Not many people remember the original Buick Skylark. Built in 1953 and 1954, these were very special cars. As always, let me know if I got something wrong in the comments!
Back in 1974 I was 21 yo. There was a 1954 Buick Special 2 dr. for sale nearby. It had been fully restored. I bought the car and drove it for nine years. Wherever I went I got compliments. This video gives me great memories from my past. My car was two tone dark blue and baby blue. To start the engine, you would put the key in the "on" position then, depress the gas pedal which would activate the starter. Great car!
When I was a young kid our family car was a 55' Olds Rocket 88 2 dr/ ht. It had no parking gear. You would leave it in gear and apply the parking brake by pulling the handle on the left under the dash. When ready to start the car you would move the gear selector to neutral and turn the key then release the parking brake and put it in gear.
1 have a 48 buick hearse.body by flexible,project,its setting on a 85 1 ton crewcab dually gm chassis.using a 2000 bbc caddy motor and trans.i have 2 caskets to place as cargo boxes on the roof rack,keeping the dual tires ,widening fenders in rear and keeping fender skirts.carries 12 pass. And luggage.,tows almost anything.
I owned a 1954 Buick Century V8 4dr 322 ci from 1991 to 2008. I paid 850.00 for it the car sticker price was 2300 in 54. Very smooth riding car even when I bought it. The dash was just like this skylark. The roadmaster was actually the top of the line. Skylark then special then Century.
i was born in 1950 and got to see all these cars from the 50's and 60's and one of our neighbors had a white skylark with the wire wheels and red highlights in the wheel wells but not sure it was a '53 or '54. my whole family were gm people so on holiday there would be my dads low end chevy, and my aunts and uncles would have pontiac, buick, oldsmobile and cadillac cars. my brother and i would always have so much fun identifyiing all the cars on the road back then. my first car was a 1954 chevy that i paid $50 bucks for in 1966 and my brother had a 1953. i'm still a chevy guy today with a 2015 chevy siverado WT and you can see how they built brand loyalty. thnx for the info and show.
Great job with the video, @RickDeBruhl - I learned a lot! This Buick was owned and restored by my best friend's Dad so I've spent a lot of time around it over the years and even got to drive it a few times. What a treat. I wish there were some pics of it from when he bought it from Craig Jackson many years ago - no, not at the auction but from his warehouse along Washington Street. It wasn't a pretty sight. After he restored it, he and his wife took it to many Skylark meets around the country. Yes, it was occasionally on a trailer but it was also driven a lot. This car is no trailer queen. As was mentioned in another comment, the donor also has a '53 Skylark and a number of other neat old Buicks. I'm happy to see this car has a new home where many folks will get to see it and appreciate it.
Really enjoy your providing the car's history, marketing perspective of the marketing department, the corporate direction and the advantages of the model changes.
Great Video. When I was 16, my friends brother was selling a 53 Syklark. I brought it down and set it in my fathers back driveway hoping he would help me buy it, price was cheap. Well obviously I took the car back to my friends house. Missed it ever since then/ It was the blue that you showed on the video. An as an extra it had a STANDARD TRANSMISSION that was in it. I don't think that was factory.
That is a really cool trunk lid, love the back-up lights and those ribs! Didn't think so much for the taillight treatment; seems kinda "tacked on". It would have been really cool to have it part of the fender sheet metal, with those side marker "louvers"!
@@rickdebruhlcars LOL! I was going to say that the chrome was just a hint of things to come...especially with Buick! In 1958, Buick put chrome on their cars with a trowel! I'm kind of a minimalist when it comes to chrome; a little bit goes a long way! And, totally off topic, I used to watch you back in the '90s on local Phoenix television, love that you're into cars now!
Like many of other longtime area residents we miss Rick on TV. Martin Museum is wonderful and an asset to automotive history. The Buick Reatta is another example of Buick’s contribution to excellence. My 1989 was a design and engineering classic.
My first car was a 1952 Buick Roadmaster RiveraModel 76R e/w power windows, power steering (no power brakes until 1953) Dynaflow transmission, two tone paint (Green/gray) it was pretty well loaded as it was our family Doctors car before he sold to us.
1953 was supposed to be the first year for power brakes on a Buick, but I once test drove a 52 Buick with power brakes. They were super-sensitive. Just looking at the brake pedal threatened to throw you threw the windshield!
