Often, when referencing the introduction of the 1964 GM A-body cars (Chevrolet Chevelle/Malibu, Pontiac Tempest/LeMans, Oldsmobile F85, and Buick Skylark/Special, it’s the Pontiac that sucks all of the air out of the room with its trend-setting GTO. Oldsmobile gets its foot in the door with the 442, and Chevrolet, of course, claimed the volume award and showed some tendency towards performance late in the model year. How about Buick, such as this 1964 Skylark convertible? An unsung hero. They’re great-looking cars, imbued with Buick quality and reliability; they just don’t get much press. Perhaps it’s because the Gran Sport performance option didn’t appear until 1965, or maybe the Skylark just got lost in the volume shuffle. Whatever the case, we have one for review today, and it’s courtesy of Jack M. This fine-looking ’64 droptop is located in Eugene, Washington, Oregon, and is available here on craigslist for $19,500.
The ’64 Skylark, available in two-door hardtop and convertible, along with a four-door sedan and station wagon, did pretty well with 85,000 units hitting the street that year. The convertible put up a 10,800 number, hardly rare but not that common, especially as found today. The Skylark’s lower-rent A-body companion, known as the Special, eked out a few more units, realizing a production total of 98,000 copies. Interestingly, the convertible body style was not confined to the Skylark, as the Special had a variant too, though only 6,800 buyers chose this more restrained version. Regarding this Skylark, the seller informs us, “This is a super solid car, I have found only three small rust spots,” and then adds, “This car is not a garage queen and in its 61 years of existing with humanity it has suffered its share of wounds but none have been serious.” The rust’s location is not stated, and the included images aren’t giving it up – likely pretty minor. The folding top is in fine shape and rolling along on Buick’s road wheels nicely caps off this Skylark’s visuals. Oh, one last thought, I would like to see an image of the driver’s side, none were provided.
Power is provided by a 300 CI V8 engine generating either 210 or 250 gross HP, but which version is not stated. An open-element air cleaner has been installed, and it appears that there may be a newer four-barrel carburetor residing underneath, but I can’t tell with certainty. A Super Turbine 300 automatic transmission makes the rear wheel connection. This particular automatic gearbox is often confused with Chevrolet’s two-speed Powerglide, but they’re not the same thing and share virtually no interchangeable parts. B-O-P cars used the ST 300 from ’64 to ’69 while Chevy maintained control over the Powerglide, keeping it in their lineup until mid ’73. The seller states, “It is fun to drive, corners like it’s on rails.” I find the “rails” comment to be interesting, as I spent much of my professional career in the railroading business and never figured an EMD SD-90 or a GE Transport C44-9 locomotive to be particularly adept at cornering. They usually go, upright and at reasonable speeds, wherever the rails take them, but not always. Also added on the mechanical front is “New- front disc brakes, shocks, radiator, ball joints, springs, sway bar with poly bushings, lower rear control arms with greaseable poly bushings, rebuilt steering box, nearly new rear brakes, and good gas tank with good sending unit.”
The red vinyl interior is very sixties GM. It’s a simple, clean environment, and in this case, it’s in like-new condition. Despite the buckets, there’s no center console, and the gear selector is column-mounted. The instrument panel is a study in simplicity; there’s no dash pad to worry about, and the carpet and door panels show perfectly. It’s not said if the upholstery is new or a redo; whatever the case, it hasn’t experienced too much top-down exposure.
Verdict? No demerits warranted; this is an excellent example of first-year GM, intermediate A-body, ala Buick. It’s not going to be a powerhouse, and the ST-300 two-speed is a bit of a drawback, but finding a Skylark of this generation, a convertible no less, and in this fine a condition is an excellent discovery. It’ll sell, no doubt about it, wouldn’t you agree?
Nice. Bought a ’66 new and it tuned out to be one of the best cars I’ve ever owned.
well nothing to change just turn the key and enjoy……
Beautiful car. Always loved the looks of this Buick. “My Cousin Vinny” almost.
Beautiful car. 1964 has always been my favourite year for the Buick Skylark. Are you sure about the location? I’m not aware of a Eugene Washington. I know there’s a Eugene Oregon.
