Two days ago, I penned a piece on a 1969 Buick GS 400 and marveled at both its condition and price – it seemed too good to be true. Today, I’d like to move forward two years and take a look at a 1971 Skylark convertible, and again, focus on its condition and price. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, mind you, but you’ll shortly see where I’m going here. Found in Los Angeles, California, this desirable drop-top cruiser is available here on craigslist for $35,000.
Some things to consider here, our subject car is not a GS performance model, it’s just a Skylark Custom, but it is a desirable convertible body style. And, like the GS 400, this Skylark is rather uncommon as it’s one of only 3,993 convertibles built in ’71. Structurally, the ’69 and ’71 are the same car, built on GM’s ubiquitous A-body platform, but obviously, the sheetmetal is quite a bit different. There was some crossover with engines as the ’69 Skylark/GS was available with Buick’s 350 CI engine, and that’s what powers this ’71 edition, but there were still substantial powerplant differences too. As with the ’69 GS 400, this very red Skylark Custom is in excellent condition; it has been fully restored, and the finish presents beautifully. There’s no indication of any body mishaps, and the seller claims that the folding top and weatherstripping are new. Once again, we find Buick’s stylish road wheels holding up this car’s four corners.
While a powerhouse Stage 1 engine was still on the ordersheet for ’71, our ragtop features a mild 230 gross HP 350 CI V8, tethered to a Turbo-Hydramatic 350, three-speed automatic transmission – not the stuff of performance dreams but an able and respectable cruising powerplant. The seller mentions upgrades including “Flowmaster dual exhaust, dual electric cooling fans for improved temperature control, completely new front suspension, shocks, and steering linkages, alignment- drives straight and smooth, front disc brake conversion with drilled/slotted rotors, new front and rear coil springs, and a Petronix electronic ignition (no more points)“.
The interior of this Skylark is less interesting than that of the GS 400, as it is equipped with just a standard black vinyl upholstered bench seat. The environment is, however, in just as nice a condition as the GS, and it appears to have not spent an abundance of time in top-down mode. A/C is the order of the day here as the seller states, “A/C upgraded to R134a —Remanufactured compressor, expansion valve, filter/dryer — blows cold.”
So, what are the similarities/differences here? Well, they’re rather obvious; for starters, both are the same generation Buick A-body intermediates. One is a rare performance model, in excellent condition with a suspiciously low asking price, while the other is an uncommon body style – a basic cruiser, also in excellent condition with a price that seems “enthusiastic.” It almost seems like the prices for these two Buicks got crossed up and need to be swapped. Just my passing thought, what’s yours?
It’s “nice”. That’s it. Not 35 grand nice.