I've always been partial to the '66-'67 A-body Skylark. I'd seen the Roadmaster and Century based Skylarks, and the early sixties compacts. My Mom's first cousin worked as an executive in Buick's Atlanta transmission facility, and one day he came over in a '64 Sport Wagon, the one with the raised roof and front facing rear seat with sky-view windows, and it was the second-coolest wagon in the world (at the time my Mom had Buick's captive import Opel Kadett Caravan 1000, subcompact, but it had four-on-the-floor). The first A-body Special-Skylarks, except for Fred's wagon, didn't impress me, but the major restyle for '66 was a revelation! The tri-shield division made its A-platform models look like a worthy member of the Buick family. To me the '67 GS340 was the best Buick ever.
Certainly a valid suggestion that the 54 Skylark is the best Buick ever but of course it's all in the minds eye. The 50s Buicks were right in the sweet spot of performance luxury and price. Not so much price for this beauty though. Cheers 🇨🇦
That nailhead engine, by 1966, could put out 325hp! For 1967, a re-designed V8 was offered...a hunky 430ci 4bbl V8, giving 360hp. Buick took the muscle-car thing very seriously, during the latter half of the 1960s! The Stage I cars were blisteringly fast.
There was even a 360 HP version of the nailhead in 1966 called the Super Wildcat that was 425 cubic inches and had two 4-bbl carbs. It was a factory option on the Riviera and Wildcat GS cars.
@@mikeweizer3149 My Mom scored a nicely maintained '70 Estate Wagon previously owned by her boss, and it was a very special Buick: one of two bakers-dozen Estate Wagons with factory three-on-the-tree behind the 455-four-barrel. You doubters, check the production figures. 26 stick shift wagons among about 140 stick shift big Buicks for 1970. I wish I could find that car today.
Mr. DeBruhl, from what I have observed the interior of the 1953 Skylark far exceeds that of the 1954 model in richness, craftmanship, and quality of materials and it's not even close so much of that cost cutting you mentioned undoubtedly came from there. You know; where you spend most of your time. I'm a sucker for vertical leather pleats and I don't see anything like that in the '54. That interior could have come straight out of a Chevy. I love your presentation herein and also your excellent commentary at the Barrett-Jackson auctions so please keep it coming, brother. I'm just saying. This is something I have found to be endemic among the coverage of classic cars on RUclips and elsewhere. The emphasis seems to me to be greater upon the exteriors of 1950s classic American cars on through to the 90s and beyond and less so with the interiors. Man, did they turn out some beautiful designs but crappy interior materials. The 1953 Olds Fiesta and Cadillac Eldorado interiors also seem to be nicer than those of the 1954s, but less so than the Skylark's.
The 1953 Special still used the Straight Eight. In 1954 the Special had the downsized Nailhead at 264 cubes. All other Buicks got the 322 starting in 1953, until the 364 came out in 1957.
The major differences between the '53 and '54 Skylarks were that the '53 was based on the Roadmaster C-body platform and the '54 was based on the B-body Century model. GM redesigned the B and C bodies for 1954 (A-bodies were redesigned for '55) so buyers comparing the '53s to the '54s would notice the '54s were a lot like the '53s only better (if you liked knocking your knees on the A-pillar).
I remember the 53 and 54 Skylarks. The author missed the fact that the 54 Buicks, all of them, were brand new from road to roof, whereas the 53 Buicks were rehashes of the 1950 Buick, so they felt different to drive. The 54 Skylark was actually more sporting than the 53, but wasn't very well received because of that - it was based on the smaller B body Special/Century, while the 53 was based on the bigger C body Super/Roadmaster, which shared their C body with Cadillac. The 54 was far and away the most expensive 54 Buick, but it was no bigger than a lowly Special. The 54 Roadmaster, and the cheaper Super, were much bigger cars, and in the 50s and 60s, an expensive car was supposed to be BIG.
The 53 is a heavily customized almost hand-made car, just like the 53 El Dorado and the 53 Fiesta, whereas the 54 is much less so - different tail and modified fenders only.
@@rickdebruhlcars The 1954 GM cars, with the exception of the 54 Chevy and Pontiac, were brand new from road to roof. Their Tri-Fives were 54 - 56. The Tri-Five Chevys were 55 - 57. The 53 was the final re-hash of the 1950 models.
