I bought my Electra spring of my sophmore year in college. I was sitting in my room, when my roommate and good buddy comes in with an AutoLocator, and points to a picture of a big red boat, that happened to be located near his home. I took a look and thought it would be a nice replacement for my '78 Impala (L6 250), aka The Green Machine. I never really thought that I would actually buy it, but I got encouraged after a conversion w/ my mom resulted in her supporting it, partly because we reasoned that my '78 Impala could replace my stepdads '79 Caprice that was in much worse shape than my Chevy. So, road trip. Go out w/my buddy to his home town, pick up his good friend who I had met a few times already, and take a look. Owner wasn't around, but his friend was and he started it up. I heard that rumble coming out of the 2" single exhaust and smiled. We basically just did a visual, remarking that it was in pretty good shape body wise for being a PA car. So, more discussions w/ mom, grandma, my buddy, and myself. Another road trip. This time we get to take a test drive. Hmmmmmmmm, yep, definetly a bit more power than my straight six. A/C blew cold, originial AM/FM radio worked, power stuff worked, dash was immaculate as was the back seat. So, more conversions w/everyone. Cash in a CD, sell some mutual fund, borrow from grandma. Third road trip. Drive to PepBoys for a once over. No major issues. Sign some papers, hand over a check and the 225 was mine! Drove staight back to my house, my buddy driving the Impala, to drop off the Impala and head back to college. Go and pick up my other good buddy to get some dinner. Seeing the look on his face when I pulled up, great. Funny side note. My buddy that found the red 225, also found a red '77 Newport for his buddy back in high school, as well as a red '76 LTD for his other buddy, the one I mentioned up top. A couple of times he came to visit, and we would chase each other around campus and town in the big red boats. It was awesome!!
1st buick in may of 1998 , we journeyed to the various gm dealerships searching for a new gmc or chevy pickup truck . at the time , i was driving a beautiful 1990 black bonneville sse (great touring car) . wifey disliked the bonney . she said that it was too big for her too drive . guess what ? she spies a black 98 regal gs parked in front of the dealership . car is very dirty , but she liked it . no pickup now . anyhow , the next day , she speaks with a saleslady & vitually strikes a deal over the phone . we bought the gs . still have it . two years later i bought my 72 gs 350 .
My first Buick was actually the biggest lemon I ever had. It was a 1969 Buick Wildcat 4 dr sedan that broke down often. By todays standards the breakdowns woulda been easy fixes. But back then I knew little about cars (1991) and I even knew less about southern cars. The rust free body was nice, but that Louisiana climate sure was tough on rubber, fabric, etc. Thats the first engine I ever rebuilt from top to bottom courtesy of a broken piston. But its also the car responsible for my increased automobile knowledge. I became a big fan of common sense things like front-mounted distributors and external oil pumps. All Buicks since then have been real good. On a side note, I sold the WC 4dr in 1992. I understand it went on to become a record holder at Keystone raceway in PA. Although I doubt my 430 is what did it.
My Story My Dad brought home a Grand National in 96 which got me initiated into the Buick world. even so, I was really interested in getting a 69 Chrysler 300 (must have been the Wildcat type appeal) but I would have really settled for any cool car. At the time I was driving an 89 Plymouth Acclaim with some body damage on the one side courtesy of my sister. My father and I went to fall carlisle in 02 to see what's around, and at the top of the hill next to a bunch of portable toilets was this bright orange Skylark. We checked it out and it seemed to be a good driver. Well, for the rest of the day I'm just bugging my Dad about it. Eventually talk him into calling the guy who's selling it and meeting up with him. We meet, a quick inspection, and the car is ours. I was so excited until we finally got out onto the road. It wouldn't shift out of first! Long story short, we get home a few hours later after getting kicked off the PA turnpike, and getting pulled over twice. Problem turned out to be a rusty downshift cable.
