady, who oversaw the Special/Century/Regal update for ’76. The ’67 Eldorado was indeed the inspiration. Something was obviously lost in the translation.
This rear treatment was to me the worst of any GM colonnade, and still not attractive on the Ford. If I had to pick, the Ford works a bit better, but it is attached to a car that doesn’t do much for me. The Buick is a reasonably good looking car that doesn’t leave a very good final impression.
Eek. If I’d had anything to do with this Buick, I don’t think I’d be giving interviews on the subject. I can laugh at myself and own my failures, but I’m not a masochist.
The ’75 back end wasn’t as terrible. I initially thought they just never figured out how to properly do the 5 mph bumpers, but I really don’t know what they were thinking for ’76.
Totally agree. The ’76 is a huge retrograde step. The wide-horizontal lights were a Buick traditional styling cue for so long, but the ’76 is like “It’s a GM car, that’s all you need to know.”
They were sniffing the same glue as the Cadillac, ah, stylists. See Exhibit A.
The US 1976 & 77 Buick brochures shows a “Century Special” coupe as the line’s value leader, and it used that same fender script. I recall neighbors owning one back when they were new, though theirs had an opera window-style of vinyl roof and striping package that made it look much more expensive than this one. I remember being surprised by the Special name on the car, expecting it to be a Century or Regal.
Bust my buttons! I even went to the ’76 Buick brochure, but didn’t go all the way to the very end where they show all the models in profile. There’s nothing in the body of the brochure on it.
Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow.
The mystery is my old neighbor’s car. There are pictures of one just like it online and it is described as a Special Landau. It has the same stripes and vinyl roof. It’s not in the 76 or 77 brochure, maybe some kind of spring special? Or maybe a regional thing? I don’t think I’ve ever seen another one in person. But it is definitely a Special.
The Special was a stripper – carpet was optional both years.
The Landau vinyl top option in both years was more expensive on the Special than on the Regal and Century trims. In ’77, the skull cap cost $120 on a Century Custom / Regal, and $156 on the Special. Perhaps in part to fill the large sail panel window, or maybe a dress up option with a few other trim goodies to make the Special…..a bit more Special.
There were some odd package available, I found an option for a vinyl top / hood ornament package for the Century Custom – an extra 5 bucks got your Buick added prestige in the form of a Tri-Shield floating over your grill.
It appears the Century also got a Landau label when the yarmulke was ordered…..
Would this have the 250 I-6 or a small V-8? Asking for a friend (lol).
A Buick with the Chevy six?? No way; it’s got the 3.8 V6.
10-4. I thought at one point they had it in all base model intermediates, wasn’t sure and I suppose I would rather converse about it here than look it up (haha).
Looks like this was shot in Edmonton. Salt is used on the roads there in winter as far as I can tell, so this car is well beyond its life expectancy.
That could very well be a “Gretzky” sign above a restaurant, all we can see is “Gret”. Or possibly a street address sign. Wayne Gretzky.
Greta Bar YEG
10141 109 St NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 3M5, Canada
Location was formerly Hudson’s Canada’s Pub.
It’s actually a Greta Bar location on 109 St NW in Edmonton. Pretty amazing how it has survived the winter salt!
This car is straight out my my high school parking lot in the early ’90s.
Hopefully Debra Laws was driving something nicer when she cut “Very Special” in 1980.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=trgt59mXtW8
I hadn’t realized the Olds and Buick coupe reskins were just for ’76 and ’77–that seems so extravagant now, though it was the GM norm in the 60s. The formal roof ones sold very well, esp. the Olds, so why didn’t they change the sedans and wagons and avoid the weird stacked headlights? Would the brands have looked too much alike?
As you stated, “extravagant”. Sedans/wagons kept the ’73 vintage sheet metal probably for costs.
GM’s coupes were major sellers, so they could afford to restyle more often, until the recession of 80’s.
From what I have been able to piece together from other sources, Olds and Buick were able to get approval to reskin the A and A special coupes by sharing door skins and trunks.
The sharing of door skins between Olds and Buick then became a pattern for A, B and C bodies until the GM 10 platform, as was sharing door skins between Chevy and Pontiac.
As for the rear of the Buick coupes, Wayne Kady was head of Buick styling at the relevant time having been moved over from Cadillac, and I believe the approving Buick exec was also ex-Cadillac. He has said the vertical tail lights were Cadillac inspired at that the request of that execs.
Definitely less happy than the Olds rear end, and not very Buick like. But sharing the Cutlass trunk lid may not have allowed for much better.
What is the cohort anyway? Grocery store?
It’s our associated Flickr page where readers post their finds. We pick some of them to post here at CC.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/curbsideclassic/pool/
The Special coupe shared the fastback type roof with Oldsmobile Cutlass and the Chevy Malibu. The Regal had the more formal roof and was more expensive and also more popular. I was working at GM back in 75 and ’76 and these were pretty rare on the assembly line. I saw a similar Olds coupe just yesterday in the Harbor Freight parking lot. It was primered and lowered with meaty looking wheels and tires. I really liked the stance, reminded me of my ’60’s Rivieras and the profile imprinted itself on my psyche at an early age.
I have seen some pretty interesting cars at HF, there was an Audi R8 that was in the lot as I was leaving. I found an immaculate Acura NSX lasts year and had a nice chat with the owner.
Also, the Pontiac LeMans coupe. With optional louvered rear quarter windows as on Can Am.
What is odd is the ‘mid-lux’ Olds/Buick fastback coupes kept the large triangle windows as standard for 76-77, while the base Malibu/LeMans went to ‘opera’ sized.
Another oddity is for ’73-’77, Buick offered the Century Custom/Luxus, with formal roof as the Regal. But for ‘G body era’, no ‘formal’ Century 2 door.
LeMans Sport Coupe I found for sale in Texas earlier this year.
When I first moved into my condo; ((May 1994)). A lady had one of these for sale/ her’s was the “76” model year. At the time, it had about 21K on the odometer.
Was ‘garage parked”, was “beautiful”.
Not sure who got it but “Oh! I was jealous”.
Century Specials were popular in Chicago area, especially the fancier ‘opera window’ versions. Lots of TV ads for local Buick dealer group, to get Monte Carlo shoppers. “A Buick for a Chevy price”.
Even my driver’s ed. class had some.
One of my dad’s friends had one of these. A ’75 or ’76, Century I believe but it might have been a Special. It was a couple, with the 350 Buick V8 IIRC. The most notable thing about it, was that it was painted a caramel brown metallic, that was a Riviera only color. His folks knew someone high up at Buick, and it was arranged for the car to be painted this color. Don’t remember the name of it, but it was a pretty car, with buckskin interior. He sold it several years ago, and I always wondered what became of this 1-of-1 car. He’s been dead for several years so I can’t ask him.