CC reader John Kelley spotted this Skylark Sun Coupe and sent me the photos with this comment “A rare sighting in Downtown Plymouth Massachusetts“. That’s for sure; these Sun Coupes were only offered for 1972 and sold in very limited quantities, the actual number being unknown, but estimated by one Buick expert to be between 1,600 and 1,800.
And how many are still left? A handful, most likely. This is the first appearance of one on these pages.
Here’s the brochure image for the Sun Coupe as well as a selection of various vinyl roof treatments available on various models.
Looking at the main 1972 Buick brochure, it suggests that this folding sun roof was available on all Skylark and GS coupes, and there’s no reference to the Sun Coupe. Almost certainly the Sun Coupe was a mid-year introduction to highlight the sunroof.
The sunroof was a product of ASC (American Sunroof Company), founded by German emigre Heinz Prechter, who had extensive training in various automotive skills before moving to the US in 1963 as a 19 year old student. He installed sunroofs on the side and soon founded American Sunroof Company. ASC provided a wide range of custom roof systems and other specialty-vehicle systems for automakers around the world. He certainly was the driving force behind the wider adoption of sunroof on American cars, something that had long been seen on European cars.
One account I found online at a forum said that VW folding sunroof parts were used for their restoration of their Sun Coupe. Undoubtedly the Golde folding sunroof used so widely on the VW Beetle (and other German cars) was a significant influence on ASC’s folding sunroofs.
As to the rest of the car surrounding that hole in the roof, it was of course a Skylark Custom Sports Coupe with a few minor changes. Unique to the Sun Coupe was a special carpet available in bright gold or bright red, although black or sandalwood carpet could also be chosen. The hood scoops on this car were not original and are apparently lifted from a GS. According to a forum source, apparently six GS cars were ordered with the Sun Coupe package.
The Skylark came standard with a 350 CID (5.7L) Buick V8 rated 155 net hp and equipped with a two barrel carburetor. An optional four barrel version was rated at 180 hp. The standard transmission was a three speed manual, but realistically the great majority of Skylark buyers paid for the optional THM-350 automatic.
Having once driven a similar vintage Skylark coupe, that 350/350 drivetrain achieved a stellar level of refinement; smooth, quiet, responsive, effortless. That of course applies to all of the GM divisions that used their versions of it; it represented a high water mark for American cars that would unfortunately soon be diluted with downsized engines teamed with fragile and hesitant automatics with overdrives.
There were a number of very good reason these GM A body coupes became such big sellers. They were right-sized, stylish and provided an excellent balance of qualities for the huge range of American drivers whose expectations were perfectly met and exceeded by them. But it seems that sunroofs were not part of that equation. Who wants a noisy and breezy hole in the roof of their perfectly quiet and calm Buick?
Related CC Reading
Curbside Classic: 1972 Buick Skylark Custom Hardtop Coupe – Orange You Glad by Joseph Dennis
Curbside Classic: 1970 Buick GS Sport Coupe – The Strong, Silent Type by Aaron65
Curbside Classic: 1971 Buick Skylark GS – A Mystery Wrapped in a Riddle Inside an Enigma by Tom Halter
This brings back dim memories of poring through new car brochures in 1972 when my mother was shopping for a new car. She briefly considered a Skylark, and I got hands on a Buick brochure that had a prominent photo of a sunroof-equipped model. It seemed like something normal to young me, but as I think about it, I don’t believe I have ever seen one in real life, and had completely forgotten that they ever existed. What a great find!!
I wonder why Buick decided on this – could it have been as a sort of test-run knowing that there would be no A body convertibles in 1973? I am trying to remember if there was any other US car offered from the factory with one of these folding fabric sunroofs other than the Studebaker Sky Top Larks of the early 1960’s. Those didn’t sell well either. Every other sunroof I ever saw on a US car of that period was the sliding steel version – and those sold really poorly too.
My guess is it was simply the result of a successful sales/lobbying effort by ASC founder Heinz Prechter. Not really any risk on Buick’s part to send some of them to ASC to be fitted with the sunroof.
