I’ve seen the argument that the Buick Special was the beginning of the end for the “Sloan Ladder,” which promised a car for every purse and purpose. As the happy owner of a ’53 Special myself, I’d hate to think so, but as Buick was offering a basic sedan with a base price of $2,564 in 1968, it might be hard to argue. All Specials in 1968 were Special “Deluxe” models, with a little extra bright trim on the outside, but whoever bought this Special new certainly wanted a basic Buick, at least on the surface. This clean Oklahoma car is being presented as a 58,900-mile original, and it’s for sale here on Marketplace in Grandville, Michigan, with an asking price of $8,900.
At least the original buyer stepped up to the optional (and new-for-1968) Buick 350, which provided 230 horsepower in its two-barrel form. For those who are interested in a little Buick history, the V6 (which had been available in “small” Buicks since 1962) was dropped for 1968 in favor of a standard Chevy 250 inline-six. The 350 shown here has plenty of Buick torque (350 lb.-ft. of it), and is mated in this case with the Super Turbine 300 two-speed automatic, which is not a Powerglide no matter how many times you see it presented that way in classifieds. The Super Turbine lost its “Switch-Pitch” torque converter for 1968, and the two-barrel’s long 2.56:1 rear axle ratio means that patience is a virtue when getting off the line.
This Special Deluxe has optional air conditioning (no word on whether or not it works), which may be unsurprising when one considers that it was bought new in Tulsa. What might be surprising is that the Skylark Sedan cost only $102 more than the Special Deluxe, and at the very least looked a little more posh, so why the original owner wouldn’t have paid a little extra for the fancier model is a mystery. I do like the Buick’s silver gauge cluster, which offered an admonition to drivers just beneath the odometer: “Fasten seat belts.”
The Special Deluxe didn’t let you forget that you didn’t step up to the Skylark; the interior is austere for a Buick. Still, Buick sold 16,571 sedans, which was bettered by the Skylark’s 27,384. Regardless, the interior of this example appears to be in fine original condition.
Here’s one for the dealer badge collectors: Chick Norton Buick in Tulsa had an oil rig as their logo. Cute.
Aside from some moisture intrusion that could be fairly recent, the trunk is in very solid shape. Too often, trunk floors on GM intermediates rust out because of water leaks through a rusted rear window channel or failed weatherstripping, but this one looks pretty clean. There is a little rust around the trunk channel, but it doesn’t look like anything to worry too much about.
With chrome-tipped dual exhaust poking out from beneath the rear bumper, this could be a hotshot detective’s unmarked cop car. Many Buick fans point out that the rear bumpers of 1968-69 intermediates never seem square, and indeed the left side of this bumper seems to be a little bent. Who knows, maybe it came from the factory that way. It seems that this is the week of the clean General Motors sedan (see this 1965 Malibu here), and that narrows the potential buying pool somewhat. But if you’re in that pool, where will you find another one of these that’s so clean? It’s a neat find, especially for Buick people like me.
This looks like one solid old Buick. Its either already sold, or they changed their mind because its gone. I don’t know if its a trick of the light, but it almost looks like it has yellow paint under the hood but I’m not 100 percent sure. Even though this probably came with white walls, it is entirely possible it didn’t have them, and the blackwalls do look in place here with the base hub caps. Overall, someone got a great solid Buick. Nice one Aaron!!!