In 1982 at the age of 15 my older brother went to Arizona to buy a 1968 Riviera GS. I had money saved for a car to start "getting ready" for my 16th birthday because my dad was "letting" me spend my own money on a car. My older brother called from Tucson to let me know he found a car I might be interested in, a 1973 Buick Regal coupe. I wanted a Skylark of course but he said "trust me, I think you should buy this car". So I wired him the $750 to cover the car and gas to get it back. His wife drove the regal and he drove the Riviera. All I knew is that it was rust free and gold. I was a little anxious to see it to put it mildly. He drove up in the cleanest, straightest 1973 Regal I have ever seen. The gold color was a little "funky" and it had been reupholstered in Tijuana but it was in excellent condition. What he did not tell me was it had a 455! Power everything, gauge package, positraction and a big block. Not really fast of course, but had plenty of power to get me into a little trouble. Thanks, bro. Within a week it had 14 x 8" Cragar SS wheels and fat tires on it and I was still not old enough to drive it. I loved that car and the fact I bought it myself. It was my wrenching education too. I have been into old Buicks ever since even though I have both a Ford and Volkswagen in the garage too.
Great Subject! My first car, in 1982, was a 72 Skylark - Gold w/Black interior and Black Vinyl top...the interior was immaculate, and A/C blew ice cold! The exterior, well the story goes the owner moved from Wisconsin where he had bought the car new, garaged it just one winter in Missouri, and all the ice and grit that we put on our highways spelled the beginning of the end for the quarters, front and rear. She had 105,000 on her when I laid down a cool $425 for it. BTW-he also had a 69 Electra Duece and a Quarter with about twice as many the miles for about half the price at the time. My Dad and I planned the resor of the exterior and back then you could come up with doors and fenders without too much trouble. However, three rear end collision in the span of about two weeks (No Joke!), spelled doom for the old 72. The beauty of each of those rear enders? I drove away, while the quilty party was loaded onto the wrecker! In February of 2003 I came across another 72, this one a Custom and had originally it was Gold with the Black vinyl top...figured it was a sign from the automotive God's that I come full circle...you know they even smell the same...and the sound...just can't beat that sweet little rumble! TTFN!
Buying my first Buick actually started with a 68 GTO. I was fixing the Goat up, but when the crank started rattling around one day on my way from school to work, I'd had enough of that moneypit and traded my friend even-up for a 72 Lincoln to get me through the winter. I needed a running car, but that Lincoln was the biggest POS I've ever owned and the last Ford product I will EVER own. After making it through the winter somehow, I was at a used car dealership, dropping a car off for my job, when I spotted the beauty that would become my first Buick. A black '78 Limited that was loaded with every option Buick offered that year. Here she is:
My 1973 Stage 1 Gran Sport I found my car on my paper route as a teenager. It was parked half way up a long hill and I often sat on the owners brick wall to catch my breath. One day I noticed the "Stage 1" emblem on the fender and wondered what that meant. The next time I saw the owner I asked him about that emblem. I remember it like yesterday even though it was 1980. He said, "It's a special hi-performance engine" I said, "350" and responded laughingly, "NO! FOOOOUR-FIFTY-FIIIIIVE! From that day forward, I guess you could say, I was a Buick man. I eventually bought that car in June 1981 for $1,150.00 and it had a whole 42k miles on it. Here I am with it about a year or so later:
I originally became interested in muscle cars from my uncle telling me stories of his '70 GTO and hearing stories about the Chevelle that a guy at my high school had. I originally wanted a Chevelle or a Nova and went looking almost exclusively for them. After looking at a few cheap, rusted out older Novas and Chevelles my dad (not into cars at all) told me he wanted me to buy a car never than the mid-80s. This sort of killed my hope for getting a musclecar and I was very close to buying two different Dodge Daytonas. One day I was looking in the paper and saw an ad for a '72 Buick Skylark, 350-4bbl, headers, dual exhaust and mag wheels. It sounded like just what I wanted so I bugged my dad to drive me over there to look at it. He didn't want me to take the car out for a spin since it was raining, but I looked it over and heard it fire up. It looked to be in pretty good shape other than a mis-colored hood and a small rip in the seat. I bugged my dad about the car for the next few days and finally got him to let me call the guy back to see if we could take it for a test drive. He brought it over and we took it for a spin and I was hooked. I picked the car up a few days later for $1200 but couldn't drive it for the next month since I was still 15. I still have it now 7 years later, although now there are hardly any original parts on the car and the body is pretty rough (turned out to be a lot of bondo under the paint). It turned out that the "recently rebuilt" 350 was just a spray can rebuild and it spun a bearing from no oil pressure (the jerk unhooked the oil pressure sensor), but working on that car taught me a lot about working on cars.