Boy, I hate to be a contrarian, but I disagree that this is a better looking car than the ‘53. Also, you failed to mention that even though ‘53 Skylark was built on the Roadmaster’s platform, it was a shortened wheelbase.
Correct. But it is wider than the 54 and looks it. I think that fact is what killed demand for the 54. It was and looks like a smaller car, and in the 50s and 60s, a smaller car was supposed to be cheaper, not more expensive.
I learned to drive on a '58 Buick Special and I'll always be partial to that year of Buick's. Later on, I owned two 2008 Buick LeSabre's (the first was traded in because mice had all but destroyed the wiring in it). I now proudly own and drive a 2017 Buick Enclave SUV. Frankly, I have NEVER owned a bad Buick. Cadillac's are fine for those that like them but for me I just think Buick does a better job.
the 1953 was a beautiful custom job from the factory, much better and more special than the 54. i like the 54 ok but it was just a regular buick with a few made over touches, the 53 was special, like something from a custom shop. especially the windshield and top.
Tried to buy a 1953 in the early 70's, but the guy could not produce a title. As a high school kid, I had no clue how to go about fixing that issue. I still wish I'd found a way to buy it.
I love 50s Buicks. But I don't think I would want to own one because of the suspension and rear end design being so hard to get parts for. I need a car with more generic parts so it's cheaper to repair
But they were extremely durable and reliable, so if everything is right, AND you regularly lube the chassis, you won't have a single solitary problem, whereas some cheaper cars will, no matter how good you care for them, suffer from front suspension and steering linkage problems.
As I remember, early Buicks could be ordered with a three speed standard tranny, but normally came with the Dreaded DynaFlow. Front seal leaks happened all the time, crippling the car. Miserable acceleration. Olds of the time had the Borg-Warner hydramatic which actually had clutches that locked, four speeds and got better mileage with great takeoff. Buick Was a Fantastic looker, just had a horrible transmission. The DynaFlow actually was not an automatic transmission, It started in high gear with manual down shifting, which didn't help. The one u-joint driveline made adapting a different tranny extremely unlikely. My neighbor has a 54 Buick hard top, with a front seal leak, it has sat for 25 years.
I had 4 different Buicks with DynaFlow. IF flywheel runout was near zero, they didn't leak at the front seal, but, were VERY sensitive in that regard. Acceleration? More like oozing forth. The HydraMatic was a GM unit. It was excellent.
@@matrox He is talking about the power seats and the power windows. They used hydraulic cylinders and springs instead of electric motors. The 54 might have had electrics, not sure, but the 53 was all hydraulic at GM and Ford. Chrysler was electric though.
In the real world, the "Best Buicks" are the 3.8Litre FWD Century and Lesabre. Of course it's hard to embellish them and make up foklore stories about them like social media users do.
I LEARNED TO DRIVE IN A 1953 BUICK SPECIAL ,TWO DOOR HARDTOP, WITH THE V8. IT WAS MY MOM'S CAR, NEXT SHE HAD A INVICTA DOOR HARDTOP, WITH A 401 NAILHEAD . HER NEXT ONE WAS A 65 GRAND SPORT, BOY THAT WAS FUN. JESUS LOVES YOU ❤❤❤
Total over hyped nonsense. I was there and this ugly piece of crap was disrespected by all who ever saw one, especially anyone who loved the 1953s. Just a Century with the Venti-Ports torn off and the standard 200hp engine. Wait just one more year and you could have had a beautifully styled Century with 236hp, variable-pitch Dynaflow and so much more. This thing was an expensive failure in the marketplace and they should have crushed every one of them.
I like it, but the problem is that it cost a lot more than the much bigger Roadmaster, and in the 50s and 60s, you didn't make your highest-priced model smaller. It just wasn't done.
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Back in 1974 I was 21 yo. There was a 1954 Buick Special 2 dr. for sale nearby. It had been fully restored. I bought the car and drove it for nine years. Wherever I went I got compliments. This video gives me great memories from my past. My car was two tone dark blue and baby blue. To start the engine, you would put the key in the "on" position then, depress the gas pedal which would activate the starter. Great car!
