The more uncommon or less liked a car is, the more I like it. That’s no exception here with this 1976 Buick Century Special. Each time I scroll through the photos, I like it a little more. This Special was sent in by an anonymous Barn Finds reader and can be found here on eBay in Rochester, New York. With the opening bid set at $3,500, this reserve auction has not yet found a single bidder.
Claimed to have covered just 60,900 miles over the past 44 years, the seller describes it as “mostly original” and having only one owner until 2018. The Revere Red paint this example is wearing was an extra cost special color for 1976. It appears to be presentable, but the seller notes there is some fade and prior to current ownership there was body work done on the rear quarters and the paint doesn’t quite match. The white landau top is said to be in immaculate shape, but it does look like there may be some rust forming underneath.
The interior is described as “incredible”, where seats are free of rips, the headliner isn’t sagging, and carpet has no tears. The reddish-orange houndstooth pattern matched the exterior color almost perfectly. Based on the window sticker, the original owner was more interested in spending money on appearance and driveline options than interior niceties. The only interior options I can find listed are AM radio, tinted windshield, and front and rear carpeting. You’ll want to stay spread out on that split bench as this Century was not equipped with air-conditioning.
Does that 231 V6 look miniscule in that engine bay to anyone else? I can’t say if all 105HP it offered adequately powered this Century, but it’s survived 44 years and almost 61k miles, so I’ll assume it’s doing the job it was intended to. The ordering buyer did equip their new Century with a 3-speed turbo hydra-matic transmission. but opted to stick with the base 231 V6. Optional power disc brakes will help stop this 3,700 lb. coupe.
While it’s not a show car, a “mostly original” tag is something many pine for. For those who couldn’t care less about a “mostly original” car, this may be a good platform to build a sleeper. Would you embrace its simplicity and originality or use it as a fairly solid platform to build that sleeper?
Nice entry level classic for someone wanting to get into the field. Not quite as upscale as the Regal, this one appears to have the Rally style wheel covers over steelies. Sharp looking interior/color combo, lack of A/C can be remedied as needed. It would be interesting to consider a stronger V-6 transplant, perhaps. GLWTA! :-)
Toss that V6 into the lake man! Car will never be worth much so anything goes. At least in my opinion.
I had a Buddy that had one of these. Nice looking car, but the V6 had no power. I mean a Ford Tempo could outrun it. It was scary slow!
Buy it cheap and build that sleeper.
Lord. The 231 v6 was horrid that year. Horrid. I had a Olds Cutlas with it as a rolling driving parts car for a while until it was time to strip it. Took the hood, nose, Other interior parts. Chrome bits etc. we tried to kill that wheeze bag of a mill with a brick, it wouldn’t die. God awful slow car. Rip this engine out ASAP, yuk,
If you’re looking for just any ‘nice old car’, this could be it. Personally, I never liked the odd-fire 231, never seemed to run right, even when they did. Went through a couple of these on the lot back in the day. They got interest, but were a tough sell after the test drive.
Great color combo and I LOVE red interiors!
The tail lights always looked like an after thought on this car to me.
Grand national motor! That’s all I have to say.
Night and day what Buick had to do to this motor for the GN. this example is a rod knocking weak sister that’s junk.
My first car was one of these. Congressional Cream with a Landau. 350/2. Bought it with 14,907 actual on it on 4/14/95. Sold it on 6/06/14 with 33,953. At that point we had our 4th child, life and bills…needed the cash at that point. I loved that car but would sell it again if I had to. Say what you will about post ’72 cars. You obviously have more money but less to offer than us regular guys.
Man this brings back memories. I recall when Buick was really pushing the V6 thing. Here’s a stroll down memory lane. I used to love those cardboard looking back pages in the Prestige brochure!
http://oldcarbrochures.org/United%20States/Buick/1976_Buick/1976-Buick-Prestige-Brochure/index.html
To answer the question on adequate power, for the times, it was adequate enough. In today’s aggressive traffic with much faster (and larger) vehicles, probably not. Per automobile-catalog.com, 0-60 came in about 16.7 seconds. The slowest new car sold in the U.S. today does it in the 11s, to put that into some perspective. So you might have to make some mods to be able to drive it safely if you lived in a more dense area.
