Depending on who you ask, no more than 1,800 Buick Skylark Sun Coupes were ever made, making it one of the more hard-to-find special editions out there. Like so many cars with a limited production title attached to its name, the changes were largely cosmetic in nature, with the Sun Coupe receiving special badges and a unique manually-operated folding vinyl sunroof. The seller claims this example here on eBay has been in the same resting spot for 20 years and was just recently exhumed.
The Sun Coupe looks surprisingly good for a car that’s been sitting, although the seller does note (not surprisingly) the presence of rust in the floors. The body still looks quite straight and the tires hold air, both good omens if you’re into reading the tea leaves as to whether you should drag a project car out of the weeds. The seller note several GS-specific enhancements to the car, both cosmetically and under the hood.
The GS look includes the grill and the hood, but the performance upgrades are more impressive: 455 engine with Stage 1 heads; B4B intake; Kenne Bell headers; 10 bolt posi with 355 gears; disc brakes; and more. The seller notes the engine work was performed in the early 90s, so this was clearly a treasured project at some point in the past few decades. What happened to cause this modified Sun Coupe to sit?
The interior is holding up nicely as well, just looking like it needs a good cleaning. Even the dash appears to be un-cracked, which is one benefit of hiding somewhere that the sun doesn’t reach. As the seller notes, you could bring this back to stock Sun Coupe configuration and sell off the GS parts, or tell purists to shove off and keep the GS modifications in place on this exceedingly rare special edition. Which path would you take?
Personally, I’d leave it as is, and just restore it. I like the combination of two special vehicles; also there would be the provenance of NOT seeing identical ones at Coffee & Chrome! :-)
Did anybody notice the ignition in the on position with no keys there.
I wonder what the real story is with this car.
The real story is that old gm ignitions would do that. You can pull the key right out, and it it isn’t locked you can still start the car.
They had that problem until early 2000’s XD
That has not been my experience, unless the ignition key was really worn out.
Grant & JPB are correct.
You could remove the key after it was out of the lock position, and you could start it without the key by turning the thumb tabs.
It was some sort of valet feature, that was more trouble than it was worth, as it made stealing them that much easier once they mastered stripping the lock portion.
Because breaking those tabs off gave them a hair more working room.
I worked at a Cadillac-Buick dealer in the `80s, and a lot of the older trade-ins had them.
On some `60s GM cars, you could remove the key from the dash after it was running as well.
I think Grant is referring to the ’55-57 chevys that had a lock AND off position for the ignition key.
Silly.
If ignition isnt turned all the way back, in lock, u can turn it and start car, without key…
Not usually. The key locked in the ignition until it is in the off position.
My first car was a 72 Skylark and I can confirm you could take the keys out at any time. I used to leave it “unlocked” and could start it without keys. It was such a rust bucket noone would have taken it anyway. 😁
Well u r wrong Miggy
The tabs were there on the newer cars so you didn’t twist the key off trying to unlock the steering wheel if the column lock had jammed a little.
GM had the earlier locks on the dash that were intended to have a valet notch till ’63 or so.
And then good, ole GM switched to an ignition switch that could kill you if your key ring was too heavy!
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/02/13/gm-recall/5448319/
Kudos to the owner for washing the car
Shame to see in this condition. Would depend on the condition of the frame and underbelly, shucks shore wood be nice to see some pics at least of the mill and maybe underneath while its on the trailer.caveat emptor. Would be cool to see this one back on the road.
Cheers
GPC
Rare car sitting outside for more years than it should have!! It seems solid enough for a restoration!! Hope it gets the attention it deserves!!!
Trying to sell a suncoupe cheap you no anyone looking?
Funny…my old 73 Laguna s3 had the same ignition key thing…wasn’t a problem for me
Why post the filthy as-found pictures? You’re giving buyers doubts right off the bat.
buy it for the engine …junk the rest
Buicks are known for low oil pressure. Wonder if the engine was pushed too hard, and that’s why it was parked? At least it’s not locked up, according to the ad. Hard to tell from the photos, looks like a GSX trunk spoiler may have been fitted.
Hats off for the second pic of the rear of the car with the crap still on it, looks like moisture, but car still looks good, if the frame and hood are good you cant go wrong,
Love Buicks, but generally prefer 70 or older, but this car has my attention, but as my wife who grew up outside Cincinnati, Ohio, and who’s dad was a Buick salesman and dealt with trade ins always said “don’t buy a used car from Ohio or Illinois, they are always rust buckets.
God bless America
And those of us from northern Ohio thought cars from Cincy were amazingly pristine, compared to our rust buckets!
I’ve owned 3 SunCoupe’s over the years (2 gone still have 1) ASC out of Kalamazoo, MI did the conversions back in the day. I’ve heard as few as 1800 and as many as 3400+/- produced. Records were spotty as best. The opening is huge (like a sunroof) but twice as large. I’ve never driven mine and seen another at a show or on the road. Rarer yet there were Chevy Nova’s and a few Laguna’s done in the same roof style as well as some 73 Century’s.
The front bumper and grille on this car were 71 pieces. Too bad or I’m lucky this one is already gone………..
I had a 72 Demon that had the same roof treatment ; wish I still had it !
Why do people do this to a car???? Why leave it set and deteriorate, especially outside in extreme weather conditions???
I owned a 72 Sun Coupe almost 30 years ago. Read years ago that 3943 were built. Have see about a half dozen of them since. Not real common cars for sure.