Oops, right, thx. Fixed.
JO
ROFFL! We all make mistakes. I’ve never seen 64 Buick Skylark. I’ve seen plenty of 65 Skylark. They both look similar, except for the grille.
District Attorney Jim Trotter III: “Then the two defendants, William Gambini and Stanly Rothenstein got into their faded green,1964 Buick Skylark convertible and drove off in great haste”.
Defense Attorney Vincent LaGuardia Gambini: “IS IT POSSIBLE THE TWO ”YOUTS’?
Judge Chamberlin Haller: “DID YOU SAY YOUTS ?” “WHAT’S A “YOUT ?”
Mona Lisa Vito: “IN THE 60’S THERE WERE ONLY TWO CARS MADE IN AMERICA THAT HAD AN INDEPENTANT REAR SUSPENSION AND MADE EVOUGH POWER TO MAKE THOSE TWO EQUAL LENGTH TIRE MARKS. ONE WAS THE CORVETTE, WHICH COULD NEVER BE CONFUSED WITH THE BUICK SKYLARK. THE OTHER HAD THE LENGTH, WIDTH, WHEELBASE AND WHEEL TRACK AS THE 1964 BUICK SKYKARK AND THAT WAS, THE 1963 PONTIAC TEMPEST.”
Defense Attorney Vincent LaGuardia Gambini: “AND BECAUSE BOTH CARS WERE MADE BY GM, WERE BOTH CARS AVIALABLE IN METALIC MINT GREEN PAINT?”
Mona Lisa Vito: ”THEY WERE !”.
Defense Attorney Vincent LaGuardia Gambini: “THANK YOU MS. VITO, YOU’VE BEEN A LOVELY, LOVELY WITNESS.”
Bill Gambini: I’m gonna get some beans, beans have protein.
Stanley Rothenstein: Beans make you fart!
Bill Gambini: You’re in a convertible!
The 300 engine had aluminum heads in ’64 only – visible in the CL photos. In 4-bbl form they came from the factory with 11:1 compression ratio! The 2-bbl engines were a tamer 9:1 cr. I think all the ’64 GM A-bodies were nicely styled, but I’ll give Buick and Olds the nod for my favorites.
The glass replacement rear window is horrible… it doesn’t fit the car at all, in fact, it looks terrible. Vinyl, if properly cared for can last a long time, and most collector cars are stored indoors and pampered. The simple solution is to leave the top down! Replacing the window with the original vinyl would make a huge difference. Overall, a nice car!
OMG,stop already with the window…geez
Thanks for pointing out the back window. I’ve only seen the vinyl ones before now. Didn’t know you could get a glass window at all, albeit smaller, in these tops.
I’ve never seen a glass rear window on a convertible. Most old school convertibles like this I’ve seen have a vinyl window for the top.
Glass, while looking rather ungainly on this car, doesn’t scratch like vinyl does and is not so sensitive to what you clean it with. It also ages better with less fading.
When my wife and I bought our one and only house here in Fords, New Jersey, in October 1997, after the furniture movers finished moving in our furniture and belongings, I took a ride through our new neighborhood, and being a the ‘car guy’ that I am, I spotted two older cars that day. One was a yellow & black 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 door hardtop sitting on a used car lot about ten blocks from our new house. The other was a ‘TWIN’ to this 1964 Buick Skylark convertible, right down to the car being the same color. Well the thing was, that both cars sat in the same positions that I first saw them for more then two decades. The 57 Chevy finally disappeared about a year ago, and the Skylark about six months ago. I just wish I knew how to attach photos to these posts because I have photos of both of those cars on this computer.
You have to be a member to post photos.
Beautiful Skylark. The Buick A body cars are my favorite of the ‘64-‘67 A bodies. Nothing wrong with the ST-300 either. It is a better transmission than the Powerglide, with an electrically controlled Switch Pitch torque converter (giving it effectively another .5 gear) and a more sophisticated vacuum modulator setup (same as the later TH transmissions), for better shifting.
Good looking offering from Buick !