Wow this takes me back! A neighbor had one identical to this. Always thought it was a nice looking car but I’d have opted for a v8. Their prior car was a 69 Impala 4 door hardtop with a six cylinder and power glide, which they kept when they bought the Buick. Apparently they liked six cylinder cars. I can’t read the paperwork on the eBay add but I wonder if this car could’ve been my neighbors…making its way from Long Island to Rochester…
If you want a real horror show of power to weight ratio, the V6 was offered for one year, 1976. in the REALLY big LeSabre as a base engine.
Your typical non descriptive 70’s car. So many were bought to be just an appliance to move you to your destination. Just like my grandma’s 76 Pinto squire wagon with manual steering and brakes and no A/C. It had only 20K miles on it when she stopped driving and gave it to her oldest son to use. The only thing that makes them special is the low mileage lightly used condition.
This is an upgraded Colonnade design and the razor sharp updates doesn’t really work for me but I understand it was a way to modernize an ageing design. It was only the coupe that received this update – the curvy lines of the Colonnade Buicks were carried over on their 4door and wagon versions for ’76-’77 and IMO suits much better. With the lean-back face late 70s Buicks almost look like bulky same-era Mazdas…
With that said I’ve always had a soft spot for houndstooth cloth interiors and this one really seems like a sweet place to sit. Good luck finding another in such unmolested condition and it deserves an enthusiast that has been looking for just this kind of Buick
Squint and imagine early Riv……that upper radiator hose!
That’s the “COBRA hose”, me boy.
Looks to be in good shape and seems it won’t need much to be a nice driver. Unfortunately for the seller it’s an average mid 1970s car with few options, so it may not even reach the $3.5k starting price. Hey local_sheriff, you seem to like it-make an offer.
Haha, fortunately/unfortunately (pick one) my homestead storage capacity has reached its limits. As I said with the body curves as seen on the 4door/wagon Buicks it’d be a much, much more interesting design. Seems it sold for $3.600 after 2 bids only so someone got an unusual nice driver at reasonable cost. Somehow I suspect the oddfire V6 won’t be there long…
The low mileage is due to the V-6. It takes so long to get up to speed, there are only so many miles it can cover.
That upper radiator hose has to be setting some kind of length record.Could you even get a replacement?! My mom had one…the V-6 would rattle in protest of anything but the mildest of accelerator taps.An overall horrid car.That being said…it would be the perfect car to butcher as you sharpen your restomod skills.
Chop the top off…turn it into a ragtop. Plenty of room for a used 305-V8. Lose the bumpers.
Anyone who’s driven one of these knows it ISN’T adequate power for this car. A friend’s father was a traveling salesman and his 74 V8 Chevelle was replaced by a 76 Century with the 231 V6. It was slow to the point of being dangerous.
Oh my gosh! This brings back memories. In the early 80s, I bought the car with 4,000 some odd miles on it. The electronic ignition went when I got off the high way and had to be towed home. I remember getting repairs, on and off. I had to drive slow when I was trading I in as he front would start to shake. I liked the look back then.
Had a 76 Coupe in 76 …trans went out w/51M on it. Found a 76/350 in 2019 in Michigan. Happy again !
My Aunt bought a 76 Lesabre with the 231 V6. I remember driving it one day when we were in High School. I took it one day to football practice and a couple of friends of mine on the football team wanted to see if 3 strong guys could stop the car from moving. The 3 braced there legs against a curb and I pulled up and they grabbed the front bumper. I slowly started to accelerate in drive…and the car would not move. I kept slowly pushing on the gas until it was floored and they were strong enough to stop it from moving. I remember it was just pinging and knocking for about 30 seconds they held it back.
All seventies V8s were also lame. I can’t imagine going through all the hassle of changing motors for another anemic motor, the 305.
I would only consider the switch for a crate motor of the most power that would bolt in.
I hate the roofline, it ruins the look. The Landau version with the mouse fur interior was much more elegant, gave it an entirely different aspect.
I actually came here looking for one of those, but what I really want is a ’65 Skylark Hardtop.
Check out my facebook page…. found it 2019 in a Michigan barn. Had it delivered to my mechanic, on the way home a homeless woman hollered to me ” I want that car “. It was then I realized I had gotten what I wanted………
a chick magnet. 350/4 barrel/now 32,000 Miles on the Lady.