Everybody knows that the General Motors’ X-Car platform was one that its parent company probably wishes it could do over, but by the time that this 1984 Skylark Limited was built, GM had worked through many of the bugs that plagued its early models. For the one or two out in the car buying world who have always wanted a nearly new X-body Buick, this 25,000-mile Skylark might be the one to have, and it’s posted on Facebook Marketplace in Walkerton, Indiana for $8,500.
OK, $8,500 is a big ask, which is most likely why the car has been posted for five weeks, but it’s hard to pin a value on this Skylark. It’s clearly not a car that most people collect, but it’s in such beautiful condition that I would hope that somebody would preserve it for historical purposes alone. What’s that worth?
Value notwithstanding, this is one of the “posher” Skylarks, a Limited with the optional 2.8-liter V6, probably the 112-horsepower version, with the optional three-speed automatic. Power steering and power brakes were standard on Skylarks, and this one also appears to have air conditioning.
The first line of the Skylark’s entry in the 1984 Buick full-line brochure says that “we call the Skylark our little limousine.” While that sinks in, we can discuss why it’s not as tongue-in-cheek as it sounds. The seats are plush velour, the carpet is thick, and the fake wood dashboard looks just like the one in my parents’ 1983 LeSabre Limited. The Skylark’s instrument cluster does look luxurious, with its bright gauge surrounds and not-too-tacky woodgraining.
It might not be a “little limousine,” but if you ignore the baggage that the X-body cars will always carry, it’s actually a pretty nice car for a compact. This car isn’t fully loaded (such niceties as power windows were optional), but it has most of what you’d really need (except for a tape deck).
Car nuts will always argue mileage claims and look for clues such as pedal wear and how well the digits of the odometer line up, but the seller claims that this is a 25,782-mile car, and based on the condition of the body and the upholstery, it’s a more solid claim than most. How did it end up with so few miles? It’s not mentioned in the ad, but I’ve seen a lot of clean low-mile Buicks in my life that were driven sparingly by elderly owners, so maybe this is one of them.
Skylark sales were still fairly strong in 1984, with 111,211 cars leaving Buick lots, including 33,795 Limited Sedans such as this one. However, even if we ignore the inaugural year of 1980, that’s quite a drop (262,328 were sold in 1981), but there was also more internal competition; for example, Buick sold a LOT of Century sedans in 1984 (178,454). Indeed, the X-body Skylark would only last for one more year before Buick called it quits, but the fact that there’s one out there (in the Midwest no less) in such nice shape makes me smile. But I probably wouldn’t pay $8,500.
Related Reading
Is This Pristine 1985 Buick Skylark Waiting To Be Crushed Or Parted Out? (by Paul N)
COAL: 1984 Buick Century and 1981 Skylark – The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree (by Jerseyfred)
1983 Buick Skylark – “Plz Do Not Tow!” – A GM Deadly Sin or Divine Grace? (by Paul N)
So this is one that will have the killer brakes and failure prone steering rack ? .
It looks nice and when not broken my Citation was a nice little car indeed .
-Nate
Mine, too.
NO. The rear brake lining issue was only on some of the early 1980 model cars. Fixed well in advance of this car’s production. The steering rack still might be an issue though.
I’ve owned a few of these and they are actually really nice cars. The good far outweighs the bad with these. Unfortunately many people can’t see past some of the bad publicity.
1982-85 X bodies got the redesigned, relocated steering rack also used on the new FWD A bodies.
No, it actually won’t.
In GM’s tradition of releasing cars too early and fixing them too late, this is a perfect example as mentioned in the article.
One reason why it is free of the bugs of the early cars is that GM did get another crack at it with the A-body, making improvements that filtered to the X-body cars with identical drivetrains and front undercarriages.
And the reason GM could pull the plug on the X-bodies was that the A-bodies basically filled the market slot, as those who might have considered a Skylark could now buy a Century. And the A-body famously stayed in production until 1996.
I was given one of these as an Enterprise rental and it was terrible! It was a Limited.
I think Paul (or someone) said here that it was like driving a semi truck-the front end felt disconnected from the back end.
I’ve learned from so many that GM did all this to themselves. Too bad-they could have had a decent car.
Thanks, I’ll pass on this one.
I ordered hundreds of these in `83 -`85 at Fanning Cadillac-Buick in Chicago.
We switched to Skylark Customs from Centurys for our loaner cars in `85.
There were T-Type models in `83 & `84.
`84 offered two-tone paint.
I remember one customer did not like the chrome strip in the body side moldings.
So we added Cadillac Academy Gray moldings which matched the Buick Code 15 Gray on Skylarks in `85.
Somehow I inherited an `85 in Code 62 Brown with a red interior & manual shift that just showed up.