Hi. Is this Sun Coupe on the market?
Ive owned 5 Sun Coupes, never in blue.
I would be interested in tslking to owner or seller.
No. It was spotted by a reader who took some shots.
I have no experience with folding canvas sunroofs, but I don’t think I want to. I think they would be leaky and drafty and failure-prone. VW replaced the option with a sliding steel roof sometime in the mid- to late-1960s.
I remember a variety of GM cars being able to get a sunroof in the 70’s, I thought it a great idea as my ’55 VW’s large three fold sunroof was open almost any time I was driving .
This is a fantastic curbside find .
-Nate
Just another great CC about an interesting, low-production, one-year-only option.
The cloth sunroof definitely seems like a trade-off with the solid metal versions. Yeah, the latter would be more quiet and less maintenance intensive over time, but the cloth sunroof seems to be much larger and closer to the feel of a real convertible. I think I’d live with the detriments of the cloth sunroof for that reason, alone.
Interestingly, I think 1973 was when Lincoln introduced the first ‘moonroof’ option on the Mark IV, which began the whole transition to the acryllic glass thing which, in short order, wiped-out the solid steel sunroof, entirely.
Sometime ago, I notice this phenomenon of the ‘incredibly shrinking sunroof’. For starters, with the increased rake of modern windshields to help aerodynamics, a typical modern sunroof is positioned way further back from the heads of the front seat passengers, so there’s diminished benefit right from the start.
Even then, the size has gotten quite small on many vehicles, with one of the worst being the Mazda3. I mean, it’s not only set back, it’s absurdly small to being virtually pointless.
I don’t know if it’s still the case with the latest versions, but Subaru used to have a very nice, large sunroof on the Forester.
Reminded me of this song:
Fifth Dimension – Aquarius / Let the Sunshine in.
I always thought it was Let the Sun Shine in.
That’s ok…I was well into my teens before I figured out that they weren’t singing about “The Age of Aquariums”.
Astrology didn’t get much attention in my childhood home.
Hummmmm. So GM had one of these in 1972 as well? As well as Plymouth and Dodge, which offered a similar folding fabric factory sunroof only on 1971 and 1972 Dusters, Demons, and (I believe) some Darts. Those are apparently just as rare as this Buick version. The option never even made it into standard brochures. It doesn’t seem that anyone here on CC has found one of those yet, but there are a few images online and an old BaT auction that was selling one (a Duster).
https://bringatrailer.com/2016/06/22/restored-3404-speed-w-factory-sunroof-1971-plymouth-duster/
And here’s the page out of the 1972 order manual showing that it was indeed available.
I ran across a few more pictures when I was researching that article about Duster a little while ago https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-tv/duster-a-one-season-car-spotters-dream/ But I don’t recall where those are now.
I’ll repeat what I left in my comment to JPC above, that it was almost certainly the result of a successful sales/lobbying effort by ASC founder Heinz Prechter, who was America’s #1 sunroof promoter. Not really any risk on Buick’s part to send some of them to ASC to be fitted with the sunroof. I suspect he had opened larger facilities in order to serve more Detroit customers. ASC went on to build all sorts of special variants for the Big Three.
And I might add that U.S. Route 44 starts in Plymouth, Mass. Now, that is “rock solid” information. Sorry, I cannot resist a pun.
The headlight buckets and brightwork around the grille have been painted on the featured Skylark. Looks good from this angle. Glass and steel sunroofs are universally too small and I prefer convertibles for that reason. But this softtop version looks great to me. No wind deflector so it was likely very noisy and possibly turbulent. The opportunity for theft probably kept soft sunroof orders low.
Btw…appears to be a 71 front bumper AND 71 headlight besels.
…and no ac? Hmmmm.
i remember a TV ad for the California GS with this top.
Nice option, not one I’d want.
There was one of those Skylarks in my neighborhood back in the day, same color blue. I remember the Sun Coupe emblem, no idea at the time how rare they were.