As we saw in yesterday’s ’81 Skylark CC, the new FWD X-body Buick, even when it was reliable as a daily driver, was nevertheless a bit stubby–maybe a little too stubby. After all, Buick automobiles had a rich history of being big and luxurious. What if GM had decided to make the Skylark more Buick-like from the get-go? There was already an Electra 225; how about a Skylark 225?
Here’s the original. As you can see, the proximity of the front wheel to the leading edge of the front door makes it look just a little too FWD-like, if you know what I mean. My X-LWB-Body fixes that issue, and also features a stretched nose, tail and C-pillar.
Not surprisingly, the result of my redesign looks a lot like the ’82 FWD Century, which was essentially a stretched X-body.
Just for fun, I also made a Skylark Riviera two-door hardtop. Maybe it could have two Ventiports on the sides for Iron Duke versions, and six for Skylarge models with the 2.8-liter V6?
Here’s a Skylark 225 Limited coupe, with a less drastic roofline. As Paul mentions in the comments, it rather looks like a FWD B-body that never was. It would have beat the H-body by five years.
But what if you like the Skylark’s tidy dimensions? In that case, might a Limited convertible be more your style?
Like the final B-body LeSabre convertibles, the Skylark would have a flush parade boot for a smooth look with the top down.
As long as we’re at it, how about a four-door version? The problem is, I’m not sure where the top mechanism would go, but it would have been just the thing for ticker tape parades during Gas Crisis II.
Clearly, a ’61 Continental it’s not.
In any case, the X-body ultimately contributed to the successful A-body FWD Century, many of which ply the roads around here to this day. If only the X-body could have been as reliable from the get-go…
Convertible is just a little too much photo-chop for me…
Streched model makes me think – K car.
Amazing how adding a few inches here and there makes a car look completely respectable.
Too bad it is no longer a compact car, missing the point of its existence in the first place. Looks more like a B-body now
Looks kinda like Spinal Tap’s rendition of Stonehenge.
All I can think about is that an X-body convertible would be prone to bending in half. 😛
The A Body still sat on the X-Body’s wheelbase; the stretch was all in front and rear overhangs.
It’s funny how different these two look, despite being basically the same in the middle. The only other big change is the added rear quarter window.
How about a “T Type” version with the Road Wheels.
Buick was pretty serious about Turbos in the early 80s.
Torque steer to the MAX!
A little Torque steer never hurt anyone. Ya just have to know it’s coming. 😀
How about this? None of the T-Type pics on oldcarbrochures.com had a good enough side profile, so I added the Road Wheels to my stretched ’80 Limited coupe.
This and the stretched sedan look great – a definite improvement over the original. Real nice work!
In fact, I imagine these LWB versions are closer to what Buick wanted people to see when they drew up their X-car variant… just a slight evolution of the late 70’s Sheer Look in 3/4 scale. I think it works well with these proportions, but came out looking rather silly and dated on the real thing. The ’80-’81 models were also the worst offenders in that respect. The Skylark became a little more distinctive with it’s own grille/front end design later on, but the early models looked like nothing more than a Regal that was squished together in all the wrong places.
The “road wheels” are totally sweet on this. I wasn’t aware they even made a FWD version of that design and can’t recall ever seeing them in the wild. For the T-Type model, however, I think I’d still prefer it’s unique 10-spoke alloys over them. In fact, I think the later Skylark T-Type is a pretty badass vehicle all around, and looks more like what they should have been shooting for all along. This is not a dramatic departure from the rest of the Buick lineup, but more of an evolutionary design that works with the shape of the car – rather than the impractical 70’s rehash they started off with…
I know that there was a Century T-Type version available, but I don’t think they applied that package to the Skylark IIRC (my Buick sales brochure is at home so I can’t reference it now).
When I was attending General Motors Institute in the mid-1980s, the Buick guys would bring their prototype Buicks over to our campus for the annual car shows. Lots of blacked-out chrome, 120mph speedometers, and other tweaks – of which I’d say at least 50% made it into production, at least for a couple of years.
There was a company that made convertibles out of Skylarks and Omegas in the early 80’s.
Looks like a fwd replacement for the B-Body, a foreshadowing of things to come.
Here is an example of a Skylark convertible.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/635028/1981-buick-skylark
Your Skylark LWB looks much better than the ’82 FWD Century. Rear leg room must be limo-like, and the rear windows roll down!
The LWB version works out amazingly well. Looks like a 7/8ths scale B-body. The others don’t work as well. Maybe the coupe would look better on the original wheelbase. The door is totally out of proportion.
You’re right about the coupe. I just redid it with a shorter wheelbase; see above.
I kind of like that LWB sedan. I was about to request another yet another inch or two between the front wheel and door, and another couple inches of rear overhang… and then I realized that I was basically asking for a B-body! (So, +1 to SailorHarry.)
Do the A-body cars share the same outer door panels with the X-bodies? They sure look identical in the Skylark photos and the Century brochure.
Oooh… if you look closely enough, that ’82 Century is wearing a “4.3 DIESEL” badge on it’s front fender. I’m sure GM’s little-known diesel V6 was all the rage with the tennis hotties down at the country club back in ’82.
I’ve seen one car with that engine in my life. It was a very early Cutlass Ciera sedan and it was towing a boat! I guess that’s the proper use for a diesel… 😛
I’ve seen two Cieras so-equipped myself in recycling yards unfortunately. The 4.3 diesel V6 looks exactly like a small block Olds with two cylinders cut off of it. One of the cars was heavily optioned and had a digital dash.
When I was in-between colleges, I had a few months off during which I volunteered at my high school auto shop. I set up a factory-new diesel V6 on a test stand and got it running. I’ve only seen a couple of them in the junkyards.
In a Century or Skylark with an overdrive transmission, it had to get really good fuel mileage (my college roommate’s 350-diesel-equipped Buick Lesabre got almost 30 on the highway, before he kept driving it with a blown head gasket).
Back in the eighties a friend of mine had a 1980 Skylark Limited sedan in the same exact color as the featured car. It even had the special chrome road wheels. I remember riding in it thinking it was very plush for a small entry level car. I also remember the engine being very loud and coarse sounding, not exactly fitting for a “Limited” which really was Buick’s version of the infamous Brougham. I know he really liked that car and had it for several years. I lost touch by the time he got rid of it so I don’t know how it was in its final years.
I owned a 1984 Century Limited Coupe with the horrible 3.0 V-6. I really liked that car but it was the most troublesome vehicle I think I have ever owned. The engine needed to be rebuilt twice and there was a constant vibration in the front end that no one could get rid of. I tried different tires, rims, suspension work, you name it but it was plagued by that awful 60+ mph vibration. Ironically I was on my way to trade it in on a new Honda Accord and the water pump went. I could not wait to get rid of it at that point. As much as I loved so much about that car, its dismal reliability made me hate it. But it wouldn’t be my last fling with another Century. In 1994 a neighbor was selling their low mileage 1987 Century Limited with the 3.8 SFI V-6 and rare “T” package. It was heavily optioned, too – I wanted that car so bad and when it was available I bought it from them. My Accord lease was over and I needed a car so I figured I’d give that one a try. What a fantastic automobile it was! That engine made that car not only fast but so reliable. I put over 100,000 miles on that car before I sold it due to the body rusting out. Just goes to show you what a difference a few years can make for an American automobile.
Those were rare. I had a very rusty one for a short period of time. The digital tachs in these cars were really cool.
I have this car! Can anybody tell me how to get a top ?