I didn't know that about the starter! Cool!
When I was a young kid our family car was a 55' Olds Rocket 88 2 dr/ ht. It had no parking gear. You would leave it in gear and apply the parking brake by pulling the handle on the left under the dash. When ready to start the car you would move the gear selector to neutral and turn the key then release the parking brake and put it in gear.
We had a 56 Buick century 4 door hardtop with the same type starter. Thing is we didn’t have a garage and the paint never faded
1 have a 48 buick hearse.body by flexible,project,its setting on a 85 1 ton crewcab dually gm chassis.using a 2000 bbc caddy motor and trans.i have 2 caskets to place as cargo boxes on the roof rack,keeping the dual tires ,widening fenders in rear and keeping fender skirts.carries 12 pass. And luggage.,tows almost anything.
I owned a 1954 Buick Century V8 4dr 322 ci from 1991 to 2008. I paid 850.00 for it the car sticker price was 2300 in 54. Very smooth riding car even when I bought it. The dash was just like this skylark. The roadmaster was actually the top of the line. Skylark then special then Century.
I had 2 uncles that drove Buicks exclusively for years !!!!! One of my favorites that my uncle had was his 1964 Wildcat !!!!! fabulous car !!!!!
i was born in 1950 and got to see all these cars from the 50's and 60's and one of our neighbors had a white skylark with the wire wheels and red highlights in the wheel wells but not sure it was a '53 or '54. my whole family were gm people so on holiday there would be my dads low end chevy, and my aunts and uncles would have pontiac, buick, oldsmobile and cadillac cars. my brother and i would always have so much fun identifyiing all the cars on the road back then. my first car was a 1954 chevy that i paid $50 bucks for in 1966 and my brother had a 1953. i'm still a chevy guy today with a 2015 chevy siverado WT and you can see how they built brand loyalty. thnx for the info and show.
Great job with the video, @RickDeBruhl - I learned a lot! This Buick was owned and restored by my best friend's Dad so I've spent a lot of time around it over the years and even got to drive it a few times. What a treat. I wish there were some pics of it from when he bought it from Craig Jackson many years ago - no, not at the auction but from his warehouse along Washington Street. It wasn't a pretty sight. After he restored it, he and his wife took it to many Skylark meets around the country. Yes, it was occasionally on a trailer but it was also driven a lot. This car is no trailer queen. As was mentioned in another comment, the donor also has a '53 Skylark and a number of other neat old Buicks. I'm happy to see this car has a new home where many folks will get to see it and appreciate it.
Really enjoy your providing the car's history, marketing perspective of the marketing department, the corporate direction and the advantages of the model changes.
Beautiful automobile, classic design, very actuated with definite defined lines !
Great Video. When I was 16, my friends brother was selling a 53 Syklark. I brought it down and set it in my fathers back driveway hoping he would help me buy it, price was cheap. Well obviously I took the car back to my friends house. Missed it ever since then/ It was the blue that you showed on the video. An as an extra it had a STANDARD TRANSMISSION that was in it. I don't think that was factory.
Cars that have character ❤
Excellent details on the history of the Skylark - learned a few things. Thanks for the time you take to put these together ~ Chuck
Thanks for watching!
That is a really cool trunk lid, love the back-up lights and those ribs! Didn't think so much for the taillight treatment; seems kinda "tacked on". It would have been really cool to have it part of the fender sheet metal, with those side marker "louvers"!
It was definitely tacked on, but you have to remember chrome was king. That achieved two goals at the same time!
@@rickdebruhlcars LOL! I was going to say that the chrome was just a hint of things to come...especially with Buick! In 1958, Buick put chrome on their cars with a trowel! I'm kind of a minimalist when it comes to chrome; a little bit goes a long way! And, totally off topic, I used to watch you back in the '90s on local Phoenix television, love that you're into cars now!
Like many of other longtime area residents we miss Rick on TV. Martin Museum is wonderful and an asset to automotive history. The Buick Reatta is another example of Buick’s contribution to excellence. My 1989 was a design and engineering classic.
My first car was a 1952 Buick Roadmaster RiveraModel 76R e/w power windows, power steering (no power brakes until 1953) Dynaflow transmission, two tone paint (Green/gray) it was pretty well loaded as it was our family Doctors car before he sold to us.