..... I had no intention of buying another car when I came across my Skylark. I was out buying a rat for my boa and the guy that raises them was a hot rodder back in the day and did transmission work for years before retiring. I was telling him about the 64 impala ss I had and was preparing to sell and he started telling me about this 71 or 72 buick he had, I didnt have much interest but walked over to take a look non the less, and hidden inside 6 years off grass and weed growth was a brown car sitting on all flats, but looked in pretty good shape. Once i started noticing the body lines, it reminded me of an old GSX model i had built quite a few years ago, thats pretty much what sparked it for me. I asked him all about the car and found out it had a completely rebuilt 350 bored .30, cam had been grinded, crank turned ; the engine was in pretty strong condition, the only problem the car had was a cracked weld on the frame. Asked him if he was lookin to sell it and he said he wanted $800 for it, so i started saving money for about 3 months, and sold the beater impala . Next time I saw him he asked how much i had, told him I only had a little over $500 , he said " well give me whatcha got and get it outta here" and a week later it was trailored home. this is a picture from maybe a week after i got the car, its sitting on white letters and centerlines now:Brow:
Well, I was senior in High School, and wanted a better car. I had an old F-150, but it was need of work. I asked my dad if he could loan me some money, if I found the right car. I looked at many different vintage cars, most of which my dad didn't approve of. While looking on eBay I saw an ad for a '69 Skylark, the Buy Price was $3000. The pictures looked great, and it wasn't high mileage. I called the owner and he said that it ran and drove great. Well, we bought it. Later on we did find some problems with the car, but nothing major.
I was finishing my first year of college in 1980 and my only transportation was my '72 Honda 500-4 motorcycle.....not good transportation in BUFFALO NY in the winter Dad calls and says his friend is selling their second car - a '69 Skylark that they bought new. Dad asked if I wanted it - for $100 , so I said Sure.....I finished up my finals and went home for summer recess and found this ugly thing sitting infront of my parents house. Faded paint, Vinyl top cracked and tattered - I was half in a daze after the ~450 mile ride on my bike. When I got inside Dad says "So ?? how do you like it ??" Like what ?? "Your New car !!! didn't you see it outside ??" "THAT Turd is my new car ?!?!?!?!?" It had 110,000 miles on the L6 with a powerglide, 12-bolt Posi, and Power steering. Nice option list, huh ?? It didn't run that great, so I rebuilt the Rochester MONOJET carb and changed a few noisy lifters. ......7 years later and over 330,000 miles on it I finally let it go. Motor, tranny and rear were never apart and never hiccupped once. The body was another story after 5 Buffalo winters on already tired sheetmetal - but I never even got stuck ONCE in it, it never let me down. In that time, it made countless trips from long island->buffalo and back.....several fraternity Road Trips to Florida, was the homecoming Float for the parade (complete wood frame grafted to it and totally covering it....) etc.etc.etc. The car Well.....that Turd turned into a 24 year love affair with the 68/69 body style and there's no sight of the fire burning out
MY VERY FIRST BUICK! Ah, I remember it well! My neighbor was leasing a maxed out... every option,1978 Buick "PARK AVENUE". This car was SNOW WHITE w\a matching padded roof. The interior was a cherry red plush velour, a real "SUPERFLY PIMPMOBILE". I purchased it when his two year lease was up. It had the 403 Olds motor in it and could lay down quite a patch from a dead stop. I kept this car showroom fresh for 10yrs and gave it to my then...18yr old son. [The wife and I bought a MINT 6000 mile 1983 RIV convert]. My son and his 17yr old brother put that plush interior to good use and proceeded to FLOG this car to within an inch of it's life. The "PARK AVE" went to my daughter and then to my youngest son. All in all, we owned that car for 15yrs. After 2 or 3 crashes [me], one POLICE impouding [sons], one driving it home with no oil in it [daughter] "But I had to get home daddy!", my son sold it to a friend. It had 285K on it and never let us down. After that car, it's been BUICK ALL THE WAY !!!!!!! :bglasses: :bglasses: :bglasses:
Let's see if I can remember... At 16 my buddy and I "found" a 61 special in the garage next door to his house. The widow that lived in teh house had not driven in years. She told us if we could get it running, we could have it :grin: It did, we did, two years later I "sold" my interest in it to him before I left for college. then: 68 Skylark Coupe; 76 LeSabre Custom; 83 Century: 87 Century Wagon; 59 LeSabre Conv; 71 Riv and 97 LeSabre Limited I skipped a couple Chevys I owned along the way but I think this proves I got the bug.
