After disappearing from sight in 1972, the Skylark name re-emerged in 1975 with the rebranding of the Apollo 2-door sedan and hatchback versions as the Skylark. This marked a significant down-sizing of the Skylark compared to previous versions, which was something that wasn’t unexpected following the oil crisis. This particular Skylark is an attractive looking car that appears to be in very good condition. It is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and listed for sale here on Craigslist. A big thank you has to go to Barn Finder Ikey H for spotting this car for us.
The Apple Red paint on this car looks really nice. There are some minor dents here and there, but they are very hard to pick up in the photos. The wheels set off very nicely against the red paint, and it was really nice to see the VentiPorts make a reappearance on the Skylark, as they disappeared in from the model in 1968. To me, those are a big part of the brand identity, and to see them disappear was a real shame.
With a 231ci V6 engine and automatic transmission, the performance of the Skylark was never going to set the world on fire, but it was still adequate. The owner states that the car has only covered 46,000 miles, but doesn’t indicate whether there is any evidence to back this claim. Life with this Skylark would be made just that bit nicer with the inclusion of power steering, power brakes, and factory air conditioning.
The interior of the Skylark presents well, and while that wooden floor console might not be the most attractive item in the world, it does serve a rather useful purpose. The car has been fitted with an aftermarket CD player, but instead of hacking into the dash to fit it, it has been installed in this removable console, thus protecting the originality of the dash. The original radio is still in situ, but neither it or the clock actually works. The rest of the interior is in really great condition, and the interior presentation and condition give the impression that the car has been well cared for.
The owner of this Skylark has set the asking price at $9,000. That is a fair way above the average market value of a Skylark of this vintage. Having said that, this one does appear to be in pretty nice condition. The majority of these have been driven into the ground, and are either looking pretty tatty, or they’ve already found their way to the scrap-yard. There are some high-volume cars that somehow manage to slowly disappear off the radar, and we only realize how few we actually see when a nice one suddenly appears for sale. This is a nice one, but does that justify the asking price?
My Aunt Jean had one exactly like this one, just thought it was an old lady car, I think one of my cousins got it when she died. Never gave it another thought until just now. Still no interest in a Buick V6 anything.Back in the 80s and 90s at the start of winter we would always get a run of V6 231 GM cars that blew up.
Personally I would prefer the Dodge Aspen featured on here for a lot less but this is still a nice example. I would want to test drive it and have a buddy drive it while I drive behind to make sure it doesn’t crab though. That was a common issue with these cars if they ever got tweeked in any kind of a collision
The crab walk was not from collisions, it was from torque shifting the rear axle on the leaf springs.
There was an afterthought shackle kit designed to hold it in place better, which I believe was covered by warranty if caught early enough.
The problem was in most of GM’s `70s X-body platform cars.
Towing them was a real experience too…
One thing to remember is that the front track width is wider than the rear, sometimes giving the appearance of dog-tracking.
I had one of these in 2dr. Landau. Buckets, console. I put a 350 Chevy with m21 4spd. In it. A fun driver but would break the leaf spring pin and the axle would shift.
ACZ – That is true but that wasn’t what caused the crabbing. Some of them would crab so bad they would literally looked like they were going down the road almost sideways. It was laughable and embarrassing, to the point that, for a good while there, I checked every car I was going to buy by driving behind it! I only stopped maybe 10 years ago.
Henryfrederick – I can’t imagine anything worse than losing a race after blasting through all four gears of that Muncie and then having to crab back home in humiliation. I hope that never happened to you because that would be devastating.
Thanks for the info. A many year old mystery solved. I just remember you’d see a lot of them crabbing but it’s interesting that you never saw Camaros and Firebirds, which were essentially built on the same subframe, doing it. Now I know why.
Regardless, I would still check it because it doesn’t sound like it would be an automatic fix.
Gotta like that colour combination of red on white….and this car’s design wears it very well. A little pricey for my taste, but that could be due to my preference for blue-ovals.
If this car was a V8 Chevy you might get closer to the asking price. But being a Buick, 231 V6, and bench seats his the no button hard. The 1979 Nova that was hear a few days ago hit the good buttons and it was 5500.00. About 4 grand too high, but it is a nice car.
Price is too high but this car is begging for a GN or LS powertrain.
Nice car, but not worth the extra 5-6 grand ask. 3K car all day long, 5K with nostalgic memories clouding judgement.
Odd that headrests were not CENTERED for the driver & passenger on many models back then. I for one would not sit as close as possible to the side window on 1 of these to line up my head with the headrest. lol
Also odd that few bothered to adjust them properly, or at all – maybe they didn’t KNOW they moved upward.
All the switches on the Dashboard the Dimer Switch used to be on the Floor and you clicked it with your left foot