1953 was supposed to be the first year for power brakes on a Buick, but I once test drove a 52 Buick with power brakes. They were super-sensitive. Just looking at the brake pedal threatened to throw you threw the windshield!
I've always been partial to the '66-'67 A-body Skylark.
I'd seen the Roadmaster and Century based Skylarks, and the early sixties compacts.
My Mom's first cousin worked as an executive in Buick's Atlanta transmission facility, and one day he came over in a '64 Sport Wagon, the one with the raised roof and front facing rear seat with sky-view windows, and it was the second-coolest wagon in the world (at the time my Mom had Buick's captive import Opel Kadett Caravan 1000, subcompact, but it had four-on-the-floor).
The first A-body Special-Skylarks, except for Fred's wagon, didn't impress me, but the major restyle for '66 was a revelation! The tri-shield division made its A-platform models look like a worthy member of the Buick family.
To me the '67 GS340 was the best Buick ever.
An amazing job on the video and presentation Rick. All you amateurs take note; this is how it’s done. And oh yeah, love the car too.
But are you related to Joe Dawson the Indy 500 winner...
@@rickdebruhlcars Ha, not me. Although I grew up 3 hours east of Indy in Columbus Oh.
@@joedawson5353 You can always pretend...
Love me some 1953-54Buick Skylarks but to me my favorite Buick of all time is still a 1965 Riviera Gran Sport!!!!!.
Mid to late 60 Rivieras were awesome!
I enjoyed your newscasting I enjoy this series of car videos Thank you Very much I look forward to more
Certainly a valid suggestion that the 54 Skylark is the best Buick ever but of course it's all in the minds eye. The 50s Buicks were right in the sweet spot of performance luxury and price. Not so much price for this beauty though. Cheers 🇨🇦
Also, the 54 Skylark cost more than the much bigger Super/Roadmaster, and in the 50s and 60s, an expensive car was supposed to be big!
That nailhead engine, by 1966, could put out 325hp! For 1967, a re-designed V8 was offered...a hunky 430ci 4bbl V8, giving 360hp. Buick took the muscle-car thing very seriously, during the latter half of the 1960s! The Stage I cars were blisteringly fast.
There was even a 360 HP version of the nailhead in 1966 called the Super Wildcat that was 425 cubic inches and had two 4-bbl carbs. It was a factory option on the Riviera and Wildcat GS cars.
Best Buick ever? Maybe. But. All Buick's are awesome.
@tinyb69 Not anymore today but when your talking the old school days HELL YEAH!!!!.
@@mikeweizer3149 My Mom scored a nicely maintained '70 Estate Wagon previously owned by her boss, and it was a very special Buick: one of two bakers-dozen Estate Wagons with factory three-on-the-tree behind the 455-four-barrel.
You doubters, check the production figures. 26 stick shift wagons among about 140 stick shift big Buicks for 1970.
I wish I could find that car today.
Beautiful automobiles.
🎶 "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick, a Buick, a brand new Buick" ?
Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick, this year" ?
Excellent video. Thanks…
Mr. DeBruhl, from what I have observed the interior of the 1953 Skylark far exceeds that of the 1954 model in richness, craftmanship, and quality of materials and it's not even close so much of that cost cutting you mentioned undoubtedly came from there. You know; where you spend most of your time. I'm a sucker for vertical leather pleats and I don't see anything like that in the '54. That interior could have come straight out of a Chevy. I love your presentation herein and also your excellent commentary at the Barrett-Jackson auctions so please keep it coming, brother. I'm just saying. This is something I have found to be endemic among the coverage of classic cars on RUclips and elsewhere. The emphasis seems to me to be greater upon the exteriors of 1950s classic American cars on through to the 90s and beyond and less so with the interiors. Man, did they turn out some beautiful designs but crappy interior materials. The 1953 Olds Fiesta and Cadillac Eldorado interiors also seem to be nicer than those of the 1954s, but less so than the Skylark's.
The 1953 Special still used the Straight Eight. In 1954 the Special had the downsized Nailhead at 264 cubes. All other Buicks got the 322 starting in 1953, until the 364 came out in 1957.
Rick.I really enjoy your videos. Excellent and professional.
Thanks for watching!
National Automobile Museum in Reno has a dedicated exhibit for its 53. That and the Thomas Flyer are worth the trip!