I've always had an old car for fun but never owned a Buick until I saw the '69 Riv I currently own. Usually I would go for Mopars because that's what I was raised on. So, when it was time for another car I went searching. It had to be a big car because the muscle cars are just too much $$$ and the other cars have puny little motors. This time I decided a Chrysler 300 convertible from 1967 or 1968 would fit the bill. While searching eBay one night I stumbled on this auction for a 1969 Riviera. Don't ask how, I did a search for 1968 Chrysler and it just popped up. As soon as I saw the 25 pictures of this Riv I was taken by it. The idea of buying a car on the internet made me nervous to say the least so I called and talked, a great length, to the seller. He knew what he was talking about and didn't try to conceal the "little things" about the car. I bid my maximum and won the auction. I made a friend and got a great car out of the deal. Driving this car home from Washington DC to Michigan gave me a lesson in Buick torque that I never knew. I have never enjoyed a car as much as this Riviera. I still like Mopars but this Buick has proven why they were a cut above. It's a shame that GM doesn't build anything like this anymore and has put Chevrolet at the top of the GM power train food chain.
Bought my first Buick when I was 13. It was a 1936 model 66SO coupe, straight eight, 3 speed. Dark blue, tan mohair interior. Ran great, drove like a ship on rough seas. Loved it though. I also had a 65' Special 2 door post car, 300 ci , 4bbl, 4 speed w/3.42 posi. That was my daily driver until I sold it in 1977. Sold the 36' when I was 18 to buy my new 72' GS. Actually saw the old car for sale recently (31 years later) and went to buy it back but it had already sold.
Sorry if you've heard this story before. The first Buick I remember was my dad's white 1957 Roadmaster Convertible with a red interior when I was about 8 years old. Then the white 64 Riviera with red interior. Then the blue 66GS Riv with white interior. And my mother's white 69 Electra 225 that I took my driver's license test in. I found MY first buick on the SHOWROOM FLOOR. 1972 Skylark 350 2v Sun Coupe. Swapped the saucer hub caps for road wheels at the dealer. Spent my life savings and then some but it was a lot more dependable than the 53 Dodge that went away. A twenty years old + a brand new Sun Coupe = one happy guy.
im 20 now but when i was 15 i was making payments on the family "hot rod" which was a pretty nice 83 mustang. white with 15'' welds and low profile tires. the windows were tinted and the car sounded mean. we had done a lot to it, like yankin out that 5 spd and putting in a 4. well, i lost my job cause of school and parents repo'ed it from me. what is wrong with parents these days? i was 15! so, when i was 17 i payed $600 for a pretty good chevy nova hatchback "toyota corolla" hehe and it got me around. then the transmission shop i was employed at the time had a new guy come in. he was an awesome guy and he had a nice collection of "toys". he has a 38 chevy coupe *purple* a 2001 buell motorcycle and an old iron head sportster. well he had a car i had not yet seen. a 72 buick skylark. it became his daily driver. everyday i looked at that car and i loved it. every thing about it. one day on our way to lunch in the buick he mentioned he had too many cars and that the buick had to be sold. he had a buyer in mind already...WELL i cant let that happen! i loved that car! so i expressed interest, i.e. BEGGED! and he finally sold it to me. funny thing is he wouldnt let just anyone buy the car. i had to prove i could be responsible with it. so, he took me out for drives in it and i passed, then i had to meet the previous owner, his friend. he approved to. needless to say for about 2 years i have loved that car!
My 1st Buick It was 1971 and I was attending college. I drove by our local Chevy dealer and saw this 69 Silver Z28 Camaro, I loved that car but I couldn't afford $2,200. Next to the car was a 68 GS 400, the salesman said I could have that car for $1,500. So I took it for a test ride and couldn't beleive the torque. We worked out a deal and I drove away with my first Buick and it was a GS!!! I have since owned about 7 Gs's and still own 2 today, 70 GSX and 70 GS Stage 1. Ernie