Took forever to unload it.
Never driven one but I do rather like the looks of these. This one is in amazing shape and if you want one, probably the one to have. But at $8,500 you would need a diehard fan.
If I had $$, storage, enthusiasm, I’d be looking into this one. Price is a bit a high. Not a “non, starter”, though. Odometer, is something of a curiosity though.
Cool car, Limited to boot. KInda spendy, but by 84 these were nice driving and dependable little cars.
In 1985, as a young man, I took a trip to eastern Canada to visit the relatives. I rented a car and got a brand new 1985 Buick Skylark. By this time, GM had most of the bugs worked out of these cars. It drove well, with good seats and a comfortable interior. The only issue was the steering, which was wonky on all X cars, as the rack was mounted on the firewall.
I had a 1985 Chevrolet Sprint at the time, so I considered the Skylark hard on fuel.
Beautiful condition car, but asking way too much. Even if I desired it.
These were everywhere around here in rural Michigan in the 80s and early 90s. Had to have been the best selling X body here.
I never was a fan of anything to with Buick styling. Between the weird looking disc wheel covers used, the reverse rake nose used on many, the dash designs… I can’t quite describe it but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Like the smell of going into an old church. But their 3800 engine is one of the greatest engines ever.
The steering rack instability would have been solved on this one. The original X body had the steering rack attached to the firewall. I understood that starting in 1982, the steering rack was moved to the cradle, and the A body used this cradle.
I had one of these carbed 2.8 engines in a 1986 Celebrity. When it ran, it ran great. But soon it didn’t, and a rebuild didn’t solve it. I’ve read other similar stories about this finicky electronic carb. I ended up just wiring the choke 1/4 the way open so it would actually run. It wasn’t my only car so it wasn’t a big deal.
I remember a friend got one from his mom when she stopped driving. It looked as nice as this, and with really low miles when it was about 15 years old. A dealer offered him something like $300, saying (truthfully) that by the time he paid for the new tires it needed and a good detailing, he would have almost full retail into it. Old low-mile Buicks were a dime a dozen in Central Indiana at the time.
The ad says the engine has 192hp. Yeah, no.
$8500 for a 1984 Skylark? Largely due to how all the car rags were were praising the X cars I bought one-a 1980 Skylark. It was absolutely the worst car I ever owned, and after the 1972 Vega and the 1975 Opel I endured that is saying something. I haven’t bought a GM car since then.
By 84 all of the X cars drove pretty decently. Best friends parents had an Omega and even as teenagers, we liked it. It was smooth and quiet compared to our hot rods.
oooof my first car as a teen was an 81 two door, V6, 30k miles, traded in at the Chevy dealer where Dad had just bought a new Caprice wagon. The Caprice was great, as were the next 3 he bought, but man that Skylark was not. It ALWAYS needed something…..A/C, radiator, brakes, rack n pinion, alternator, on and on. With miles in the 30s! All I did was drive it to school, no hard use. Looking now at my 200k mile V6 Accord and 300k mile 4 cyl Camry, running like new, it was really inexcusable. It’s a wonder I didn’t turn to Fords LOL but no, after a year or so I traded it for a Pontiac STE which was such a great car I then bought another.
It’s interesting that you had better luck with the very similar A-body, but I’ve always heard great things about STEs.
Just out of curiosity I checked and saw a Grade 1 value, the best of the best, at around $6500.
I have owned 4 of this generation Buick Skylark. 3 of them I still have, once since new. It has gone over 225,000 miles. I have heard all of the negative comments over the years and simply don’t agree. I never had all of these problems. They have plenty of room inside while being small outside. I like all the chrome, and the interior is very nice especially on the Limited version. The instrument panel is very nice with a combination of wood trim and chrome in addition to the interior color. I remember my one friend’s comment after riding in it, “It’s like a junior LeSabre”. They got better every year. It’s really the 1980 models that had the problems, most of which were worked out after that model year. They were also producing so many of them so fast during the 1980 model year – 3 factories running 3 shifts 7 days per week. And yes this article accurately pointed out that the 82 and later Century cut into Skylark sales since the two cars were so similar. In 82 the Skyhawk also came out, so if you wanted a still smaller Buick you could get that instead of a Skylark which was no longer the smallest Buick available. I’d buy this 84 but I think $8500 is way too much money. It is cool to see and I hope someone saves it.
Credit to GM for those seats look much more comfortable compared to my late model RAV4.
Something to be said for crushed velour.
Do us all a favor and send it to the crusher NOW!
I had a flashback to the 1981 Skylark I drove in Driver Ed. The contrast between that and the family Volvo was enormous.Having driven some J cars and some pickups, I would gladly give early 80s GM a miss.