And Hot August Nights!
Thank you Rick
Late 60s early 70s Skylark were stylish and sporty, then you had the Buick GS 455 muscle car based on the Skylark.
We have a GS in the museum that we'll do in the future.
They should have never eliminated the Venta ports Jerry Mcdonogh
There was a Debruhl family in my home town of Greenville SC, perhaps you are related. Lots of car collections in the upstate of South Carolina.
The major differences between the '53 and '54 Skylarks were that the '53 was based on the Roadmaster C-body platform and the '54 was based on the B-body Century model.
GM redesigned the B and C bodies for 1954 (A-bodies were redesigned for '55) so buyers comparing the '53s to the '54s would notice the '54s were a lot like the '53s only better (if you liked knocking your knees on the A-pillar).
I remember the 53 and 54 Skylarks. The author missed the fact that the 54 Buicks, all of them, were brand new from road to roof, whereas the 53 Buicks were rehashes of the 1950 Buick, so they felt different to drive. The 54 Skylark was actually more sporting than the 53, but wasn't very well received because of that - it was based on the smaller B body Special/Century, while the 53 was based on the bigger C body Super/Roadmaster, which shared their C body with Cadillac. The 54 was far and away the most expensive 54 Buick, but it was no bigger than a lowly Special. The 54 Roadmaster, and the cheaper Super, were much bigger cars, and in the 50s and 60s, an expensive car was supposed to be BIG.
1967 Buick went to the 400 and 430. 66 was the last year for the Nailhead.
56 Buick was my favorite
Its really a matter of opinion which looks better between the 53' and 54' cuz that 53' looks damn good.
I definitely like them both. The 54 has a slightly more modern look without the step down front fenders.
The 53 is a heavily customized almost hand-made car, just like the 53 El Dorado and the 53 Fiesta, whereas the 54 is much less so - different tail and modified fenders only.
@@rickdebruhlcars The 1954 GM cars, with the exception of the 54 Chevy and Pontiac, were brand new from road to roof. Their Tri-Fives were 54 - 56. The Tri-Five Chevys were 55 - 57. The 53 was the final re-hash of the 1950 models.
If you took the tail lights off,(having just a curve), add chrome to the trunk, make it smaller,. Looks like 58 corvette.
Boy, I hate to be a contrarian, but I disagree that this is a better looking car than the ‘53. Also, you failed to mention that even though ‘53 Skylark was built on the Roadmaster’s platform, it was a shortened wheelbase.
It's always fun to debate what looks best!
Correct. But it is wider than the 54 and looks it. I think that fact is what killed demand for the 54. It was and looks like a smaller car, and in the 50s and 60s, a smaller car was supposed to be cheaper, not more expensive.
I learned to drive on a '58 Buick Special and I'll always be partial to that year of Buick's. Later on, I owned two 2008 Buick LeSabre's (the first was traded in because mice had all but destroyed the wiring in it). I now proudly own and drive a 2017 Buick Enclave SUV. Frankly, I have NEVER owned a bad Buick. Cadillac's are fine for those that like them but for me I just think Buick does a better job.
Buicks were designed to be a cut above.
the 1953 was a beautiful custom job from the factory, much better and more special than the 54. i like the 54 ok but it was just a regular buick with a few made over touches, the 53 was special, like something from a custom shop. especially the windshield and top.
Do another video with the 53 and 54' side by side.
The person who donated the 54 to the museum also has a 53. If he donates that one we'll definitely look at them side by side.
Those were the days Buicks were made in the US, now most models are made in China and South Korea. Good luck with the new tariffs.
Tried to buy a 1953 in the early 70's, but the guy could not produce a title. As a high school kid, I had no clue how to go about fixing that issue. I still wish I'd found a way to buy it.
Would have been a great car. Although they are more complicated to restore.
I’m surprised to see a Century IP was used instead of the Super/Roadmaster
53 had the Roadmaster, 54 the Century.
@@rickdebruhlcars And that was the 54's downfall - it was way more expensive than a Roadmaster, but it was smaller. Taboo in the 50s and 60s.
I love 50s Buicks. But I don't think I would want to own one because of the suspension and rear end design being so hard to get parts for. I need a car with more generic parts so it's cheaper to repair
But they were extremely durable and reliable, so if everything is right, AND you regularly lube the chassis, you won't have a single solitary problem, whereas some cheaper cars will, no matter how good you care for them, suffer from front suspension and steering linkage problems.
That 56 Buick would run over 100mph and you wouldn’t know it because it was so heavy
I'm just not sure I'd trust the brakes to slow it down in an emergency!
@@rickdebruhlcars People managed OK.
I had a 56 Buick Special once. It was a great performer, but being a Special, wasn't all that heavy. Not like a Roadmaster would be.
As I remember, early Buicks could be ordered with a three speed standard tranny, but normally came with the Dreaded DynaFlow. Front seal leaks happened all the time, crippling the car. Miserable acceleration. Olds of the time had the Borg-Warner hydramatic which actually had clutches that locked, four speeds and got better mileage with great takeoff. Buick Was a Fantastic looker, just had a horrible transmission. The DynaFlow actually was not an automatic transmission, It started in high gear with manual down shifting, which didn't help. The one u-joint driveline made adapting a different tranny extremely unlikely. My neighbor has a 54 Buick hard top, with a front seal leak, it has sat for 25 years.
I had 4 different Buicks with DynaFlow. IF flywheel runout was near zero, they didn't leak at the front seal, but, were VERY sensitive in that regard. Acceleration? More like oozing forth. The HydraMatic was a GM unit. It was excellent.
I actually like the 54 more than the 53. Anyone who likes 1964-72 Malibus should not balk at 1964-72 Skylarks.
The 53 is more beautiful than the 54
14:30 He said Buick had something special with the Skylark. Get it? "Special". 😁😆🤣As in Buick Special.😋😂😉😁😛😅
That line was a "Century" in the making...
no mention of the unique troublesome hydraulic seat slave units
This car was manufactured long after slavery.
All 53 cars, except for Chrysler, used hydraulic cylinders for the windows and seats, not just this one.
@@matrox He is talking about the power seats and the power windows. They used hydraulic cylinders and springs instead of electric motors. The 54 might have had electrics, not sure, but the 53 was all hydraulic at GM and Ford. Chrysler was electric though.
@@jamesbosworth4191 Yep...slavery ended in 1865...hydraulic slave units began to be troublesome in 1866.
@@matrox We are talking about cars here.
In the real world, the "Best Buicks" are the 3.8Litre FWD Century and Lesabre. Of course it's hard to embellish them and make up foklore stories about them like social media users do.
Not quite as expensive as a 1956 Continental MKII at $9995.
The front bumper weighs as much as some cars today.
True, but modern bumpers are so much safer.
@@rickdebruhlcars Who's talking about safety?
@@joe-hp4nk Eff Safety! Styling is what counts!!
@@matrox The bumper still weights a shit load safety or no safety.
@@rickdebruhlcars Not so. The bumpers of the 70s and early 80s - 5 MPH - were the safe ones.
The 55 were neet to
I LEARNED TO DRIVE IN A 1953 BUICK SPECIAL ,TWO DOOR HARDTOP, WITH THE V8. IT WAS MY MOM'S CAR, NEXT SHE HAD A INVICTA DOOR HARDTOP, WITH A 401 NAILHEAD . HER NEXT ONE WAS A 65 GRAND SPORT, BOY THAT WAS FUN. JESUS LOVES YOU ❤❤❤
I'm jealous. I learned to drive on a 71 VW...
Total over hyped nonsense. I was there and this ugly piece of crap was disrespected by all who ever saw one, especially anyone who loved the 1953s. Just a Century with the Venti-Ports torn off and the standard 200hp engine. Wait just one more year and you could have had a beautifully styled Century with 236hp, variable-pitch Dynaflow and so much more. This thing was an expensive failure in the marketplace and they should have crushed every one of them.
I like it, but the problem is that it cost a lot more than the much bigger Roadmaster, and in the 50s and 60s, you didn't make your highest-priced model smaller. It just wasn't done.
Vacuum wipers? 2 speed auto. No biggy.
The best Buick ever was the A body Buick Century from 1982 to 1996.
A-body Special and Skylark in '66-'67. Make that a GS340.
Brute T Full...Its Brutiful.🫵😁.
The front bumper was a bomb shell .😁( + )( + )